correct striding?

[jenren!!]

hi there, i haven't been on this site for a while now but i decided to visit again after a stressful two weeks of exams exams exams...
Anyway i just wondered whether any of you could advise me on jump striding? we never seem to get our stride right towards a jump. at the moment it seems like an even chance sort of thing he either gets it wrong or right. i want to be able to have his stride completely in my control - is it possible? luckily he's quite a clever pony and gets himself over the fence in any awkward way once he gets it wrong and clears it but it can feel really uncomfortable and often puts me off the bigger ones. please help!!

X jenny X

[clurly_wurly]

Hi Jenny, you could maybe try putting a placing pole in front of the jump. As far as I know, you would put it the distance of one of your pony's canter strides away, (though maybe somebody else could clarify that) and approach in a nice steady canter. This should help your pony and you to judge the distance from the jump and where to take off. Hope this helps!

Claire

[kedwards]

i want to be able to have his stride completely in my control - is it possible?

Well, yes and no. You control the stride length on the approach, but once you are in the last couple of strides to the fence, it's generally too late, and you won't likely do anything but interfere if you focus too much on trying to adjust the horse. If you are going in too fast and need to rebalance your horse or are going in with too little energy and need to add impulsion, you want to do this several strides out.

Working on gymnastics, lines, and jumps with placing poles can help you both to better establish your eye and rhythm. Also, be sure that you are sitting and relaxed to the fence, waiting for the horse to come to you over the jump. If you try to hard to "see the spot" and anticipate, then you may throw off both of your timing.

Finally, is there a pattern to how you normally get it "wrong?" In other words, when you feel that you've "missed" your distance, is it typically long, typically a chip (i.e., extra half-stride) or are both equally common?

[DavidH]

kedwards - nice reply, you can jump my horse anytime:D

Just to expand a little. Where the horse takes off is dictated by the length of stride on approach provided the rider does not get in front of the movement.
If you want the horse to get deep to the fence (close) then approach on a short bouncy stride. If you want it to take off further away the approach on a longer stride.
The critical thing is to allow the horse sufficient freedom in the last couple of strides to make fine adjustments.
Do this by just opening the fingers slightly and allowing. If you try to retain full control right up to take-off point then you are unlikely to meet the jump at the perfect position.

Don't focus on seeing a stride. Wait for the horse to take-off and go with it. Your cue should be the moment the horse bunches its muscles the instant before take-off. Learn to feel this and forget your eyes.

[helenc]

A good exercise to practice take off strides is to put slightly raised poles all around the school at various angles & practice approaching them as if they are a jump, the aim is for the pole to be the direct centre of the canter stride ;)

[jenren!!]

thank you for the advice - i'll try all that you've said! i have to say instead of getting his stride wrong and taking off early, he adds an extra stride and gets himself right under it and then jumps, which is what makes it uncomfortable. this often makes me nervous when jumping bigger ones - if we get it wrong i'm worried i'll completely lose my balance and fall off and i'm always scared of falling off!! thanks again i'll work on it!

X jenny X

[kedwards]

kedwards - nice reply, you can jump my horse anytime

You made my day David. Is there a blushing smiley? Unfortunately, I'm still what you might call consciously incompetent. I know just what I did wrong after I did it. Nine times out of ten, what I did wrong was trying to do too much.

Jenren, that extra little stride may be caused by your trying too hard to anticipate and control the jump. If you are picking at him on the approach trying to adjust him or getting ahead of him in anticipation of the jump, then it can throw his balance off. Keep your eyes ahead of you and just trust him to do his job. Generally, they are much better at this than we are.