Jumping Pictures!!!!!

[Karen/Folly]

Hi guys!

I went to a One Day Event yesterday (my first!!!) Dressage part, which didnt really interest me, but had to do it went average to mediocre I guess!!!! Well she walked, trotted and cantered where I asked her too - what more do they want in a Prelim test!!!!

Anyway, then on to the jumping bit - only a 2ft 3 course showjumping course then onto the cross country jumps (which were all in the same ring) so I guess it was more of a hunter type jumps!!?. But more than enough to test us at the mo!!!

I have attached some jumping pictures - so feel free to say exactly what you think of them!!!!

We had great fun, which was the main thing - she only knocked one pole in the showjumping and one run out of the x county - but because of our dressage score we werent placed!!!!

[Karen/Folly]

and another one ....

[Karen/Folly]

and another ....

[Karen/Folly]

and another

[Karen/Folly]

and another ...

[Karen/Folly]

last one guys!!!! thanks for being patient - obviously, I cant afford them all, which ones do you think I should buy??

[Bozzy]

Well Done!!! Glad to hear you had a good time! The pictures look really good and show you're enjoying yourselves!

I can't comment on your jumping (I'm waiting for the pics from my first XC yesterday to appear on photographers site, they were bad!!) but out of all of them I like the first, fourth and last the most.

What prelim test did you do? We're doing a prelim 7 this weekend and then have our first one day event the following weekend (I'm already very scared!!)

[Retty]

Brilliant Karen... Well done!! Loretta x

[Karen/Folly]

Thanks Becca!

I just cant decide - I think because I have such good memories of the day, I want them all!!! But I must be strong and choose!!!

It was prelim 4, which is supposed to easy, but obviously the judge was looking for something more than we gave!!!! Oh well, it was our first dressage test out - we usually just do showjumping or eventer trials!!!!

Dont forget to post your pictures too!!!! How did you do?

[Bozzy]

So which piccies are you going to get?!

I get so nervous in dressage I'm dreading Sunday but it's got to be done! I don't even think I can manage the walk, trot, canter when asked to! I have the laziest TB when it comes to schooling, he detests it!

Errmmm, I'm a bit embarassed to say!! We did a mini-XC so the classes were filled with tiny kids on their shetlands next to me on my 17hh tb!! We did the 1' 6" and the 2" (you'll understand why if you read a post entitled "XC ride ended in disaster"!). After thinking we weren't even going to start when he stopped dead we had 3 refusals at different fences in the first, because i took it very steadily he was spooking at every fence! In the second I decided to put my foot down (so to speak!) and he went brilliantly although we had a pull out in the second of a double but that was my fault. Considering it was only our second time out and our confidences were shattered from a couple of months ago, I was really pleased!!

[SarahJay]

Wow!! Fantastic Piccies!!:D

You both look great!!:D :) :p

[Fender]

Hiya!
Looks Like You Both Had A Lot Of Fun And You Looked Really Good Together As Well!

Very Pretty Horse :)

Love To The Masses
*xX*Xx*

[Gemma R]

lovely photos. i like the first one best.

[Karen/Folly]

Thanks for all your encouragement!!! I was really pleased with the piccies too, until recently I get more nervous at shows and end up doing the classic - 'stand up in my stirrups' - and I mean literally!!!!!!! So normally when I see the pictures I cringe with disgust, however, these ones are an improvement for me!!!

And Becca, there is absolutely no reason for you to be remotely embarrased about doing the 1ft 6 and 2ft classes - I think its fantastic that you are out there giving it a go!!! Plus it was only a couple of months ago I was doing 1ft 6 classes and I still do the 2ft classes sometimes if I am feeling a bit nervy!!!!! Plus if you can ride up to a 1ft 6 fence, you can ride up to a 2ft 6 fence - its not the height of the fence thats the issue, its how you ride!!!! I will have a look at your post!!

Thanks again guys xx

P.S. I am still trying to decide between the pictures - I really want to get them all!!!!

[Bozzy]

Your pictures are all really nice, just get them all then!!! Your horses head is gorgeous, such a lovely expression in all the pics.

Well we were jumping 3'6" at home last week so the height's not a problem for mine, he's just such a wimp and won't go near them, I couldn't even get him over 1'6"! The class was called 'The Winnie the Pooh Stakes'....wouldn't you be embarrassed entering that!!

Here's a picture of us, please excuse my jumping position and he looks a bit odd!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/becca120/Eddie/ED1.jpg

The other pics from the 2' class don't seem to have been uploaded onto the photographers site which is a shame as his jump was brilliant in those.

We're doing our prelim 7 this weekend and then a one day event with prelim 10, 2' 3" SJ and 2' 6" XC....I'll need plenty of luck for that!!

[Karen/Folly]

Becca you are a bad influence, I phoned the photographer and in a moment of madness bought every single picture!!!! Oh well, I guess I am going to be permantly in my overdraft!!!!!

I am now going to be mugging the postman every morning till my pictures arrive!!!!

Thanks for posting a picture of your boy, he is absolutely stunning!!! How long have you had him? Whats he like? Loads of info required!!!! He looks a big 17hh, my little mare is only 15.3h!!!!

Its funny you mentioned about Ladys head, as about 5/6 months ago, she banged her head and every since she has a small lump in the middle of her blaze - the piccies are probably too for away to see it properly!! Basically, it is the equivalent of a human breaking their nose and having a funny bump!!! Anyway, it makes her look orginal!!!!

[Bozzy]

Oh well, it's only money!! (something I never seem to have!) At least you've got lots of lovely pics now!

I've had 10 yr old Edward, since January, he's a very laid back TB, hates schooling, he does like jumping, the only problem is he's a big wimp! He doesn't have very much self-confidence for new things which we're slowly trying to improve!

He is lovely though, such a gorgeous temperament, I've taught my OH to ride on him as well so couldn't really ask for more!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/becca120/Eddie/Eddiehead.jpg

[TBEventer2002]

Great piccies, and congrats on your attempt! :)

However, I noticed right away that your horse jumps with the forearms pointing down--VERY dangerous, especially over cross-country no matter what height! Can sometimes be corrected with gymnastics.

You two look very cute together! :)

[Karen/Folly]

Becca, your piccies of Ed are absolutely stunning, he is a gorgeous grey!!!!! I bet he takes lots of grooming though!!!! I cant believe he is laid back through - you are very lucky!!!!

Lady who is also a TB (in case you hadnt guessed by the piccies), uses any excuse to go faster, not in a nasty way, just then when she is walking she wants to trot and when she is trotting she wants to canter.... you get the gist of it!!!!!! How is the dressage preparations going?

TBEventer - please can you explain what you mean? I dont understand!!! By forearms, do you mean the bottoms of her front legs? Do you mean she should be tucking her front legs up more? You have got me all panicky now - why is it very dangerous? Do you mean in case she hits the cross country fences? What kind of gymnastics do you mean? Sorry for all the questions is just that no-one has ever said anything like that about her before!

Thanks x

[TBEventer2002]

The third picture is the worst, though I don't think she is even in any of them to be honest.

The forearm is the part of the front legs from the elbow to the knee. It is not pretty to watch a horse that dangles from the knee down, but it's not as bad as a horse who jumps with their forearms below level.

If a horse hits a jump with their cannon or hoof, it often results in a rail down or a stumble, but can usually (not always) be ok in the end. If a horse jumps with their forearms pointing down, they run a serious chance of catching the jump with their knee and making them go head-over-heels over the jump.

I seriously reccomend to purchase a Practical Horseman, if you can find one. George Morris has a column in there every month where he analyzes four riders and their horses over fences. Though he is a hunter trainer, he makes good general points, and one of the biggest things he harps on about (besides turn-out of horse and rider) is dangerous jumping styles of the horse.

Hope that clarifies things for you. :)

[alliecatalex]

Great pictures! I like 1 and 4 the best...although they are all really good:D

[Karen/Folly]

Thanks TB Eventer, I think i am getting what you are trying to explain now - basically her lower front legs are dangling, instead of her holding them up? Sorry for being so thick, its just that no one has ever even mentioned it to me before!!!

I will have a search for Practical Horseman, is it a magazine or a book?

Thanks for your help

[TBEventer2002]

Originally posted by TBEventer2002
[B]The forearm is the part of the front legs from the elbow to the knee.[B]

...not the part from the knee to the hoof.

:)

[Karen/Folly]

Hi again!!!

Sorry to keep bugging you TB Eventer, but I have searched NewRiders jumping pictures, to see what other horses are doing with their lower front legs!!!! Basically, it looks like the bigger the jump (3ft plus roughly), the more the horse tucks their front legs under - maybe because they have too?

Anyway, I noticed that all the jumping pictures of smaller jumps (the course I did was only 2ft 3), the horses seem to be dangling their legs more.

Could it be they are not bothering to jump properly at the smaller heights? Basically that the horse doesnt respect the smaller jumps? - or do you think it is a jumping position that my horse will do no matter what the height? She very rarely knocks any poles down!

What do you think? Thanks x

[Karen/Folly]

SORRY!!!!! I get it (finally!!!) the top part of her front legs!!!!!!!

Thanks for being so patient!!!

[TBEventer2002]

No problem. :)

But, just for kicks, this thread might be of great interest to galadriel, KarinUS, and RachelEvent. They are very helpful when it comes to analyzing jumping piccies, too. :)

[Karen/Folly]

Thanks again - have you got any pictures of you and your horse to show the difference? That would be really helpful!!!

Hopefully your knowledgable friends will see my thread/pictures and have a look to see what they think?

[Calsanjo]

Hiya Karen,

Very lovely horse, can't believe you bought ALL of the pics... bet that cost you a bit! lol

I notice your horse is getting in very deep to the fences and this could be one of the reasons she is jumping the way she is. My young horse sometimes does this but I've been working to make his technique more consistent.

Try some grids, work on the canter and try to get a bit more power there. If you come into your fences with a bit more power, having worked on grids/transitions etc, your horse will back off more and pick up. Remember her stride is around 12 feet long... it's safer to be too far off than too close because the horse can always pop a little stride in there if needs be!

My pony Kinta never basculed as much as he should but he's so careful with his legs it doesn't seem to matter.. pic here (http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37521)

This is the young horse I was talking about... as you can see he's still tipped a little forward (hence why I am sat back!) but his foreleg technique is much improved... pic here! (http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36971)


I honestly think this is as simple as the quality of your canter... so good luck!

[IrisSilverMoon]

Originally posted by Karen/Lady

We had great fun, which was the main thing - she only knocked one pole in the showjumping and one run out of the x county - but because of our dressage score we werent placed!!!!

hehe...this is why you should pay attention to dressage in eventing...;)

It seems like its the unneccisary part, but a good dressage score can be the difference between winning and losing...:)

[Karen/Folly]

Iris Silver Moon - you are sooo right!!!! I stupidly treated the dressage part, as a kind of warm up from the jumping, I wont be making the mistake again!!! I didnt realise how heavily the marks relied on the dressage!! Still it was my first one day event, so it was the time to be making mistakes!!!!

Calsanjo, thanks for all the really helpful straightforward advice!!! Its really useful, I have a lesson tonight, so I will get practicing!!!! I can also show my instructor the piccs and see what she thinks!!! I love the pictures of you and your pony and horse, they definitely give me something to aim for!!! Still I am not somebody to give up, so we will just keep trying and trying!!!!

I know I cant believe I bought all the pictures either, I have got them through now and are worth every penny!!!! They are really useful for checking out my position as well!!!!

Thanks for all the useful help xxx

[kedwards]

Responding to the form question: It's true that most horse's don't look as tight in their knees or as rounded over smaller jumps. In particular, they may not fold the lower leg up so tightly. Plus, pictures often catch them as they are starting to unfold to come down.

However, if a horse is truly hanging his knees to the point where they are pointing straight at the ground while he is over the jump, then he is at risk of getting one caught and flipping over. This is where gymnastics, aimed at teaching the horse to pick himself up, will help.

[Hollymead]

The first thing I noticed about the pics too was Lady's untidyness with her front legs, but don't panic, there's loads you can do! One simple exercise that helped with a friend's horse was to set up a vertical fence as normal, then place two poles in a 'V' shape with the widest points on the floor, and the point in the centre of the top pole of the jump (sorry if that doesn't make sense, it's alright for me, I can see it in my mind!). Obviously only start with small fences so it's easier to get out of trouble, but it really can make them mind their front legs and tuck them up properly. Good luck! I'm confident you'll get there in the end :)

[MagicRidge]

Well for the first photos I think everyone covered everything. But a very lovley horse!!

Becca120 I LOVE YOUR HORSE!! I love grey's my fav, beautiful , just beautiful!
:D :D :D