Do western riders need to post—and know their diagonals? Yes! Posting the trot helps your horse’s back and keeps you from bouncing when you’re covering ground out on the trail or around the ranch. In versatility ranch horse competitions, riding at the extended trot is part of every pattern. When the gait is called for, you have the option to stand or post the trot.
Here, trainer Cody Crow helps you understand why posting on the correct diagonal can help boost your ranch riding scores. Plus, he helps you learn to post and how to make sure you’re posting correctly to help your horse stay balanced and look great.
“Supposedly, trotting on the wrong diagonal doesn’t count against you in the ranch horse classes,” he explains. “However, eye appeal is everything, and any judge will know what the correct diagonal is. If you make sure you’re posting the correct diagonal, you’re putting out the polished image that you’re after.”
Posting for Body Balance
When a horse is traveling in a straight line at the trot, the diagonal is not important because the horse’s weight and balance are equal. However, when the horse is making a turn at the trot, there is an increase in the weight distribution to the front, inside leg.
If you’re on the correct diagonal while turning the corner, you can help your horse stay balanced by taking some of the weight off his inside front leg. Keeping a horse balanced through the corner will enable him to continue moving with a full and equal stride.
“Out on the ranch, you’re covering a lot of ground, and the extended trot wouldn’t be very comfortable to sit for a long time,” Cody says. “Traveling 2 or 3 miles at a time means you’ll need to consider the comfort of the horse and the comfort of the rider. Getting up off the horse’s back helps him and even you feel better after riding.”
In a ranch class, you may choose to post if you want a way to push your horse to have more extension. If you post, you may have more influence than standing, Cody says.
“I generally see standing as a risk,” he says. “If you’re standing and the horse is getting too fast or is getting ready to break, you can’t influence that horse with your seat. You’re vulnerable up there. If you’re posting and you have a horse that’s getting a little too bright, you can slow your post down and make him match your rhythm.”
The Correct Diagonal
Cody says he helps his students learn to check the correct diagonal by having them trot and calling out when they should be in the posting or sitting position.
“Every time the outside [front] foot is down, you should be seated,” he says. “The old saying goes, ‘Rise and fall with the leg on the wall.’ After you know where you should be, though, you need to learn to feel it in your body so that you don’t have to look down to check yourself.”
The feel of the post comes from the horse’s hip motion, Cody explains. As you hear a friend or trainer call out where you should be, be aware of how the horse’s body is pushing you. You’ll begin to feel that you’re pushed up at the exact right time, using feel rather than looking at your horse’s front legs.
“It helps to get the feel instead of looking,” Cody says. “If you look down, instead, you also have to remember to look up again—and not to stare. If you keep looking down, the judge will see that. Plus, as you look down, that pulls your whole body weight down and actually makes your horse move in a choppy stride—not the extended trot that you want.”
You’ll ace the extended trot when you post, feel your horse’s diagonals, and use your seat and leg cues to help the horse know exactly how fast and forward you’d like to go.
Special thanks to Payton Porterfield and her horse, Steps of Perfection, for demonstrating these exercises.
This article about posting diagonals in versatility ranch horse competitions appeared in the July/August 2023 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!
