riding lessons

Since my wednesday lesson was canceled last night (blast the wind!) i thought i'd take this opportunity to discuss the enigma that is the Sitting Trot. 

contemplate, if you will, sitting on a trampoline and being told not to allow your bum to leave the surface whilst your friend incessantly jumped right next to you. what would you do? laugh of course. you'd tell them it was impossible. 
this is, essentially, the trick one must master in order to "sit the trot." now, some horses have a more horizontal movement at the trot, and it feels rather like sitting on a gently bouncing sofa. most in the upper levels however, resemble a bounce house with the amount of suspension and vertical movement they have. Ruby is one of those horses. she is by NO means an upper level horse, but this mare is the bounciest thing i've ever attempted to sit! in canter transitions, i dread the moment i'm requested to sit and ask for the upward transition; not only because of her horrendous trot, but because she's quite lazy, and tends to rush around like a mad thing at a super-sonic trot rather than transit into the canter. (why she believes this will save her energy, i do not know; it certainly doesn't save her back!) so then i end up with my backside a solid six inches off her back, arms and knees flapping (exaggeration-i hope!) while ruby rushes around like a chicken with her head chopped off, and we both become flustered and disorganized. Then i am forced to haul her back to a near walk, and begin again. 
disregarding Ruby, the sitting trot tends to be a  hurdle for many riders. indeed, i've been riding nearly 21 years, and i've not perfected it. i'm told its kind of like rubbing your belly and patting your head. kind of a mind-trip that you must grasp logically before you can apply it. Megan always says, move your hips forward and back, not up and down. (well that's nice, the trot IS an up/down motion; did you forget?!) my mother says alternately lift and lower each hip with the horse's hips.

independently swinging hips

 (but her hips are behind me, i can't see what they're doing!) all in all, it's a sensation that must be learned with years (more than 20, obviously) of practice. Practice at your own risk, i say, and possibly invest in some padded underwear! bruises not included.