# Jumping Critique!!! Please tell me what you think!



## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

My horse that I have had for a year i jumped at my local shows and I think he makes a beautiful jumper. PLease do not critique me only my horse. I have some ground pictures and he is very stocky but is a good english horse!


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

Oops I did not post a ground picture!!


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## reining girl (Jan 30, 2009)

Im not a english person, but i will say his jumping style cracks me up lol. He also has a devious look to him lol.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I can't really critique his jumping because he is basically stepping over those crossrails. He would need a larger vertical to get him to actually jump. From the photo of him cantering, he looks like he can use his hind end well which would allow him to be a good jumper. I'm not good with conformation critiques so I can't comment on his overall build.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Unfortunately I cannot critique the horse without saying something about the rider. Unless the horse is free-jumping, the rider will always impact how the horse jumps. 
If you would like me to go ahead with my critique I would be happy to, but I cannot do one without the other, it's kind of like trying to read a sentence without punctuation. 
(Eg: "Girls without boys would be nothing" can become:
"Girls, without boys, would be nothing" or
"Girls: without, boys would be nothing")
Does that make sense?


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## chevaliernr (May 24, 2009)

JustDressageIt, I love your comparison. 
I agree with the above. First off, it's difficult to critique over cross-rails. He's not going to really use himself over jumps that small. Secondly, as JustDressageIt said, the rider is always going to affect the horse. We may tell you he's not using his hind end, he's not round, etc, but such a critique would be useless if you didn't know why.
But for the record, he's a cutie. =)


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

Hes deff cute.. but hes not even jumping.. sorry..  He just steping over. 

And JDI is right you cant do one with out the other..


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

ok. i see what you all are saying, but do you think he has the conformation for it?


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Any horse that is sound of body and mind should be able to jump 3' with ease. Really, that's not saying much. What level are you looking to do with this horse?

The trick is to learn to do it well. (Balanced, rhythmic, and together.)
I'm not trying to be mean at all, but both you and the horse have a lot of learning to do before I would suggest moving up a level. 

Would you like a critique?


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## anna13 (Jul 29, 2009)

He's just stepping over!


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

yes i know hes just stepping over anna13 i have been told that already. i am at 3" straightbars with him and i have jumped 4'' with him. the shows he went to he got all and he threw himself over the jumps instead of gliding over like he does and thats why i am leaning forward so much. so yes if you want to do a crituqe Justdressageit then you can. he has problem with his feet so i have to watch him carefully after a jump course also!!! a crituque would be good for me anyway because i have a new trainer and this can only help me!!

thanks!


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

oops! he got all nervous at the shows


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Okay, first off, you really need to lean back more. Throwing yourself forward like that will only put pressure on his front end, making it harder for him to get himself and you safely over an obstacle. For a jump of that size, you don't need much of a two-point, you just want to tilt forward slightly and get out of the saddle a bit. You are basically throwing yourself on his neck, which makes it really hard for both of you to balance.
I would recommend shortening your stirrups a hole or two; you are in flatting length.

"threw himself over the jumps instead of gliding over like he does and thats why i am leaning forward so much."
If you throw yourself forward this much and he stops/refuses/ducks out, you're going to be in the dirt. You have no point of balance when you're this far forwards.

"he has problem with his feet so i have to watch him carefully after a jump course also!!! "
So... you're ducking forwards to watch how his feet clear the jump?? This is very unsafe. If his feet really are that bad over these small jumps, you and your trainer need to take a step back and figure out what's going wrong. You should NOT ever ever ever have to watch a horse's feet over the jumps! If you throw yourself forwards then tilt your head down to check out your horse's feet, you are throwing him on his forehand. This creates an imbalance in your horse and he really literally has to throw himself over the jump just to clear it; this is evident in the pictures.


Really I do think that you and your horse are super cute together, but I am worried about your safety after reading your comments. I really do hope that your new trainer will help you out


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

Sorry for the misunderstandign about his feet. What i ment is i cant jump him very high because he has ver bad feet and the pressure of me makes them crack really bad. Im sorry i should have explained. But i see what you are saying about me leaning foward to far. see my instructer was always on the phone so i had always learned to do it the wrong and harder for the horse way, now that i have my new instructer i am actually learning how to jump. this was before i got my new trainer so thank u and i am sorry about the whole feet thing!


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

Have you looked into supplements or corrective shoeing? It's not normal for his feet to be cracking just from jumping, I'd think they'd be cracking anyway. We have a couple mares with horrible feet like that - Shay-las 2 year old half Draft lost an entire hunk of her hoof this past winter. She started her on a supplement and farrier work every 4-5 weeks instead of 6-8 weeks and the change has been very drastic. I guess she won't know for sure how well until she starts riding her, but I wouldn't be jumping a horse if his feet are that brittle.

He's definately a cutie. It's really impossible to tell how high he could go based on these photos. Free jumping tends to be a much better indicator of how well he can use himself I find, without restriction of a rider. Our friend is training her 4 year old how to jump, and she'll just step over crossrails with a rider and yet can fly over close to 3'0" with perfect ease, and good form when she's free jumped.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Best of luck with your new instructor!! I would love to see update pics in the near future


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

MacabreMikolaj said:


> Have you looked into supplements or corrective shoeing? It's not normal for his feet to be cracking just from jumping, I'd think they'd be cracking anyway. We have a couple mares with horrible feet like that - Shay-las 2 year old half Draft lost an entire hunk of her hoof this past winter. She started her on a supplement and farrier work every 4-5 weeks instead of 6-8 weeks and the change has been very drastic. I guess she won't know for sure how well until she starts riding her, but I wouldn't be jumping a horse if his feet are that brittle.
> 
> He's definately a cutie. It's really impossible to tell how high he could go based on these photos. Free jumping tends to be a much better indicator of how well he can use himself I find, without restriction of a rider. Our friend is training her 4 year old how to jump, and she'll just step over crossrails with a rider and yet can fly over close to 3'0" with perfect ease, and good form when she's free jumped.


yes we have got him on supplements and our old blacksmith put shoes on him that were a size to big and he is now being done every 6 wks and he has new shoes now! he was neglected before we got him and he foundered and hjis feet went down hill. that is what i was told but that does not make sense to me. he is 15 and as i said before i only had him a yr. now the blacksmith before our 3 was young and did a crapy job and that made his feet 10 times worse. well i will be getting more pics hopefully soon so i will post then later!


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## lovemyponies (Jul 26, 2008)

i am at 3" straightbars with him and i have jumped 4'' with him.

Just clarifying, you have been jumping 3 and 4 feet with him? glad to hear you have a new trainer, and keep us updated. I am thinking that might be a bit much (3 and 4 ft) especially if he has foot issues.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

Erm, I'm pretty sure she means inches. " means inches, ' is for feet. (3" is inches, 3' is feet).


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## morganshow11 (Dec 19, 2008)

Do you mean 3 inches or feet HH08?


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

Since our horses reflect 100% of what we do in the saddle, it is hard to critique the horse if the rider is in no way, aiding their horse.


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

lol sorry i ment 3'!! i hit the wrong button!


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Could we see a photo of you doing a 3 foot (') fence? I'm confused as to why you're doing crossrails then.... and if you are doing 3' (feet) with your horse... I'm concerned.


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## 1dog3cats17rodents (Dec 7, 2007)

JDI, " is inches, not feet.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

I realize that, but she said: 

"lol sorry i ment 3'!!"

' = feet... I think she's saying she's jumped 3' (feet) not "(inches)


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## lovemyponies (Jul 26, 2008)

Okay to OP you are saying you have been jumping 3 to 4 feet not inches?? Sorry but I would say you are not ready for that and a horse with bad feet would not be the best choice for jumping that high on a regular basis. I don't mean to suggest you aren't being truthful, however I do think sometimes we get confused about how high we are jumping.

I know we had a young lady come to our barn and stated she wanted to lease a horse who could jump at least 3 to 4 feet and said she had been jumping that for a long time, but turns out she was doing 18 inches up to 2 feet but just didn't realize it.

So that could be the source of confusion. Maybe?


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

With how the OP's form is over the small xrails - I would definately say she is no where ready to be jumping 3'0".


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## Madztheflip (Aug 4, 2009)

Your horse is a gorgeous color. ;D
Sorry if that's completely irrelevant, but it's true.


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

i am doing crossrails because the show i was at scratched the other classes because i was to late to enter. i do not have any pics of me jumping that high because i do it in our back field and i am usually alone. i will ask to get some pics as soon as i can. and thank you for the comment about his color Madztheflip!


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

oh and the reason they scratched the classes is because noone else was jumping that high and i just did not enter in time


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

I am very concerned for your form over larger fences then. I'm not trying to be mean, but your form isn't where it should be, and you're putting tremendous stress on his front end because you're balancing on him, you're not relying on yourself for balance. 
I do agree with MIE that you're nowhere near ready to tackle larger jumps. 
I would highly suggest getting a trainer to help you with your form. I would go back to square one and work on your position; you need to develop a strong base of support so you're relying only on yourself to balance, in case your horse (who looks like a saint by the way, super cute) ever decides that today he wants to run out at a fence.
Your legs are not supporting you. Your arms and your horses neck are holding you up over the crossrails. 
With my students (when I was teaching on the side) I would not let them progress past a trot pole until they could balance in a two point with their arms out to their sides through all gaits and over trot poles. Then they would progress to small x rails or verticals (straight bars) and would stay there until I deemed them ready to move up a step. If you were my student, I'm sorry if this is harsh, but you'd be going back to square one until you developed a strong base.


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

you are not being mean in any way this is only helping me and my horse. i was tought the wrong way for two yrs and that is why i have the wrong form. i am doing alot better and i have a lesson tomorrow night and i will post what my trainer said. it is my third lesson and she had me jumping on my second. please remember if future posts that this was two months ago and i have stronger legs and a much better form than i had before thanks to my instructers! thank you for doing the crituques on me also!!


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

I am utterly confused now. You're asking if he has the conformation for jumping, but telling us he jumps 3', which answers your question right there. You also told us he can't jump any higher because his feet crack. Higher then what? Crossrails? Or 3'0"?


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## lovemyponies (Jul 26, 2008)

horseshorses so glad to hear you are getting lessons. I am sure your trainer will help you a lot. I would def stop jumping so high especially if your horse has foot issues until your form is better and his feet are better. Give us an update when you get some new pics, and remember higher doesn't mean better


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

i will keep you guys updated and he should not be jumping any higher that 3' but i have BEFORE and my mom does not think he should be any higher but i have only jumped 4' twice and i am going to go back to small; crossrails to work on my form and i will use my TB for the other jumps when she and i are ready. but just because i have been using him for a jumper does not mean that he has the right conformation for jumping. i think he does but that is why i posted a thread on here is because i wanted to get some more opinions! thanks so far guys for all your help and some more opinions for my form ect.. would be appreciated!


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## lovemyponies (Jul 26, 2008)

get some better conformation shots from different angles, check the sticky thread about this in the critique section and we can give better advice on his conformation being suitable for jumping.

As for jumping 4 feet, I would def agree with your mom, stay away from that. 

anyway I am really happy to hear you are working with a trainer and a mom who is interested in how you are doing. Good for you, do you have any pics of your TB? love to see that one too.

Keep working on it, dedication is half the battle to becoming a better rider.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Wonderful! I'm glad to hear it, and would love to see update pics in a few months


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## HorsesHorses08 (Jul 7, 2009)

yay i had a lesson tonite and my insructer said that i am a good rider its just my form!! i did not jump due to the horse i was on but that is ok. i am learning and that is all that matters!


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