by Donna Sabatine

Created on: November 04, 2010

Anyone that has watched a rider with English tack work or condition a horse has seen it.  At first it appears the rider is uncomfortably bouncing along with the horses trot.  This rhythmic up and down motion in time with the horses step is calling “posting” the trot and is commonly used in English riding.  For the uninitiated this would seem to be hard on the horse and rider however, posting is a controlled movement and much easier on horse and rider than bouncing along with each stride.  Or, in the alternative as any riding student of the two point position can verify, much easier than trying to stay up and off the horses back the entire time they are trotting!

What is a Trot?

To understand posting, one must understand the gait for which it was developed.  A trotting gait on a horse is a two beat movement where the right front leg and left hind leg move together diagonally.  When those two feet are on the ground, the opposite legs or diagonal set of legs are in motion.    This movement is actually called “diagonal movement” and that term becomes important in correctly posting a trot, as I will explain in a moment.

Where Did Posting Originate?

Although the origins of posting the trot are lost in obscurity, at some point in history either on a carriage horse or on a long distance ride it was realized that the trot was easier on the horse than a canter and was much faster than walking to the destination.   The rise and fall of the horses back at the trot however, made it harder or impossible for a rider to sit still and bounce, which made the horse sore in the back and spine before they reached their destination.   Horses were such a valuable tool to their owners it was important they were kept sound and healthy so this was a concern.  It was also discovered that while trotting, the trot actually encouraged the rise and fall of the rider in time with the horse’s stride, resulting in a much smoother ride and a horse that was completely sound for the return trip home.  Hence, posting the trot was born.

What is a Proper Posting Trot?

In a correctly posting the trot, there is a common term to help remember which leg to rise and fall with, or which “diagonal” to be in time with.  The term is “rise and fall with the leg on the wall” and this has helped countless English riding students to not only post, but to post on the correct diagonal,

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