Oliver's Mum
30th Jul 2008, 11:32 AM
Hi there
I've recently started learning to jump, and I wondered if anyone could recommend a good DVD I could buy.
I'm currently living overseas and though the school, horses and instructors are all lovely - my local language is awful so we manage with pigeon English and bizarre sign language :D
I've got a couple of the Sylvia Loch DVDs and they've supplemented my lessons beautifully, but I've come unstuck with the jumping.
The taking off is OK I think, but I keep falling forward when I land. I've been working hard not to let my hands come up and pull the horses mouth - but I can't seem to get my balance right.
I've been riding a different horse the last few lessons, he's a huge warm-blood with a long neck and body, his canter is much slower than the other two horses so I think I'm not sitting up as we approach. (I have to hold the other two or they race) He doesn't really seem to go up and over like the other horses, it's much more gentle and less obvious - he also seems to take off further away and I just can't get it right. The language difficulty makes it impossible to discuss the detail with my instructor - but if I could find something that would break down the basic steps - then perhaps I could work it out myself.
Any help would be very much appreciated. Yesterday, he put the bar up to door handle height, I had a go 3 times but lost stirrups twice. I stayed on, but I wasn't in control when we landed at all. My friend watched and said that my legs were too far back as I took off and that I didn't sit up soon enough. I need to suss out at what point I move my legs further forward. I've been watching the show jumping on TV today, and they all seem to be leaning forward when they land - but none of them end up riding on the horses neck! It all happens so fast I simply can't work it out on my own and I'm starting to dread the jumping lessons.
Is it something that finally just clicks, like the seat in canter? I've asked my instructor if we can do a lot more balance work for the next few lessons and then go back to the much smaller jumps so I can work on the landing. If there was a good instructional DVD I could use at the same time, it would make life a lot easier.
Thank you for any advice :)
I've recently started learning to jump, and I wondered if anyone could recommend a good DVD I could buy.
I'm currently living overseas and though the school, horses and instructors are all lovely - my local language is awful so we manage with pigeon English and bizarre sign language :D
I've got a couple of the Sylvia Loch DVDs and they've supplemented my lessons beautifully, but I've come unstuck with the jumping.
The taking off is OK I think, but I keep falling forward when I land. I've been working hard not to let my hands come up and pull the horses mouth - but I can't seem to get my balance right.
I've been riding a different horse the last few lessons, he's a huge warm-blood with a long neck and body, his canter is much slower than the other two horses so I think I'm not sitting up as we approach. (I have to hold the other two or they race) He doesn't really seem to go up and over like the other horses, it's much more gentle and less obvious - he also seems to take off further away and I just can't get it right. The language difficulty makes it impossible to discuss the detail with my instructor - but if I could find something that would break down the basic steps - then perhaps I could work it out myself.
Any help would be very much appreciated. Yesterday, he put the bar up to door handle height, I had a go 3 times but lost stirrups twice. I stayed on, but I wasn't in control when we landed at all. My friend watched and said that my legs were too far back as I took off and that I didn't sit up soon enough. I need to suss out at what point I move my legs further forward. I've been watching the show jumping on TV today, and they all seem to be leaning forward when they land - but none of them end up riding on the horses neck! It all happens so fast I simply can't work it out on my own and I'm starting to dread the jumping lessons.
Is it something that finally just clicks, like the seat in canter? I've asked my instructor if we can do a lot more balance work for the next few lessons and then go back to the much smaller jumps so I can work on the landing. If there was a good instructional DVD I could use at the same time, it would make life a lot easier.
Thank you for any advice :)