Riding Tutorial by Droemar

Eh. I got bored. Been working on Flash lessons over the weekend, aside from cleaning and seeing Inkheart. But I noticed there weren't any riding tutorials on DA. Seriously? What's up with that? If someone knows of any, please link me.
I make no claims to be an expert, so all of the self-proclaimed riding experts can hold their tongues. I barely know how to ride, and I don't ride regular horses. I ride gaited ones, which require little to no work on the part of the rider. Heck, Peruvian saddles were designed to make you sit way BACK, like a big cushioned car seat. All they lack are cupholders and an air conditioning vent in the pommel. So yes. I don't really ride. I sit and the horse walks in a overtly flashy manner. With my crippled spine, balance alone is an issue for me.
But on the other hand, I do have a bunch of fantasy characters that need to ride various large creatures. (Which was what I was looking for in the first place when I discovered DA's terrible lack thereof.) So I attempted to apply what I know about horseback riding to wolfback and tigerback. The dubious idea that big cats would ever suffer such trappings notwithstanding, I concluded that the power of the shoulders could handle human weight.
Also, the "wrong" drawings are HILARIOUS. I just searched for some drawings on DA and went to town. I mean, drawing horses in the correct positions alone is difficult enough, but to add a rider on top of it ... Yeah. Some people need help. So I drew this. Enjoy!

Kiwi-Stables Featured By Owner Mar 27, 2018 Hobbyist General Artist

"If you want to draw them sitting, draw them on something else!" Clap

Finally someone who gets it.

Awesome tutorial, this helps me so much in developing my drawing skills. A lot of things I struggle with make sense now, so I can make my practice time more productive. I am a dummy!

Sweetheartbetta1997 Featured By Owner Mar 26, 2018 Student General Artist

I love riding so much that I wanna ride horses and get a horseback riding lessons but my parents can't afford it. it's too expensive. Also, when choosing horses, I am a bit of a picky type of girl, I like white horses better.

I also love how you thought of people riding other animals than horses. I imagine large sized animals that can be ridden on like lions.

dragondoodle Featured By Owner Dec 31, 2017 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Oh Awesome! This is such a hard thing to do

Pipparachi Featured By Owner Sep 28, 2015 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Thank you!

Dasneezequeen Featured By Owner Sep 18, 2015

Thank you I always struggle with these poses and they just end up in sketch dumps

CanisLupusDingo Featured By Owner May 27, 2015 Student Digital Artist

Hey, this is a really helpful tutorial. Since you mentioned fantasy mounts, I wanted to know your opinions about how someone would ride a flying mount, i.e. a pegasus or griffon. I've seen some representations in fantasy media, and mostly I see the rider with their legs in front of where the wing attaches to the body, but that seems like it would interfere with flight just as much as having the leg behind where the wing attaches--so I wanted to know how you would guess how that works, since I have no riding experience to make even a poorly educated guess.

Droemar Featured By Owner May 27, 2015

Oh, man. I have no idea. I have a friend who loves physiology and horses, so she always talks about how wings would have to be enormous. She did an illustration of a Pegasus that basically had a double shoulder blade mechanism. This www.shapeways.com/product/YE8F… doesn't have that, but I do like the idea of it having a very large keelbone (wishbone) to anchor super powerful wings.
James Gurney suggested Skybax riders (people riding giant Quetzalcoatlys) laid flat to avoid interfering with their mount's wings. Plausible, but definitely not dynamic (you couldn't lean over and throw stuff riding a Skybax.) You can Google Skybax for his illustrations.
I know a lot about wing mechanisms and how flight evolved, but riding a flying thing pushes past the idea of "How much room for the rider?" and into "How does the rider not interfere with flight?" Evolved flight is so delicate.
But the good news is very few people know how flight works anyway. I'm with you that a rider's knees being behind the wing would be better (it would only interfere with the mount's ability to folds its wings as opposed to flap) and maybe even further back than that (no touching feathers at all, which gets into the lying down position James Gurney suggested.)

CanisLupusDingo Featured By Owner Jun 12, 2015 Student Digital Artist

Thank you very much--this gives me a lot more insight, and some leads on what sort of extra research I need to do. It never occurred to me to go and look into evolutionary anatomy, but of course it makes perfect sense to do so. The Skybax riders also offered an interesting, and different take on flying mounts. And while I know that most people don't know how certain biological/anatomical functions, like flight, actually work, I'm the sort of person who likes to be as accurate as possible, or otherwise create a fiction that is as believable as possible. Anyhow, thank you again; this really does help a ton!

Musa-the-Guardian Featured By Owner Apr 4, 2015 Hobbyist General Artist

Thanks to this tutorial I realized what I did wrong in one of my old drawings! If you don't mind me asking, are you a rider yourself?

Droemar Featured By Owner Apr 4, 2015

I used to be. Health problems made me give it up.

Musa-the-Guardian Featured By Owner Apr 4, 2015 Hobbyist General Artist

Ahhh ok

Smittynick870 Featured By Owner Aug 9, 2014 Hobbyist

This'll help me draw animal riding alot better.

NinjaWolf-Sam Featured By Owner Jul 9, 2014 Student General Artist

This is an excellent tutorial! Thanks for sharing!

"Heels down!" said every trainer ever lol. Especially jumping! Dressage isn't as much. Although, bareback can be done with your foot totally hanging because your balance is all in your core and thighs. I have been developing a looser leg in my riding but bareback, my whole lower leg is kind of "just hanging".

Liatai Featured By Owner Apr 24, 2014 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

This is going to be an -amazing- reference for my characters who ride -- and their mounts! Thank you, thank you, thank you for putting this together!

ROTTIEBONES Featured By Owner Feb 27, 2014 Student Digital Artist

This is VERY helpful, thank you for making it!! If you don't mind, I'm working on an art piece, but I have a predicament. I have 3 characters featured in it, and one is the mount, the other two are riders. The mount is a large Eastern Dragon that has six legs, the first pair being only useful as hands, not walking. The dragon in this piece is flying. How would the riders be situated on the dragon in this piece?

Droemar Featured By Owner Mar 1, 2014

On the shoulders?

ROTTIEBONES Featured By Owner Mar 1, 2014 Student Digital Artist

Shoulders? Hm. This is what I have worked out so far for the dragon, the saddle is highlighted in red. How would the riders be posed?

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ROTTIEBONES Featured By Owner Mar 1, 2014 Student Digital Artist

Shoulders? Hm. This is what I have worked out so far for the dragon, the saddle is highlighted in red. How would the riders be posed?

i916.photobucket.com/albums/ad…

MiraeChaos Featured By Owner Jun 1, 2014 Hobbyist Digital Artist

I dont knwo if you have already figured it out before, but personally I'd place the riders in jockey pose, perhaps a little more seated, but with the weight on the feet/knees of the rider. This way the dragon wouldn't be limited in its movement.

ROTTIEBONES Featured By Owner Jun 1, 2014 Student Digital Artist

Thank you! This helps!

tod309 Featured By Owner Jul 6, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Do you think you could do a tutorial on how to draw someone riding a bipedal mount?

Droemar Featured By Owner Jul 11, 2013

Probably not anytime soon. Watch videos of people riding ostriches!

kessir Featured By Owner Sep 14, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

Haha, i was going to ask for something similar. Thank you for this tut though, its very helpful!
Even if you dont have time to draw one about riding bipeds, just as a general inquiry, do you have any tips about it? I sadly dont know much about riding myself, but the thing about the balance was very, VERY helpful to me

Thank you once more!

Droemar Featured By Owner Sep 15, 2013

Biped mounts would make a person go from side to side very quickly. Rather like a laterally gaited horse (Tennesee walkers with a bad rack, etc.)

Kiwi-Stables Featured By Owner Jun 11, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

This is helping me so much! I still need to practice a lot, but this is great!

Thank you!

ICant-Explain-Myself Featured By Owner May 14, 2013 Student Traditional Artist

wow Your horse tutorials are really good, and correct with riding and how doing something wrong not only looks weird and uncomfortable but it is and can even possible hurt yourself, I know from riding and even when you just sit on the horse while staying still if your back is not straight it can start hurting (my back is also kinda messed up)
(Me Getting distracted sorry)

I agree your ''wrong'' illustrations are hilarious, and kinda remind me how funny it is for someone who weights like 150 to be on a miniature pony or regular pony just not large pony

Nintendraw Featured By Owner Apr 28, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

THANK YOU SO MUCH! And I'd started a manga that includes pegasi too!

Schwarznebel Featured By Owner Mar 15, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

zomg you are my hero!

lordzavulon666 Featured By Owner Mar 6, 2013

Shweet! Finally a tutorial to help with my LADY CALAMITY conceptuals. thanks for posting this dude! Awesome!

Yumezaka Featured By Owner Mar 3, 2013 Professional Filmographer

Wow. This is wonderful!! Thanks for sharing!!

Spkyneux Featured By Owner Mar 2, 2013 Hobbyist Photographer

Hah! I love this, especially the bottom regarding riding other animals.

LightningIdle Featured By Owner Feb 24, 2013 Student Traditional Artist

This will be really helpful with a commission I got. Thanks for posting this!

wickedangel17 Featured By Owner Jan 25, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Thank you! This will definitely come in handy

AIA42 Featured By Owner Jan 17, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

For the longest time I hadn't the foggiest idea how to go about drawing a human on horseback the correct way, and now, I SEE THE LIGHT! This tutorial is amazing, thanks for making it XD!

CounterCanterPhotos Featured By Owner Jan 4, 2013 Hobbyist Photographer

This is incredibly helpful!

sarcopdead Featured By Owner Dec 13, 2012 Student Digital Artist

this is very informative, thanks for it!

now i understand why it always looks wrong when a rider on some fantasy mount is sitting right in the middle of its back instead of up near the front.

Asthenie Featured By Owner Dec 12, 2012

This is really helpful, thank you!

Torrent-Space Featured By Owner Dec 9, 2012

People are suddenly going to read this and think they know how to ride a horse. Riding styles very heavily, anyways. There is no science or perfect way to do it. And I do see riders who don't ALWAYS keep their heels down, bare back and still stay on. Balance is a funny thing. But I get your point. Just saying. We don't need anymore ignorant, irritating horse people. There are enough stupid ones already.

Droemar Featured By Owner Dec 10, 2012

Even Stephanie Meyer can't be blamed for the idiot behavior of her stupidass fans. If someone thinks they can ride after this and goes out and breaks their neck, my hands are clean.

Torrent-Space Featured By Owner Dec 10, 2012

S. Meyer, u ruin vampires. :c

Tiaricale Featured By Owner Oct 19, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

Thank you so much for the tutorial! I went from pages to pages and this tutorial is the only one that I can find which tells me what I want to know

thenadefox Featured By Owner Sep 28, 2012

THANK YOU FOR THIS

It is intensely helpful!

DRY-Designs Featured By Owner Sep 28, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

This is all well and good.but what about dragons?

Thyressarexus Featured By Owner Nov 12, 2013

This tutorial is a good place to start.

You've read about the importance of the spine movement, the riding areas, etc. You may think about the "natural behavior" of any fictional dragon, how it uses it's teeth, foot, etc., and how one should design a saddle for encourage both natural behavior and seamless communication with the rider. Use your imagination!

Droemar Featured By Owner Sep 28, 2012

What am I, some kind of dragon-riding expert? DA suffers a dearth of poor tutorials; there's only so many holes in the system I can patch.

DRY-Designs Featured By Owner Sep 29, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Sorry, I didn't mean to set off a fuse...

disgustiphage Featured By Owner Jul 9, 2012

Hey, I hope it's alright that I've posted this up on my resources/references tumblr ([link]), for easier access and spreading a bit further. Sourced, of course. It's a good tutorial, very handy!