|
Post by lulah on Mar 5, 2010 22:50:02 GMT
my three year old son loves riding but im finding it hard to teach him rising trot
hes fine in walk , sits pretty straight and holds the reins nicely. but in trot he really cant rise. i always take the reins away from him in trot (so he doesnt pull poor teddys mouth) and he has a little handle i made for him on the front of his saddle. ive shortened his stirrups too. he can stand up at halt and do little bumps in walk but when we trot he sits , hold onto the handle and leans back. and giggles lol.
it probaly doesnt help that his shetland has a very short and fast stride. he now has a lesson booked for next week with an instructor but i wondered if anyone else has any tips or a really young child that rides.
thanks
|
|
|
Post by welshbyname on Mar 5, 2010 23:02:34 GMT
Lottie has been 'riding' since she was 2 ish, but obviously rising is quite hard for them to do so young as their leg muscles are still quite weak i'd imagine. Not much help, I can't really remember how i taught Lottie to rise, just played lots of games and made it fun I think we used to use the school when the older kids were riding so she could watch them, and so she understood what i ment by rising, as she could see them doing it. Theres the old method of ' Mon-day, tues-day, wedns-day etc etc, sit on the day method, but if they cant physically push up then dosn't really work! I found that If I asked Lottie to go up and down, she would try and stand up, then lose her balance and fall back heavily, then not be able to get herself back up for the next rise. So I tried to get her to understand to flick her hips forwards rather than stand up, that way she stays nice and up right and dosn't lean forward and lose her balance. Do you think your little boy is finding it 'uncomfortable' when he sits back down, and that might be why he prefers to sit and lean back? Also just found this : answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090528032211AA5XTd4
|
|
|
Post by carys on Mar 6, 2010 8:21:17 GMT
I always fine that children learn through copying. Try to get him into an environment with other young children who can rise ( in your case try and find another little boy). This will encourage him, as girls will tend to try really hard to 'perfect' a task and boys seem to take their time and do things their own way.
In the mean time take care that you start to work on his lower leg staying still and the weight being pushed down through the whole leg and knee. When children learn to rise they generally follow instructions too literally and try and launch themselves up (rather than up and forwards through the pelvis) through big pressure into the stirrup (which over balances them) and then they plop back down which is uncomfortable. Keep the rises low and sessions short.
|
|
|
Post by sarah00000 on Mar 6, 2010 9:05:15 GMT
If he only 3 yrs, I wouldnt worry too much - my youngest son refused to rise till he was at least 4, as he thought sitting was funnier and just sat there giggling ;D
Even when he could rise perfectly he often refused to do it - as it wasnt such fun ;D
As long as they have fun and enjoy their ponies - thats what is important x
|
|
|
Post by madmum on Mar 20, 2010 13:00:03 GMT
I had exactly the same problem with my daughter, although she could physically do it every attempt at rising trot resulted in hysterics!! The best tip I got was to concentrate on the up and not the down, therefore see if he can stand for the count of 3 ( or whatever number) this then results in them bobbing down and then wanting to get straight back up....up downs cracked!! It does take a while but at least if he's laughing he's enjoying it. Good luck
|
|
|
Post by nici on Mar 20, 2010 19:48:49 GMT
Oh it's so tough with a little Shetland! That's what we have, and to be honest I didn't bother too much with up-downs until my daughter wanted to try - she was probably 3 and a half or 4 at the time. Her friends, who'd learned to ride on "proper" ponies and could do their up-downs, also struggled on our little Shettie And now, at 6, she's being asked to ride the same "sewing machine" pony at PC Rallies without stirrups and using just a flat leather (slippery!!!) pad It's hilarious to watch, I really shouldn't laugh...!
|
|
|
Post by sophieandcallum on Mar 20, 2010 20:14:22 GMT
I always make the little kiddies stand up for as long as they can while trotting ;D they all find it hilarious, but once they can do that without their reins I ask them to go up, down, up, up, down etc so make it into a game so they have to listen very carefully to what I'm saying I just do this with them for fun, all the kiddies up at the yard! I'm no qualified instructor just love seeing them have fun and improve
|
|
|
Post by lolalou on Mar 20, 2010 21:31:05 GMT
My daughter started out with a great little shetland and would say out loud "up down, up down" it really did work, however when in the show ring it was difficult for her to stop, not sure the judge was always impressed. But she enjoyed herself which is what is should all be about.
|
|
|
Post by princessstacie22 on Mar 29, 2010 23:05:25 GMT
Charlie lou is 3 and a half and has been rising to the trot sice end of last summer. A child will do it when they are ready, but if ound doing it when they are walking and watching the older kids do it made charlie want to do it so she picked it up.
|
|
|
Post by joules on Mar 31, 2010 10:22:01 GMT
I think a little shetland is one of the hardest ponies to ride,I think this is because they are so small.I had one for my granddaughter( little Bart Simpson).She loved him and he loved her,he was her best friend,you had to see the both of them together,it was wonderful to watch.When Lauren was 4 we decided to start having some lessons ,so we took Bart they realy looked cute.At the end of the lesson the instructer advised us to get a Sec A,she said if we wanted Lauren to ride well,a shetland was not the right pony to learn to ride on.It was hard but we took her advise and we have never looked back,I could see the Sec A stride was a lot easier for Lauren to sit to and do her up downs.Bart went on to be another childs best friend.We never had to teach her little sister to do her rising trot,I think that was because she had watched her big sister ride so many times, she did it naturaly.She did her first MM LR class on her 3rd birthday at BSPS champs on her big sisters pony and loved it.She was 4th the first time she went to HOYS, she was only 4 ,and last year when she was 5 she came 3rd.I think she learned by copying,I think the advise given earlier to let you little boy sit and watch other children riding is realy good advise,I am sure he will learn a lot.Good Luck.
|
|
|
Post by kobey on Apr 13, 2010 18:23:42 GMT
My daughter is also 3 and has a great little shetland Barnaby Bear who also taught my other daughter to ride.x
Shetlands are so bouncy and quite fast in a trot my daughter found saying up down up down up down, has helped.
When my eldest daughter went on to a welsh pony, she thot there trot was so slow! and when she goes on the shetland now and again she can not do it at all now!! lol
But my 3 year old daughter, just laughts all the time, the rising trot will come in time but i think as long as they are having fun i dont care.xx
|
|
|
Post by moshimills on Apr 14, 2010 20:23:57 GMT
Mummy got hold of the back of my brothers trousers and pulled him up & he was shouting aw you are giving me a wedgie so everytime he didnt do it himself mummy gave him a wedgie and in that one painful afternoon he learnt to do rising trot haha
|
|
|
Post by brooksbydressage on Apr 26, 2010 12:24:09 GMT
My neice learnt by hanging onto the front of the saddle, with me facing her saying find the up down, one two, up down. She cracked it in 5 mins, and within 15 can do rising trot hanging onto the reins but not for balance, i was gob smacked. When I used to work in a riding school, i found it took an awful lot longer. then one day they just get it. It's a case of repetition, up down, up down, and short bursts so they dont get tired legs!
|
|
|
Post by mandmgirl0164 on Apr 27, 2010 6:38:21 GMT
Can be very helpful to tell them to rise forward, rather than just up and down, which often leaves the rider behind the movement in the early stages of learning rising trot, so they can't get a feel of what they're trying to achieve.
Practise in halt, with the rider's upper body going forward over the knee will help them get the right feel - if the leg slips forward, it makes it virtually impossible to get the seat off the saddle - this is more easily corrected in halt.
|
|
|
Post by emmalen1 on Apr 28, 2010 17:27:49 GMT
We used to get the pony to stand still- and when you say up they have to stay up and when you say down they have to sit down- this is all stationary. Also get them to pretend they have a box of eggs under their bottom, and they are not aloud to break them, But hey- he is only three- takes time- there still babies, so dont worry to much. Trot is hard enough to learn while your older, never mind 3. But he will learn soon enough- good luck x
|
|
|
Post by katalina on Apr 28, 2010 21:52:00 GMT
I taught my 2 1/2 year old grandaughter by getting her to do it at walk then gradually a few paces at trot it wasnt long before she got the hang of it and now she is getting better just after a few weeks
|
|
|
Post by winston on Apr 30, 2010 9:57:39 GMT
We always teach little ones to stand up in the saddle in halt then at walk and then up downs in walk. Only when they can manage that easily do we introduce rising trot. We don't advocate handles or holding the saddle as they become reliant on them. Just like adults some kids have rythmn and some don't, and rising trot comes easier to some than others. ;D
|
|
|
Post by bunny on Apr 30, 2010 10:43:58 GMT
My little lad rides when time, interest (and the girls) allow. He really struggled at 5 last year to rise to trot although he tried really hard when we did a couple of classes at our local show. He hasnt ridden since christmas and got on yesterday rising away no problem at all. I think like winston has said, some find it easy some dont. Girls got it pretty much straight away
|
|
|
Post by applejack1 on Jun 7, 2010 15:54:03 GMT
Sorry but a Shetland is not the best to learn on! I have one for my little girl and she has to rise soooo quickly, it still makes her laugh at six years old!!! But canter makes her laugh louder!!
|
|
|
Post by traceyd on Jun 7, 2010 20:44:40 GMT
We used a strap on the front of saddle and to begin with held the back of her jodphurs and lifted her gently on the ups, she was only 2 and had short rides everyday, didnt take long at all, good luck.
|
|