How To Sit The Canter Using Your Seat

hi it's josie and today i want to talk  to you about canter and your canter seat   first of all i want you to realize that a  canter seat is a very active seat you don't just   sit there so when horses canter the canter starts  with the outside hind leg it comes under and this   my hands your horses back it lifts the horses back  up and the front comes up then it is the diagonal   pair so it's the outside front and the inside  hind and so the horse gets lifted up then he goes   horizontal and then he's down on his inside front  leg and he can be a little bit downhill so it sort   of goes outside hind horizontal for the diagonal  pair and down as the leading leg comes down so within that movement the saddle on  the horse's back comes up well sort of   almost back up horizontal down and you  need to be following that as the rider   and that all that work happens from the waist down  so your shoulders should be up nice and straight your basically your pelvis should sit so that it  can spin around almost as if it was very flexible   with just your two seat bones imagine just  my skeletal pelvis sitting on this saddle   and my legs hanging from it and my hip joints  the ball and joint socket in here is supposed   to be poor old rebel he doesn't know what  to do when i do this stuff is supposed to   be very movable and flexible so the caner starts  from here this joint here moving so as the horse   comes up with the outside hind leg underneath the  saddle comes up this joint needs to close a little   and then open as he goes horizontal and then down  in the front so you need to be very flexible in   your hip in your in your hip joint literally your  ball and socket joint and your back does have   something to do with it okay so your back needs  to be soft and supple so that the s spine of your   curve can s curve of your spine sorry can just  move let's see if we can show you some of that so as rebel's cantering here my hip joint here is  opening and closing as he comes up see if you can   watch the footfalls outside hind horizontal front  and see what this joint here is doing if you're   banging in the saddle chances are say sorry rebel  is not like this i'm leaning forward now and i i   can't keep my butt in the saddle one of the things  my coach did with me was put me on the lunge   and got me to lean back now she actually only got  me to go horizontal because i was a terrible lean   forwarder but i honestly see if i can get this  horse going felt like i was leaning back like this don't fall over mate but as you can see as  i lean back here all of this really opens up   and it gave me the feeling of what my pelvis  should be doing for my butt to stay in the saddle   now i'm not gripping with my legs they are  not on i'm balanced here with my core strength   so i was telling you about having an active seat  in canter and i want to show you how that looks   from the ground now it's not a hundred percent how  it looks because in reality when you're cantering   on a horse you're sitting almost suspended  around something that's moving underneath you   whereas the ground is still but it's an active  um hip you don't just sit there okay if you're   just going to sit there like this you're going  to be bumping and banging all over the place   canter your hips do this so remember i told you  this joint opens and closes so it literally is   a roundabout movement and i was saying here i  think this part of the movement i think up up   up i bring the horse up underneath me with my seat  if you're on the bit your elbow and your upper arm   have to make that same opening and closing of  angles as your femur and your hip joint your ball   and socket joint in your arm do otherwise you are  i can't actually do it without being on a horse   otherwise you're banging your horse in the mouth  but this bit goes it's active so get in the saddle   and play with it don't just sit there stiff if  you're sitting stiff and you're banging think oh   lean a bit more forward how does that go  i can tell you right now it will be worse   lean a little bit back how does that go oh  okay now i can feel how my hips open and close   i was always taught to think about when you're a  kid and you're in the swing and you're trying to   push the swing higher and that's a reasonably  good analogy except i found that that way i   pushed down into the horse that's when i stopped  thinking about pushing and lifting so when the   swing's going through the bottom of the swing you  literally allow your hips to go down and then as   it comes up you think about bringing your core up  so canter is an active movement in your hips here   you do not just sit there quietly that's the worst  piece of advice i think anyone can give somebody   that rides a horse is to sit still because you do  not sit still riding a horse rise trot sit trot   and canter you are actively doing things with  your body it's just that you are doing them in   time with the horses movement which allows  you to have the appearance of sitting still so another good exercise to help you learn to  keep your upper body up nice and tall and not   be um leaning is to pick up canter and if you're  comfortable with your horse put both reins in your   outside hand don't worry about what he does with  his head take your inside hand and reach up now   it's not like you want to go to the toilet and  you're in the classroom it's just nicely tall   stretched and you've just got the tone a dancer  would have in their body you can take your legs   away if you can and see if you can stay in the  saddle with your horse now it's active i'm going   up up it's a bit like the rising trot video here  i think hang on i'll try and time it for you   up up up up up up up so i almost feel like i suck  him up with my seat up up up up good boy rebel good good if your horse is on the bit you need to have  very good soft elbows and hands in canter   because your horse's head moves as  he moves through the canter stride   and so your elbows need to be soft and your  hands almost sort of do like a little circle   if i keep my hands still there see it  bangs sorry mate it bangs him in the mouth so i hope you're enjoying the videos i'm popping  out i'm really having a great time doing them   if you like them hit the like  button subscribe to the channel   and i look forward to seeing you all next week bye

Channel: Basic Horse Training

Views: 119,018

Keywords: How To Sit The Canter Using Your Seat, how to sit the canter, canter horse, cantering on a horse, canter horse riding, canter horseback riding, canter horse video, canter horse gait, dressage canter, dressage canter seat, dressage canter exercises, cantering for beginners, cantering tips, cantering horse, cantering english style, the canter seat, canter seat, how to canter, canter, riding canter, how to canter on a horse, basic horse training

Id: sV15zgxPGVI

Length: 8min 0sec (480 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 14 2021