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Jan said:

> They said to put your weight toward his rear as that was
> where he is pushing from, and doesn't interfere with his front end.
> I have always thought, 'been told', to lean forward and out of the
> saddle, to 'help' him go up. Staying on the vertical with the trees.
> The Parelli's stayed seated in the saddle, both western and english,
> but did lean forward slightly. NATRC would kill you with points
> off for keeping your butt in the saddle...I have become so accustomed
> to standing in the stirrups while going up hill, that I would have to
think
> about sitting.  So, which is right?
Back in 1996 I wrote a series of articles for Trail Blazer magazine
about how to ride up and down hill (May/June--riding up hill &
July/August--riding down hill) which was actually an outgrowth of a post
I originally made to RideCamp (probably a few months before that if you
want to find it in the archives).  I could also probably find the text
of those articles as well and post it here; although a back issue of the
magazine would also contain the accompanying photos and illustrations.

In essence, Parelli is right...kinda.  You DO want to have your weight
over the back end of the horse (so standing up in the stirrups and
getting up over the horse's shoulder is totally contraindicated).  And
sitting in the saddle, actually, almost sitting on the cantle is the
best way to get your horse into rear wheel drive while going uphill
(keep your feet along the girth between you and the ground, and lean
your UPPER body forward so that it is perpendicular to level ground).

And while this is a great exercise for making the horse work its back
and hind end when going up a hill (so it is a great muscle building
exercise) in addition it gives the horse better traction on the rear end
(so the horse's hind feet are less likely to slip out to the back) so if
the footing is hard and/or slippery, you bet you want to have your butt
planted back in the saddle.

However, it is not the "easiest" (i.e. the least amount of work) way for
the horse to go up a hill, so (except in situations where the footing is
hard and/or slippery) it is not the way that I ride my horse up a hill
at an endurance ride (although I usually will in training, since in
training I WANT the horse to have to work harder :)).  At an endurance
ride, I will still keep my feet along the girth between me and the
ground, and I will still shift my weight backwards so that it is over
the hind legs, but I do not sit on the saddle.  I bring my weight up off
the saddle (and, thus, the horse's back) by lifting my butt out of the
saddle using my inner thigh (think "two point position" without any
stirrups).  It is possible to take your weight out of the saddle without
taking your weight off the hindquarters.

In fact, the position is very much like the position that you would use
for going over a jump (so your upper body would be slightly in front of
vertical if you were going up the hill at speed).  Note that jumper
riders (at least those with good form) do NOT let their leg slip back
and get their weight up over the horse's shoulder (this is called
jumping ahead of your horse) because it makes it very difficult for the
horse to lift its front end (which is why lots of people who jump ahead
of their horses have horses that stop....and then the rider goes over
the front....because they were ahead of their horse :)).

If you let your leg slip back to stand in the stirrups and shift your
weight up over the front end when going up hill, the horse will have to
tow itself up the hill with its front legs trailing its hindquarters,
and you have to have a breast collar to keep the saddle from slipping
back.  You are not "helping" the horse to use its hind end by taking
your weight off it any more than it helps a rear wheel drive pick-up
truck to unload the bed...if you want the driving end to work, you have
to weight it:.

For the same reason, you don't want to let your leg slip forward going
down hill, since that, too, will shift your weight to the front end (and
your horse will have to run to keep from falling on its face) and you
will have to have a crupper to keep the saddle from slipping forward :).

kat
Orange County, Calif.



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