Although gas is totally normal, it shouldn’t prevent you from living your life. Talk to your doctor if bloating, pain, or embarrassment is causing you to avoid activities or is making it hard for you to take care of your responsibilities. They can help you find relief for your symptoms.  Tell your doctor how your excess gas is affecting you, as well as what you’ve tried to find relief. If you’ve been keeping a food diary, bring it to your appointment so your doctor can review it. Consider asking your doctor for a referral to see a dietitian, who can help you design a diet plan that may help you control your gas. While you likely don’t need to worry, excessive gas could be a symptom of a more serious condition. If you develop serious symptoms, your doctor will review your medical history, go over your diet, discuss medications you’re taking, and conduct a physical exam. From there, they may decide to do basic diagnostic tests to rule out causes for your symptoms. Visit your doctor if you experience the following severe symptoms in addition to gas, which might be a sign of a serious condition:  Abdominal pain Fullness or pressure in your abdomen Swelling in your abdomen Bloody stool Changes in your stool Difference in frequency Constipation or diarrhea Weight loss Vomiting or nausea Try not to worry because you’re probably okay. However, abdominal pain that won’t go away may be a sign of a serious condition, like appendicitis or a bowel blockage. Similarly, chest pain could be a sign of a medical emergency. You need prompt treatment to help you recover and feel better. Visit an urgent care center or emergency room to get checked by a doctor. These symptoms may be caused by gas, and your doctor can help you figure out what’s going on.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- See your doctor if excess gas is interfering with your daily life. Get tested for an underlying medical issue. Get emergency care for persistent abdominal pain or chest pain.


Don't pull back, rather act like your elbows are removed from your moving body and you're holding the horse's hand (or, rather, his mouth). As you rise your pelvis should go forward and up, gliding up into the space between your hands without any interruptions. Your back should be straight, with your chest up and your shoulders back. As you go down, sit softly into the saddle only for enough time as takes to rise again. The entire movement of posting should be very upward based, and when your seat touches the saddle it should be done very lightly, and immediately be proceeded by rising again.  Firstly, sitting straight up and down takes too long and will cause you to lose your rhythm. Secondly, standing up straight in the stirrups will cause your legs to involuntarily shoot forward, throwing you off balance. And thirdly, rising straight up will cause you to land heavily in the saddle, which puts pressure on the horses back and defeats the purpose of posting in the first place. Instead, you should try to move forwards and backwards while rising, as this is a much more organic movement. When your horse's outer front leg goes forward, move your pelvis forwards towards the top of the pommel. You should only rise an inch or two out of your seat - just enough to clear the saddle. Don't use your feet to propel yourself - in fact, your legs don't come into the equation at all! Point your knees towards the ground, then squeeze your inner thigh muscles to lift your pelvis out of the saddle. As you rise out of your seat, lean forwards at a 30 degree angle. This helps you to move more naturally with the horse, allowing him to trot better. The one exception to this is in dressage, where the shoulders stay straight, in line with the hips. As the horse's outside shoulder move back, sit down softly into the saddle. When you change rein (that is, change direction when riding in an arena), your horse's inner hind leg and outer front leg will switch diagonals, which means you will have to change your posting rhythm.  To change diagonals, remain seated for one extra stride, so when you rise from your seat it will be in sync with the forward motion of your horse's (new) inner hind leg and outer front leg. In other words, instead of doing up - down - up - down you will do up - down - down - up. It sounds complicated, but it's easy once you get the hang of it. You don't need to worry about changing diagonals when you're out on a hack, as the horse has no "inner" or "outer" legs outside of the arena. However, this gives you a good opportunity to practice posting and changing diagonals, as you can decide to switch sides as often as you like.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary --
Gather the reins so you're in contact with the horse's mouth. Post forward and up simultaneously, then down and back. Change your diagonal when you change rein.