# Jumping Critique- Rider only, please!



## blush (Feb 10, 2007)

First off, I *really* like your overall position! 
You are a very solid rider in the tack: your lower leg is fabulous, your eye is up, your back is flat and you aren't crawling up your horse's neck over the fence! Even in your "awkward" picture, your position is still solid even if it is a bit behind the motion. I honestly wish I had your position when I was at your level!

Now to be nit-picky - just lift your bum out of the saddle a tad. Your sitting a bit too much on yuor horse's back over the fence and just that little air between you and the saddle will help your horse jump up to you. 

But honestly, that's only thing I see that needs improving. You and your horse look wonderful and I will be very surprised if you don't win your classes comming up! Good luck!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Aw, you're way too nice! Thank you so much for your kind words.

I will definitely try to 'lift' more. I think I was trying very much to not lean up her neck or 'over two-point', if you know what I mean, so that could account for the sitting back. 

I'm very excited for the show! Unfortunately, the hack class is the first riding class of the day, so she may be a little hyper. We already have issues rushing (that was mostly what I worked with today- lots of half halts!), so I'm a little apprehensive about that. Luckily, you get one warm up jump!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Blush said it better, but I thought you looked really solid , too. right over your horse!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Thank tinyliny!  
I certainly am glad you think it looks solid- that's what I'm going for!


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

Blush pretty much covered it horseluver  I think you have a great foundation and are starting out on the right foot! Very good!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Yay! I'm very happy to hear that! I will keep you all updated with photos as I progress- this weekend is the first step!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Bump


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## Can He Star (Mar 9, 2011)

I think you look great. I wish I was that good


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## 888vegas888 (Jun 23, 2010)

I think you look awesome!!! :thumbsup: Really nice and secure 

But in that last pic, was she supposed to leave the ground before the groundpole?? Her feet are right in between the pole and the jump. :think:
And I think I can see that pole in mid-fall :lol:

Great job, though!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Haha, yes, that last picture is a picture full of fail. I don't even understand how we got in between the ground pole & jump... 

Yes, it ended up falling as well. That was one of our issues- rushing jumps- and it usually ended up with her rushing and then just blowing through the jump instead of jumping correctly. Towards the end of the lesson, it was much better, and of course I don't have more pictures of that!

Thank you for your kind words!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Bumping this up


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Well, the show was today. The pattern was really odd- for our circuit, at least- and so we had one duck out, but ended up going over the 'scary' jump the second time. Unfortunately, I was more concerned with going over the jumps than with trivial things like, uh, leads. Whoops. 

On the brighter note, it was a large class, and over half the class had refusals ending with skipping jumps or taking an extra circle. We only had one refusal, and got over it fairly easily the second time.

The jumps were also quite large for us, 2'6 crosspole and then a 3' crosspole. It was very challenging to ride over such large jumps, and I'm quite ashamed of my position over them. At home, we will certainly stick to smaller crosspoles until my position is steadier. Is that a word? 

Anyway, I should be jumping sometime at home this week, and will get pictures and/or videos & post them. We have another show this upcoming Saturday and it will have hunter hack as well, so be on the look out for more updates! 

Thanks for all the advice, and I hope you'll have much more to offer. I only have a few pictures from the show, and again, they are rather embarrassing, but I will post them as soon as they are available on FB so I can get the harshest critique.


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## Equss (Jul 2, 2011)

i think your very good overall.

my only suggestion is to have your reins alittle bit shorter but that could also depend on what you have been told and stuff.


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Thanks for the advice! Yes, I have the tendency to lose my reins over jumps. I think I worry about catching her mouth, so I take the 'safe' route and practically drop my reins. I'll work on that.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

Looks like you already did your show, but my nitpik is to think of hugging the horse with your legs as you jump. There's a hint of pinch knee in that 3rd pic. A little friction hugging will go a long way toward keeping your lower leg where it's supposed to be. Great overall position though. Upper body's great.


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Thank you for the advice- I can certainly still use all of it- two more shows with hunter hack for this season, plus all the practice in between!  

Very interesting way to picture it, hopefully that'll help me out. 

So here are the only two pictures of actually jumping from the show. We had awful weather, heat index of like 104 F? Luckily jumping was the first riding class so we didn't have time to be tired. 
Feel free to critique Rainy as well.

Our warm up went like this- attempted jump, duck out, attempted jump, go over, attempted jump go over- and this was the one we obviously went over. 










My critique is my legs! Yikes! I realized after going in that I hadn't shortened my stirrups enough and took the break in between warm up and the class to do so, which accounts for most of that, but I'll keep the 'hug the horse' idea in mind. Also, it looks like I'm leaning up too far on her neck, exactly what I was afraid of! Sigh. I'd like to account it to the jumps being higher than I expected, but still. Bad me. On the other hand, I didn't lose my reins over this jump, kept contact with her. I think if I was so far ahead I would like my release, but with me up her neck I think it looks a lot 'less' of a release than it actually is.
Whew. Moving on.

Now this is the first jump of the actual class. It's coming down from the jump (so awkward!). After this, we had to do a lead change (which we did okay) round the arena, and take the second and last jump. During warmup, we were not allowed to take the second jump, and I had a feeling that we might have issues with it. At first she pushed towards the left side to duck out, and then I over corrected with my leg & rein aids and we ducked out to the right. The second time around I ignored the leads and just made her go over it. I don't think it was very pretty, but we didn't knock it. After the second jump, we had to do another lead change (we luckily landed on the right one and didn't have to worry about it) and hand gallop to a cone, halt, settle & back up, which we did alright at. Not perfect, but I didn't expect that for our first time!










Alright, so I know it's coming down from the jump, but still feel free to critique. What I see is my naughty leg (UGH! hug the horse, hug the horse, hug the horse!), my heel popped up, and I'm leaning with my hands on her neck. I need to stop using her neck as a crutch on the way down. I think I either didn't lift out of the saddle enough over the jump or I sat down wayyy too early here. Need to work on lifting 'up' over the saddle so she can jump to me, same as before.

Alright, rip me to shreds! Even though we didn't place and had a couple duck outs, I'm really proud of her.


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## Equss (Jul 2, 2011)

with you leaning to far forward my old trainer always told me to try stick my butt out more and it helped to bring me back into the saddle more


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## HunterChick (Jul 4, 2011)

Tuck up in your hips so you don't lean forward. Also it seems like your giving almost to much, and don't have enough contact.


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Thanks for the advice! I'll try that, Equss. Hopefully it helps!

I'll remember that, HunterChick. I definitely needed better contact during my lesson, but I think it improved at the show. 

I welcome critique! More please!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Bump


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

the reason you are having trouble with balance on the landing side of the jump, is that you are jumping ahead on the upside. see in the first pic how far you are out of the saddle and up the neck ? when you throw yourself off balance like that you end up falling backwards when the horse starts to land. work on keeping your upperbody still on take off and your landing will be much more balanced.


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Thank you!

I'll work on that next time I jump  I'm not sure why I had such a problem with that at the show but not at home. I jumped today (2'6 crosspole, 2' vertical) and didn't seem to have that issue. Maybe it was nerves? Or the height? I'm not sure. Hopefully at this weekend's show I'll have more pictures, but I'm not promising anything.


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

it could have been nerves, many people jump ahead worse when they are nervous.


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

At this weekend's show, I'll try to stay calm before my class. We'll see if it'll help!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Just bumping this up. Also, the video from last weekend's hack class:


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## Bandera (Jul 31, 2010)

so when you jump, keep your shoulders back, you need to flatten you back a bit as you tend to kind of slouch. When you jump go into 2 point before the jumping and then about 2-3 strides go into 3 point so your closer to the horse before the jump. When you horse goes over the jump flatten your back and stick your but out a bit more, shove your heels down and grip the horse with the inside/back part of your calf. take a deep breathe out right when your coming up to the jump, it should relax you so you dont jump ahead. also when your turning use more outside reins to balance your horse out while applying inside leg to keep your bend. I hope that helps


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## Oxer (Jul 9, 2010)

in the video you're cantering your horse with his/her head turned to the outside... the horse is also being allowed to careen around without much direction (hunters = collected, light, etc) 
so when on approach of fence #2 you've already turned your horses face out to the right... so where does he/she go... to the right. 
Straight. Straight. Straight!! no over correcting with your hands. your seat and legs need to do the talking. Not your hands.


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## HunterJumperXC (Jul 13, 2011)

You look like you're doing great!


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## HunterJumperXC (Jul 13, 2011)

Okay, so now I've looked at the video. When you jump does it feel like your horse starts to buuild and speed up? I think that you might be making too much of a movement with your body which coucld be causing your horse to speed up and get excited. Hope this helps!


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Yes, yes, we rush fences.
And I totally agree, Oxer. I've been using exercises from 101 jumping exercises for horse and rider (awesome book, I love it!) and put my mare back in a light d-ring snaffle that we've worked in before. Two days of working with four or five of these exercises, and we are doing much better. Less rushing the jumps, and while her (my horse) attention is on the pattern we work on, it helps me to focus on my equitation. I think we've improved in leaps and bounds, and will continue with the book's exercises. I'm very excited! 
Unfortunately, no new pictures since we've started the exercises, but here's one from the second show we did hack on. 
I fell off during the warm-up jumps. But they were MASSIVE. After I fell, and um, regained consciousness, they lowered the jumps and we did much better.









The first clip in this video (um, feel free to watch the rest, but you don't have to... it contains clips from the long distant past, eek!) is the video from during our class, but I wouldn't judge us by it. I was super nervous during the class because of falling off, and naturally did not jump my best. So, yes.





I will hopefully get recent pictures or videos of us jumping soon.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

After seeing the video, I'd say it's time to focus on your flatwork. Until you can make large circles with your horse traveling in correct bend and good rhythm, I wouldn't jump another fence. Every time you get him to a fence without being straight, he's going to be less interested in actually jumping the fence. Here's a good exercise for counter-bending issues. 

Place two ground poles 33' apart. (Any 11' stride distance will work except a one stride) Trot or canter over pole number one. Instead of proceeding to the next pole, make a nice round 20 meter circle with the goal of coming back to the exact place you began, hence you'll go over pole #1 again. Once you get there, right dead straight to the next pole, repeat the circle and go back over pole #2. The idea is to be circling and correctly bent only when called for and to then be dead straight only when called for. Hope that helps.


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

I'll try that out MBP. I definitely don't like how we're jumping in the videos, but I also think we're already improving. Again, I will aim for more videos/pictures the next time I'm out.

ETA: This is from a week or two ago. I know we have flat issues, but I thought I'd put this up as well.


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Bumping this up.


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## Skittlenatt (Jul 17, 2011)

You just need to shorten your reins and keep your hands off her neck, otherwise she'll be struggling to pick up over the fence =] Remember, taking off further away is better than too close! If you think she's going to put in a small stride, kick on for a long jump. Doesn't matter so much for this height, but it'll make it alot easier if you want to go bigger =]
Your posisition is great, and your horse is lovely. You'll do well =D


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## Skittlenatt (Jul 17, 2011)

Also, after watching the video, remember to use your outside legs as you turn, I know it's hard with a forward horse as mine's the same, but you'll find it 10 times easier and a lot more comfortable. =]


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Thank you for the advice. I have noticed taking off too close is much worse than far away. I do tend to forget to use my legs with turning, but am trying to keep it in mind. 
Thank you


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## JessXxX (Oct 30, 2009)

Um i've never really done critique before and I don't know how helpful it will be. It's just something my instructor said to me the first day I had a lesson with her. the first thing she said was riding is like steering a wheel-barrow at first i was like what? That makes no sense, but then I began to understand it. When you steer a wheel barrow it is impossible to have unequal contact to both the handles other wise the wheel-barrow will tip over, it's sort of the same as a horse let your outside rein go and they'll bend to whichever rein has more contact same with the inside so you need an equal contact to keep them straight. The second comparison is to steer a wheel-barrow you need to use your weight behind your hands to turn it, weight first, then hands come in later, again the same with horses. Really you should hardly need your reins for turning your horse it should be with your centre of gravity and legs. A horse will automatically step under your centre of gravity or it will fall over (well not quite but you get my point) The other thing she told me from day one is the reins do not steer the neck they steer the shoulders. I think this will help with your flat work  My instructor is dressage and so i trust her opinion on this quite a lot and seeing as she has broken, foaled, trained dressage horses up to advanced level, I value what she says highly haha i hope this helps like I said not experienced with this kind of thing so i hoped it made sense and helped  As for your jumping in the video of you jumping with your friends I think you should watch the chesnut and how controlled his movements are compared to your mares she rushes a lot i think next to flat work this should be your next priority as how can you expect either of you to jump properly when your heading towards the jump at 100 miles an hour haha xD But anyway she is a beautiful horse and you are a very good rider. everyone needs to improve hey even my instructor still takes lessons and shes been traning and competeing for goodness knows how long haha.  Hope it helped, and good luck in the future!!


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