[RC] need help - riding a trotting horse - Mellifluous
Ok guys, I REALLY need help here. I am sooooo confused.
First off, let me establish my history...I have not ridden a trotting horse since I was a teenager (eons ago), I used to post well but I was also younger and in better shape. Now I am chubby and spoiled to riding pasos. Yes, I am one of those gaited horse riders that is a disaster once you take them off a gaited horse. I don't ride with my feet on the dash like many gaited riders thank goodness but I still have issues.
My Arabian is almost ready to come home from the trainer from being started under saddle. Once home, I plan to ride the soup out of him and keep him in the great condition that he is in. I visited him at the trainer's and he was a real gem. He was willing and patient, very very light and responsive. But, when we trotted, I fell apart. Part of the problem is that I ride in a more "western" position with my stirrup length. I found that my attempts to post failed miserably and I ended up off balance and extremely uncoordinated. My poor horse was not happy with me but tolerated it. I think that even if I shorten my stirrups, I am still going to have issues with posting. It has been too long and I am extremely rusty. What is going to be my best course of action?
I asked the authority on trotting in my circle of horsey friends. She is a h/j person. She wants me to switch to a forward seat saddle (I had planned to ride him with my dressage saddle). She says that the dressage saddle will not put my legs in the right position for posting that that I need to learn to ride "english." The only problem is that the h/j riders I have seen do not ride in the manner that my horse has been trained to accept. The trainer has worked hard to make the horse go in a relaxed and easy manner. Therefore, he is used to being ridden on a loose rein and responds well to that. He does not like someone having "contact" and does not appreciate it. He also does not require you having your leg on him like I see h/j people doing with their horses. Oh, and he is also being ridden bitless. I guess in many ways, he is a western trained horse? My friend said that it is a safety issue and that I should have contact with his mouth. Should I get him home and take some h/j lessons, bit him and start working him that way? I looked into finding a centered riding instructor in my area because that sounded more appealing but I have not had much luck finding someone in my area.
Is there some way that I can keep him the way he is and learn how to ride him at a trot in a way that makes us both happy. I like the fact that he can be ridden bitless on a loose rein and doesn't require me to pump him along with my legs. I never really thought about trotting and now it is all I can think about! I want to do what is best for my horse and from what I gather, posting on long rides will be much better on him than trying to sit the trot? What do you guys do, how do you ride? BTW-my trainer has been sitting the trot.
He comes home in a week so I need to figure something out. I will be walking and cantering him a bit but I really don't want to trot him much until I get things situated.
