Legs Too Far Back And Other Probs....

[westley_jacobs]

hi
recently in my jumping lessons my instructer says my legs need to come forward more(?)
oh bye the way i have 2 lessons a week on my horse, a normal "everyhting lesson, (no jumpin in it) and a only jumpin lesson, but because i have2 different instructors when i do the normal flatwrk lesson my instructor tells me to make my stirrups longer (as im not jumping) but i find it realy hard and i get anoyed when she tells me to do this
cos evrytime i lenghthen them i am unbalanced and have a terrible lesson with my mare not listening because i am not comfy
any one got an idea? (my instructors dont come on the board so please feel free to be brutally honest- thanks;) )

[helenc]

I know how you feel :rolleyes:

I think the best thing to help you secure your seat & lengthen your leg is to work without stirrups. When you are schooling without your instructor, cross your stirrups over & have a walk around, keep your heels down & stretch your leg down so that your heel is as close to the floor as possible. If you feel secure then have a little trot. Keep working on this until you can comfortably trot for about 15 mins. When you put your feet back in, the stirrups will probably feel too short, if they do then lengthen them! If they feel long again the next time you ride then repeat the exercise until you get used to them being longer.

If you don't feel confident enough to do the above alone then ask your instructor if you can do some stirrup free exercises during the lesson.

[westley_jacobs]

thanks but i do stirrupless work ALL the time, in canter and have had a gallop before too ( a little scary i must add)
do u know any other reasons for this, i just hate having long stirrups and find my pony and i work better with shorter stirrups!
thanks;)

[helenc]

In that case you should speak to your instructor & tell him/her that you feel more secure with shorter stirrups & find out why they want you to go longer.

[westley_jacobs]

i will when i see her next, but u see shes very VERY strict,
the other day my pony ran away with me over a jump gallopping up the hill, (me with no stirrups and reins knotted as i was jumping without hands) got to the end of the hill, pony very naughtily then proceeded to jump over the paddock fence with me stil attatched, i didnt fall off, very surprising!!! but i was crying (im only 15, even though most may cry after that) and i sed i wanted to go in and not continue but she made me continue, i even told her a lie like i was feelin nauseas and dizzy!!
i admit i like the way she dont want me to give up but after that who wouldnt want to have a break, at least until next lesson---not like 12 months break, lol!
pleae reply!
sorry its so long!

[galadriel]

In jumping, you need shorter stirrups, your feet are a little more forward--but so is your body. Your whole center of balance is shifted.

When you go over a jump, your feet should stay under you; often when learning a rider will lan way forward and stick their feet out behind. I wonder if this is what your jumping instructor is talking about. there have been a couple of threads addressing this position issue in the past month or so. This one is just packed with great advice:
http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33965

When you ride dressage, your whole body should be on a vertical line. The legs should be further back than when you are jumping, and it requires a longer stirrup. Your weight should sink way down into your heels; you should have your leg lying softly against the horse; your upper body should be upright. If you feel that pulling your leg back and putting your stirrups down for dressage unbalances you, you may be leaning a bit forward. Your body will try to stay in a staight line with your heels; if your upper body is too forward, then the legs will want to creep forward too. Be sure that you keep your shoulders back :) this may help.

[westley_jacobs]

thanks to evryone that helped, i shall try next time (this sat)
but now i have to go get ready to go down the yard.....poop!