Medicine Lodge Valley, Dillon, Montana

Critique  on Nichole's Posting / Rising Trot
Part 2 of 3

Red symbolizes the riders position
Green denotes the would be change to be in balance
White dots are areas which are focus points or joints

8. The first thing I noticed when I looked at the photo was the knee and below.  As Nichole rises in the trot she uses the stirrups / irons as a balancing point.  This throws her balance off and also reflects in the horses short movements (12 and 14).   

9. The green line down through the middle of the photo would be the alignment  of the body.  For Nichole's lower leg to be in alignment her ankle bone (white dot) would be on the green line.  It is also noticed that as Nichole rises her lower leg is taken off the horses vertical side which also acts as a pinching effect on the knee. If we took the horse out from under Nichole would she stay vertical or would she fall on her face.   Learning to post in balance without the use of weight of the stirrups, Nichole can do an exercise on the ground.  This exercise I will call Wall Posting.  When we learn to post correctly we can post without stirrups or the use of a saddle.  What does a fluid posting trot look and feel like?  Check out the Posting Trot page.

10. As we look at the white dots of the ear, shoulder hip alignment we see that the shoulders and hips are fairly vertical but from the head to the shoulders it is tilted forward (red line).  When she opens up her chest / upper body area she will automatically reposition the head to the vertical position as explained in number 7 on the previous photo.  If we could think of the abdomen region as the leader of the forward energy and balance, the posting would become in tune. 

11. Here's another example of lower arm energy and where it points to with the red line.  A  positive aspect though is that  when she rises in the trot  she does not use the reins as a balancing aid.

12. The red square shows how the horses legs are positioned and area of movement. And behind the horses buttocks  

13. The green square would be where the horses back legs should be positioned if he was moving freely.  The green line denotes an approximate of how the leg would come under the barrel more if not more than shown. 

14. The red square shows how the front legs are moving short.  The inside leg (as for this example) steps as if he were standing squarely and the outside leg steps short.

15. If the inside leg were to move freely the leg would move under the girth more and the outside leg would reach out  more.

The next photo of Nichole at the trot

 © Donna Hildreth 1998 - 2009
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