going backwards instead of forwards :(

[greeneyes13]

really rotten lesson last night. as in i felt it was the worst ive ever ridden. for some reason over the last 3 weeks my jumping position has fallen to pieces, i used to be fine over jumps just leaning casually out of the saddle giving the horse his head altho sometime getting a bit too far ahead on landing. now my feet are throwing themselves all over the place, no lower leg stability at all. whats going on? the horse i ride has changed but im not sur this has much to do with it im confident on him.help!

[Bay Mare]

Isn't your instructor correcting your position? We used to do lessons where we worked on our position, going in and out of our position and pole work without ever going for a jump!

If you're throwing your weight forward then your legs have *got* to go back and will make you unstable.

The way that I was taught was to think of pushing my butt to the back of the saddle, hands forward following the crest and the weight down into the heels with the feet slightly forwards from the dressage position. You should, of course, be looking ahead of you and not down at the neck ;)

If the horse is taken away from you while you're jumping you should be able to land on your feet. From your description it sounds as though you're too far forward and would land on your nose.

Another thing that helped me was to stay in the saddle coming up to the jump and feel when I 'folded' rather than thinking about folding coming up to the jump ... if that makes any sense. Saying that, though, one instructor told me to think of releasing rather than folding which helped to stop me from going too far forwards.

I don't know if that makes an ounce of sense! The only 'decent' picture of me jumping isn't exactly perfect as I was doing xc and we were jumping uphill so I was further forwards than I would normally be over show jumps.

Here it is anyway, you can see that I'm too far forwards but for that particular jump it worked! I could also have released with my hands more. In fact that pic is probably an example of what NOT to do :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/TB_XC_small.jpg

[kedwards]

I don't consider a bad lesson (or even a couple of bad lessons) an indicator that I'm going backward.

Often a very bad ride (or a few) marks the beginning of major improvements for me. I think it energizes me to work harder to improve whichever fundamentals showed up as lacking that day.

After bad lessons, I've gone back to work on the longe or without stirrups (if the issue was my seat), work over low grids (if the issue was my jumping position), work over ground poles (if the issue is something like striding or straightness). Talk about your problem with your instructor and ask her what exercises, tips, or homework she suggests to fix the problem.

Virtually every time I've "gone backward" and fixed a problem, I've made big strides forward afterward.

Best of luck!

[greeneyes13]

thanks guys. yes the instructor moaned of my woeful leg position he even placed my leg with his hands where it should be at a halt and does loads of trrotting over poles and switching in and out of jumping position trotting around which i am very good at my leg feels very secure when we do that. think my main problem is forgetting to concentrate. do you think it would help to canter up to the jump in my light seat? or would that give me less control over my horse?

[Bay Mare]

I was taught (by an ex-eventer) to use the 3-point coming up to the jump which gives you more influence on the horse and helps to stop you from going too far forward when you go into jump position. I found that it helped me a lot to think about sitting up before the jump (you can ride in light seat between jumps but just sit up on the approach).

You may find that your leg position isn't the problem, it's probably something else that's causing the poor leg position. Do you think about pushing your butt to the back of the saddle? Putting your weight into your heels? Not throwing yourself up the neck?

[greeneyes13]

thanks bay mare. whats the 3-point?! i will post on tues night to let you all know if your words of wisdom have made any improvement ;)

[Mary Poppins]

My instructor has had be walking, trotting and cantering around in the 3 point seat. It KILLS your legs but really does improve your jumping position

[Lindsayanne]

I totally understand. I was right there a few weeks ago. I had nearly three weeks of total crap lessons (3 lessons a week!). I *knew* my position was wrong, my instructor kept correcting me, but for the life of me I just couldn't get there and hold it. My lessons were pretty depressing for awhile but in the past week or so everything has fallen back into place- better than it was before!

I've done nothing different, just kept working at it and trying my hardest and in the last two or three lessons something just clicked and I seem to have advanced more in those lessons than I have in the last month! So stick with it, keep trying, and you'll move forward again even stronger!