RIDING HILLS OR THE UPS AND DOWNS OF HORSEBACK RIDING

Another issue that comes up time to time when riding trails are hills, gullies, washes or other areas where you have to either descend or climb.

Let us start with seat position. Now here is an instance where there seems to be quite a bit of confusion. Why I am not really sure. But a lot of people seem to think that when you ride a horse that there is only one way. That you are always static in your position. I think that part of it is confusing a seat position with a riding position. A seat position is what you ‘want’ to do while the horse is standing still on level ground with you getting judged for posture..Then you imagine a line from your ear, to your hip, ending at (depending on who is telling you ) either your ankle bone or the back of your heel. Hmmm… first I may be able to sit this way but never ride this way. For one thing if I sat in this posture for an hour unmoving I would be cramped and stiff. For another thing I didn’t buy one of their saddles that I presume is center hung. This refers to where the stirrups naturally lie in relation to the center of the saddle and your hip bone. ( I can hear the crowd of readers…” blasphemy !!! Where’s the torches...this guy is full of…”) hmmmm… well since the crowd of readers probably consists of my wife and I, I’ll probably survive the monster hunt. Now some where down the line we ‘western’ riders thought that the English riders were better than us. ( they are in their style ) and if you look they are set up for that position, but not all saddles are the same.

My saddle for instance is just a little forward hung, meaning the stirrup is set forward of center and there are many that are even more forward set. Take a look at some Spanish style saddles as in Peruvian and Paso shows. To get that straight line you would be lying down on your horse. [As an example if you are familiar with motor cycles, take an American cruising bike like a Harley Davidson and compare the seating position to a Katana or other ‘crotch rocket’ ( Asian racing style). The Harley puts your feet forward and the Asian puts your feet under to the hip position. This is even without including highway bars, pegs, or café bikes etc. In the same way saddles are built differently.]

They never seem to mention that it depends on your saddle...Think of the poor person buying an old timer with pommel supported stirrups ( the stirrup almost being under the pommel ) trying to line up ear, hip, heel… But it is said and repeated as a gospel axiom. Now think of a roper busting out of the chute ( with center hung stirrups by the by ) without that forward lean, another that comes to mind would be a barrel racer...Although it might be interesting to see, it is not realistic to see them sitting straight up without leaning.

Now in the same vein I have seen in training shows and heard by word of mouth that you  always sit the same way without leaning to go up and down hills.Meaning that you sit like a cross...The ear is the top of the cross, the center the hip the bottom the foot and the crossbar the back line of  the horse.

GHOST WRITER GORDON WIKS
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