Let’s first get the fact that I am sometimes an idiot out of the way before I get into musing about how little I knew about riding until I started riding with my coach extraordinaire, Leslie Apfel. I have these great Romitelli riding boots, that I just love, but when I wore the brown leather ones —
the zippers would always slide down while I was riding. I thought it was due to the leather softening up, but then Leslie said, “Don’t they have a zipper guard?” she looked, and yes, they have a zipper guard, and here I had been wondering just what the hell that little flap of leather was for. Now I know and now the zipper doesn’t slide down.
So, onto me writing up my mad insight into the universe when it comes to the posting trot courtesy of Leslie. I always got breathless and tired when I posted the trot and Leslie and I were trying to figure out why. Then she gave me this bit of information. You’re not posting from the stirrup and you’re foot, your posting from your knee and allowing the movement of the horse to move your hip flexor so your hip is moving hip to hand rather than up and down. I had been trying to basically stand up, straightening my legs rather than moving from the knee and the hip and letting the horse’s swing allow your hip to swing too.
And since your hands are down, close to the horse’s withers you are forming a line between the hip and the hand.
