The Rising Trot Chronicles - part one: The Top of the Rise

Rising (or posting) trot rarely receives the attention it deserves.  

In a good rising trot, there is enormous biomechanical potential to influence the horse for the better, and sadly there is also potential for a rider’s incorrect rising trot biomechanics to cause postural issues in their horse, and over a prolonged period of time, lameness. 

I’m going to start with what happens in trot between the horse and rider, as personally, I feel like it is a gold mine of possibilities for improvement! It may take several blogs to work through to the end result. 

What happens between horse and rider in trot?

In trot, the horse’s legs move in diagonal pairs, in a two-time sequence. A hind leg and an opposite foreleg will leave the ground simultaneously. The hind leg creates the thrust that pushes the horse forward and the foreleg also transmits that energy forwards.  In a well-functioning horse, both diagonal pairs of legs in trot will transmit the same forces and cover the same distance, and to the eye, it will appear almost symmetrical.  This will result in the horses’ legs creating attractive, equal-sized triangles during the phase when all four legs are touching the ground.  

Now let’s add a rider!  

In executing an effective rising trot, these are the challenges that the rider faces, and not all riders are aware of these challenges, ( even the professional ones): 

• Rising high enough to accommodate the complete thrust of the horse’s hind leg. 
• Matching the forces of that thrust. 
• Staying in balance over their foot. 
• Maintaining correct upper body posture in neutral spine. 
• Being able to make a tiny pause at the top of the rise/bottom of the rise. 
• Using their rise/descent to control an even tempo. 
• Landing from each rise without gravity speeding up the descent. 
• Landing in the same place on the horses back after each descent. 
• Landing whist supporting their own bodyweight so as not to ‘plop’. 
• Landing, feeling and responding to the shape and texture of the horse’s back! 
• Maintaining balance independent of the reins! 
• Symmetry in both knees and thighs, and both sides of the riders meaning  that both sides of the body are rising to equal heights. 

I could get carried away and it could become a very long list – but I do feel it’s important to understand rising trot in more detail as it is the bridge to many wonderful kingdoms! 

On this journey into the mechanics of rising trot, let’s first look at the most common problem I see, and work out from there.  That common problem is when riders don’t rise high enough to accommodate the whole thrust of their horse’s hind leg. (For now, let’s think of a basic working trot – I will cover collection and extension in a future blog) 

For the horse to track up, the hind leg must go on a set trajectory through the air, ready to land just behind the foreleg on the same side. Therefore, the rider must be in the air long enough for this whole trajectory to take place. The rider also must be at the top of their rise and able to balance there for a fraction of a second, just before the hind leg starts to descend to the ground.  

If the rider does not rise high enough, the hind leg is prevented from going on its full, natural trajectory.

(Just this fact alone, opens up a myriad of possibilities as to how dysfunction can be caused, for instance, causing a stilted action) 

In a steady type of horse, this is likely to dampen their impulsion and may give the impression that they are being lazy or unresponsive. In a whizzy sort of horse, it can create a hurried trot that is fast but has no cadence or established rhythm.  

Furthermore, if the rider doesn’t rise high enough to come into a balance over their foot, then they are always going to be a victim of gravity and will likely land quicker than they went up, with an additional gravity-induced ‘plop’ that will cause the horse to hollow its back. 

Teaching riders to get to the top of the rise in a balanced way, results in many profound ‘lightbulb’ moments because although they are battling with the weirdness of a bigger rise, they begin to feel huge improvements in the horses’ trot underneath them. So, the process sells itself. 

Where does a rider need to be at the top of the rise?

They need to be in balance over their foot; and there are two key tests to apply to this moment: firstly, if the horse was taken out from underneath them, would they land on their feet? And secondly, if the reins were cut, would they stay in balance (or are they relying on the reins as handlebars?) 

This brings up the question of why riders are instructed to do a small rise.  I believe that this instruction arises from confusion around attempts to control tempo and speed. The problem is that a controlled tempo is not the product of having the hind leg in the air for less time, or a shorter distance – tempo control is the product of either slowing or quickening the speed of the hind leg whilst it spends the same amount of time off the ground in its correct trajectory. 

I know that may take a while to wrap your head around, but all will become clear in future blogs as I break it all down for you.  

In the meantime, as a basic start point, can you stand in your stirrups at walk, balanced over your foot, in neutral spine without toppling forwards or backwards? Can you do the same in trot? It’s a vital exercise to learn.  Next time we will look at how to match and influence the forces of the hindleg in trot.

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