Learning 2 Point/Half seat

Good evening everyone!

I’m going to try to post some more materials for you guys to share with the kiddos to help keep their skills sharp even at home! The best thing they can do is be a sponge and constantly soak up info about horses and riding! Take some time to go over this with your students!

So a few if not all of my guys, (I’m sure most of Belle’s) have heard us talk about or have introduced the “2-point position”. This is the position we go into over jumps to put it simply. This position on its own is going to increase balance, correct your natural position, and strengthen those core and leg muscles! I’ve attatched a nice representation of the “do’s and don’ts” for our 2-point! You’ll notice it also describes the half seat position which is very similar and is held in a forward (faster) canter. The only difference in the two is as the jumps get bigger, the more your horse will jump up to you and the more your hip angle will close. Otherwise they are the same thing! For those especially working towards a goal of jumping you will need to learn 2-point/half seat to progress in your riding. Even for those that aren’t interested in jumping, this is great for your toolbox to have in any scenario you may encounter as a rider, and also to just strengthen those muscles and overall position as I mentioned earlier!

My thoughts on the attachment:

- LEFT: INCORRECT

- RIGHT: CORRECT

- When I begin teaching the two point the picture on the left is what I see most of the time. To correct this I really like the description of the seatbelt on the right picture, we can also push those heels down right underneath us so all our weight is centered under us rather than on our forehand, causing unbalance.

- We aren’t just standing out of our stirrups, you should be able to do this without stirrups! It comes from leg muscle!

- One thing the picture doesn’t mention is that your hands should not be on the horses neck for balance or support for yourself, they should be relaxed in the middle of your body and not planted anywhere.

- The 2-point isn’t as “lay on the horse’s neck” as you think! Most of you see Olympic-level jumpers in a two point where they look like a jockey over jumps, this is because they’re literally jumping over 5 feet tall!

So that was a lot, right? It may sound like a foreign language which is totally okay! I get to talking and get ahead of myself so if you or your students have any questions pop them in the comments!! I hope this helps give everyone some visual to what we’re asking of you!

Lauren

Assistant Trainer