" I have a 5-year-old Oldenburg mare  I am currently showing at Training Level and getting ready to move up to First Level. She has a lot of
suspension in her trot and I am having trouble learning to effectively sit the trot. I have tried several different ways to learn the motion necessary
to feel in harmony with her stride. I try to relax my lower back and follow her motion with my pelvis but I find that my upper body has a tendency to
bounce too much. Do you have any suggestions that will help me to learn sit effectively?"

Since it’s only possible to sit the trot when you are able to carry yourself in the saddle with balance and relaxation, I utilize lots of lunging initially with my students to help them develop a “feel” for where they need to sit on the horse in the trot.  We start following with the seat at the walk, and with the use of exercises and imagery, I help the student find the center of the horse and themselves, noting where their seat bones are located, how much weight they are putting on each one, where their shoulders are in relationship to their sitting bones and rib cage, and most importantly the places in their body where they block (fail to follow) the horse’s movement. Assuming that the student has developed a certain comfort level on a horse, one of my favorite exercises for students who are “bouncy” in their upper body is to ask them to put their arms straight up in the air (by their ears), look straight ahead, (preventing the collapse of their rib cage and diaphragm), and allow their hips to move with the horse.  Once they are comfortable with this position, I ask them to close their eyes and just allow the horse to move their hips side to side in rhythm with the walk.  Additionally I ask them to relax their thighs and knees if they are gripping, and allow their leg to drape along their horses’ side by the weight of relaxation, as if their legs were streams of water running down the horses’ side, following the contours of his body.  And last, but not least, I encourage the rider to breathe!  Many students simply hold their breath when they are concentrating, which is definitely not conducive to the relaxation necessary for a following seat.   I then ask the rider to imagine what would happen if the horse disappeared out from underneath them.  Would they land standing?  Or would their position leave them off balance in a way that would cause them to teeter on their feet?  We can’t really ask a horse to stay in balance underneath us if we are out of balance in the saddle.  Of course this takes a lot of trust from the rider that the horse is reliable, and under the control of the instructor!  If a student is uncomfortable, I always take a step back, re-establish relaxation at the previous stage, and then proceed.  Next is the work at the trot.  Assuming that the horse and rider are warmed up at the rising trot, and ready to go without stirrups, I take the stirrups away and ask the rider to go through the same sequence at the sitting trot, first stabilizing them selves with the outside hand on the pommel or bucking strap, and the inside hand in the air, and eventually with both arms straight up.  As they become more comfortable with the movement of the horse underneath them, they then practice keeping their seat while performing various exercises with their limbs that promote an independent seat.  Often students will find their seat on the lunge, and have difficulty sustaining it when they are asked to hold the reins and use their legs.  That’s why it is so difficult to learn a following seat while you are also trying to navigate with your horse!  As a student becomes able to sustain their bodies in self carriage over the horse’s back with relaxation and confidence, not only does their use of the other aids become much more effective,  they then can learn to use their seat to influence their horse as their primary means of communication.  Spending time on the lunge line with a skilled instructor and a balanced, rhythmic horse is imperative to the development of an independent, following seat.  If you are lucky enough to find a situation in which you can be lunged on a school horse once or twice a week, it would be ideal. If your horse is a reliable lunge horse, then it would also be beneficial to be lunged on her after you learn to sit a horse that doesn’t have so much suspension. Even if you are lunged on a quiet horse by a friend, it will go a long ways towards developing your ability to follow your horse with your seat.  If you don’t have the benefit of an experienced instructor, there are many exercises in the USDF Lunging Manual that will help you find the correct position and feel. I also suggest Yoga, or Ti Chi as an auxiliary means of developing the body awareness, muscle tone, and balance necessary for a following, independent seat.