The Basics - Rising Canter and the Half seat

Everyone has been there. The sinking dread as your instructor mutters those awful words…

“you don’t need sticks today, its a riding lesson”

Yet, the lessons learnt here are perhaps the most important of any you will learn in polo. So many beginners focus far too much on the swing and game play in their early lessons, and as a result their lack of riding ability comes back to bite them further down there line.

The single most common issue that beginners face is forgetting to rise into their half seats to take their shots. Far too often we see people cantering around, sat deep in the saddle and swinging unsuccessfully for the ball from there. Convincing new players to use this half seat is incredibly difficult, especially with non riders as they feel unstable and vulnerable in this position. Furthermore, even experienced riders often struggle and forget all they have learnt when they make the transition to canter, due to the relative lack of standing in canter in more conventional equine disciplines.

In order to combat this issue, we often build up, starting at a halt, showing and explaining the half seat and allowing the instructors to tweak the position to give a more balanced and stable hitting position. The most important thing to remember here is to encourage a triangular base, where the toes are pointed inwards. This angles the knees into the saddle and helps keep the player stable in the saddle. Once this position has been set the riders can slowly build up in walk and trot, attempting to hold the position for as long as possible. This may be difficult for some, as often this position demands a lot from the thigh muscles of inexperienced players. Most will be able to adopt the position in walk and trot as the gait of the horse is less off-putting for their balance and most will already be aquatinted to rising trot, so standing in the saddle is already natural to them.

In canter however many people seem far less comfortable. Reasons for this vary from simply the increase in speed, the different gait or the lack of experience standing in the saddle. Usually this can be fixed by teaching players rising canter. Very similar to rising trot, rising canter allows the players to learn to stand and become comfortable in canter, without having to put too much strain on their legs and balance with the half seat. Some will find it come naturally to them, however others may have to follow other players to understand and match their timing. As soon as the players have found this timing, it is almost impossible to unlearn it. Over time the use of this rising canter will make them much more likely to adopt the half seat in canter and therefore adopt the correct hitting position.