Finally some photos! Please Critique!

[Elvengirl]

I finally got some photos of myself jumping, please let me know your honest opinion!

[Elvengirl]

And one from the front

[Elvengirl]

and one more from the back!

[kedwards]

Nice pictures! I think you two look great.

[canadianbeaver]

you look great! you have a very secure position and aren't just throwing yourself over the jumps. You're looking forward and to the next jump which is perfect. Well done!

[Colorado Sunset]

You look fantastic! Both you and your horse look like your enjoying yourselves!! :)


Jo

[Showjumper]

Lovely photos! You have a very secure position and are looking up and ahead. The horse looks like he's really enjoying himself :) Congratulations! :)

[jenren!!]

wow, beautiful jumping position. you look in perfect balance, just like i would dream to be!! you look like you have good communication with each other and are working together. i wish you all the best for the future! nice horse by the way!!

X jenny X

[Elvengirl]

Wow! Thanks for all the wonderful compliments, now I feel like I could jump the moon! :)

Shaq really does love to jump (even though I think he gets a little bored jumping the little stuff, but o well, he'll just have to wait for me to catch up!). We've just started doing the jumpers and he gets very excited when he sees the bright fences and we practice our tight turns:D

Thanks again! Any more comments or criticism is welcome!

[jesselover09]

Beautiful horse! Your position is wonderful; very secure! Only 1 problem: Your horse (in the 1st pic especially) doesnt round over the jumps, as that is very important. My reccomendation is to work more on oxers to get him into the habit of round over jumps.otherwise, good job!

[Elvengirl]

Thanks for the tip! We have been working on getting him to round better over jumps. He is very forward going and I have to work a lot at getting him to wait for the fence and collect the HUGE stride he has (he is very long in the body). Unfortunately at shows, as the enviroment is much more exciting he likes to jump flat (thus why we never do well in the hunters!) I've found he is a bit better when I ride him in a pelham and he also is much better over higher jumps as they seem to make him back off a bit. Right now we are working on powering over large oxers and making him really use his hind-end so hopefully his form will improve with schooling and time! These pics were taken about 6 months ago, so I'll try and get some recent ones and see how much he has improved with oxer work. Thanks again!

[jesselover09]

Thats good, your doing all of the right things to get him to round! ood Luck!

[Casper]

i think you look really good!! are you at a show, if so how did you do (not that it's that important, just wondering!!) :D

[Elvengirl]

Yes we were at a show. We only got a 6th in one of our classes. Shaq and I have never placed well in hunter classes :( We are having much better success in showjumping though!

[Sparkle]

You look great! My only comment would be about your release in the first picture- your arms look stiff, as if he would be caught in the mouth if he stumbled or took a bad distance. I'm working on this too, jumping with an automatic release instead of a crest release to allow my horse to stretch and round out. Your position looks great!! :D

[Elvengirl]

Yups! I've been working on a long release, it's been tough getting rid of the need to use the neck for support. I don't need the neck anymore, but it's like a safety net for me! I first learned to jump I was taught to grab mane, then I had to learn to not grab mane but push into the neck, now I have to learn to keep my hands completely independent and follow the horses mouth, so much to learn! I had just started working on the long release when these photos were taken so hopefully it has improved a bit. I think my release is one of the things I have trouble with the most, actually it's my overall rein length that ends up interfering with my release! My coach is forever telling me to "shorten those reins" <sigh>

Thanks for the tip, I'll make sure I relax more and have a better release, hopefully with practice I'll get the hang of it! I'll try and get some up to date pics soon and see if I've improved! (If I haven't, I've got a lot of work to do!)

[casey]

I think you look great.

But i'd like to comment of a few points of the feedback you have received.

1, Jumping oxers, wont make your horse bascule over a jump. I could explain why, but it is lengthy. Besides, I think he is jumping nicely for the size of the jump.

2, Also, whether you give automatic/long/short crest release, depends entirely on the horse. (Not the rider) Some, you cant give the rein away at all, because in doing so, on landing impulsion will be lost. Particulary in back peddling horses.
Some you can give long release, particulary basculing horses. As they need more freedom of head.

Your horse doesn't look like he needs a long release.

My biggest bugbear in showjumping and indeed most disciplines, is people hear or are told a piece of information and transer it to all of their horses. When, in fact they need to ride a horse on its own merit.:)

[Cochise]

Originally posted by casey
My biggest bugbear in showjumping and indeed most disciplines, is people hear or are told a piece of information and transer it to all of their horses. When, in fact they need to ride a horse on its own merit.:)

Thank you Casey, that is the most sensible thing I think I have heard on this site for a long long long time!:cool:

[Elvengirl]

I couldn't agree with you more casey! :)

This is definatly not the case with me, and believe me I don't try to ride every horse the same. If I posted a pic of me jumping another horse, I would expect different criticisms. Any criticism people have pointed out about my horse has been in line with the work I do with my coach at home. I know doing oxers won't make him bascule (can you make a horse do anything?) but we've been working on getting him to use himself better, which would mean improve his jumping style a bit. Unfortunatly, due to the size of this fence in the pic, his flat approach doesn't matter much, but we run into trouble over bigger stuff as he easily hits a rail because he doesn't get his fronts up fast enough. We work on oxers, approach them at a bouncy, collected canter and get him to back off onto his hind end and push himself over, therefore leaving his front end more freedom. (We also do grid work and bounces too)It seems to really help with his cleanliness and his overall power (which is what showjumping is), and it does improve his form a lot (tucks those little knees right up), it's the kind of ride he wants, honest!

The long release is less for him as it is for me, although I'm sure part of the reason he jumps flat is due to my stiff release. I do have a problem with stiff releases as Sparkle pointed out, and my coach has wanted me to develop (more in mind than in body) an independant seat over the fences. So we do lots of long, short, automatic releases, wide hands, one hand, no hands (hands on your sides or out to the side like a bird, only through grids), and even backwards hands (hold the reins backwards that is)This is all in an effort to get me to learn how to ride a particular horse over a fence the way he/she may need it and get me to be more versatile, not really for his improvement. I'm only on my second (almost third) year of jumping so I'm still learning a ton of new things, and the amount of horses I've actually had the pleasure of jumping is small, so I don't have access to a good basculing horse to practice my long release on. The long release has helped me strengthen and use my upper body better on landing, and trust myself and my body, I am a tall rider (5'10") so my long upper body causes lots of strength problems. It has also helped get me out of the habit of just stiffly planting my hands on the neck, which is, IMO, way worse than doing a long release when it's not needed. The long release ALSO helps keep my rein length in check (another huge problem for me) and keeps me from jumping ahead etc. etc. . My horse is happy and comfortable with me doing various things on him, he knows I'm learning and is patient so it won't upset him. I wouldn't be doing long releases at a competition, but we are at home, and show season is over here, so we do different things this time of year.

Now that I've explained myself, I am totally thankful that you made this statement, because it would have been really incorrect of me to just do what everyone said for me to do. I'm still learning (aren't we all) so it's good to have that knowledge in the back of my mind, especially on a message board where info comes in many forms! Thanks for the tip! :)

[Hayley Calvert]

wow!! I have to say your position is better than mine!! You look fab together!