Jumping ponies

[alwaysfallingof]

I find that I have terrible trouble when I'm jumping Max because when my stirrups are at a sensible length then my feet dangle in mid-air (not a problem in itself :) ) and when I jump then my lower legs to very very strange things, either shooting forwards so I get embarassingly left behind, or shooting backwards so I lose balance.
I think that it might be due to the fact that my legs are quite long on him, but does anyone else have this problem?
I can't shorten my stirrups any more because otherwise I'm completely perched, and because my saddle is a GP there's not really anywhere for my legs to go!

[jUmPingIsLifE]

i have that problem when i ride snickers (a little pony where i work) i rode him nearly every day last summer! however whenever trotting jumps around 2'6 my feet would allways hit the jumps. lucky for me though i only ever had to trot sometimes over jumps that big, when we canterd he would clear them by so much it didn't matter but even then my feet would hit the jumps once in a while. my feet allways dangle on him even if i put my stirrups short (he is a very small pony but unfortunatly not child safe yet!) try gradually upping your stirrups, just a hole at a time, and do it only when you are doing well at the hole you up them on. but as long as your feet arn't knocking down jumps like mine you arn't that bad off :D

[alwaysfallingof]

Thanks Jumpingislife :)
My feet aren't hitting the jumps...yet :eek: But I'm just having trouble keeping my lower leg still...especially when he can't decide whether he's going to 'power-jump' (about 3 foot higher than the fence actually is) or just hop over it :rolleyes:
I don't really want to put my stirrups any shorter because I usually ride dressage length, and have spent AGES getting him to work off my leg with my legs at that length.
If I shortened my stirrups so that my feet weren't dangling then I would be riding at jockey length, and would have to work on a completely new leg aid system to the one we use for flatwork :rolleyes:
So confusing!