Jumping Photos (critique welcome!)

[Rips]

Here are some recent shots of me and Mocha jumping. They're a bit blurry but I thought some of you might be able to pick out some faults or something!
We've a course set up at the yard from a competition last week and its pretty cool so I thought I'd post up some pictures. Most of us were at the RDS while the show was on so we had a little competition between ourselves.

First jump, she always pokes a little at the first jump. I know I'm a little ahead of her here.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Rips/3741522e.jpg

No.2
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Rips/baf65c01.jpg

No. 11 I love this jump! We converted our puissance wall for the competition.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Rips/8f4f79a4.jpg

No.13 (first part of a triple)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Rips/e3d17d81.jpg

She went round clear, just a pity I didn't get to do the actual show!

Here's 2 more pictures I took of friends jumping No. 5. First one is my friend's Connemara Dusty and the second one is Mocha's half brother Goldsmith.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Rips/530ab4a2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Rips/C21EDIT.jpg

[jUmPingIsLifE]

well you already said it but first picture you have jumped WAY ahead and really tossed your weight onto her neck.

however the rest look very good from what i can see. your lower leg could stand to get under you a little more and i think you still look like you are a little ahead in some pictures.....just wait until you see my pictures im posting later i am quite ahead in them too haha. you look very good and very confident over that size cource.

how i miss it- i really am hoping that withen the next 2-3yrs tahoe will be there and i will be back at it :D

[Rips]

Thanks jUmPingIsLifE, whenever anything goes wrong I ALWAYS chuck myself forward, really annoying habit.God help me if she ever stops,I'll really be in trouble! Can't wait to see those pictures :)

[jUmPingIsLifE]

other then getting ahead... my BAD habbit is whevever i mess up big time and my horse REALLY chips in i stick out my tough and then say a 4 letter word (the 4 letter word somehow doesn't come out at shows or when there are kids around...but it definatly comes out when noone is watching) :eek:

is that your horse or a school horse you are riding though? a wicked cutie :D

[lynz+ollie]

cool, looking good!

[Rips]

My own girl :D Mocha
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Rips/Mochachopsdark.jpg

Thankyou :D :D
Yeah,something always slips out when its one of THOSE jumps!!

[eventingrules]

OMG, she is gorgeous! She looks so sweet.
Nice pic's! :)

[Rips]

Thanks :D not just a pretty face either!

[Talou]

She looks like a sweetheart!

What breed is she and how old? :)

[Rips]

:D She is, most of the time! She's an Irish Sporthorse (7/8th Thoroughbred and 1/8 Irish Draught) She was 9 this year.

[ponylover88]

gorgous mare! looks like your possibly slightly over bending over the jumps. could just be me, but i always get shouted at if i bend that much over jumps! :rolleyes: had a lesson with Kirsty Grant and she told me off for over bending!

[greeneyes13]

Mocha is stunning you both look great! Those are some big jumps you went over.(awe) Glad to see more Irish people posting on here. What county you from/do you ride in? Im a meath girl :)

[Rips]

Thankyou :)
I know I used to think there were no Irish people on here at all!But theres a few! I'm from Westmeath but Mocha lives in Clara (Offaly)
I'm trying to think of shows in Meath, Stradbally is Meath isn't it? Or Oldcastle? I think we're going to Oldcastle in 2 weeks.
Where do you ride in Meath?

[xhorse_riderx]

She looksgorgeous !!! :):D:):D:)

[Rips]

Thanks xhorse_riderx, I haven't posted pictures of her in a while, thought people might be getting bored!

[Pink's lady]

she's such a pretty girl :D

RE jumping, you need to give with you're hands just a little bit more. In most of the pictures her head looks a little tucked in, which often developes if the rider doesn't give quite enough with their hands. It takes a long tiem to unteach them and get them the stretch their head and neck out a bit.

I think the reason you're not giving quite enough is because you're a little ahead of her most of the time, which means you're using her neck to balance on. If you were to give with your hands like that, you'd over-balance and go splat on her neck. ;) At the mo, you're very closed in in your upper body (if you know what I mean :rolleyes: ) - you hands and elbows and arms are all scrunched up near your shoulder. You need to open then out a bit and move you're body backwards, awy from your hand to counterbalance giving your hands forward a little

So basically, bum back, hands forward

[Rips]

you need to give with you're hands just a little bit more. In most of the pictures her head looks a little tucked in, which often developes if the rider doesn't give quite enough with their hands. It takes a long tiem to unteach them and get them the stretch their head and neck out a bit.

I was hoping someone one point that out (I taught I was being paranoid because YO/IN hadn't said anything!)

The tucked in head is a recent thing coming from something I've always done so I know its only going to get worse and I can see where it could develope into a problem, I know exactly what I'm doing wrong but if I give anymore over the fence she runs away from me on landing, even still she's pretty speedy off the first 2 strides. Any advice?

I also give a little earlier then I should, by the time she's at where she is picture 2 I've already checked her to set her up to land. Picture one is a bad example of this because she did poke really badly at it. Thats REALLY close for her, usually she'd take off like the grey below.

[HorsieLuver]

Mocha is soo pretty. As for jumping critique, I agree with Pink's Lady. You are kind - of over jumping a tad. My lesson instructor always tells me to get a good half seat/ 2 point pretend there on your tack in your saddle. Your bum must always brush it, so you know where it is, but you don't want to sit on it, you know the outcome....hehe. But if you get too ahead of the tack, the whole jump falls apart. Does that make sense?? hehe...not very good at this. Also, you want to keep your bum back in the saddle....it just gives you more balance.

[greeneyes13]

Bored of pictures! Never! :) I wouldn't have a CLUE about shows as Im only riding just over a year now. But i ride at a stable in between navan and kells. Do you go to many shows with Mocha?

[Pink's lady]

Mocha obviously a talented jumper but just think how amazing she could become if she learns to use herself correctly. At the moment, she carrying her head high over the jump, unable/unwilling to stretch it out. As a result, she's unable to lift her shoulders up and drop her neck as a counter balance. And therefore she has to work harder to get her front legs high enough to clear the jump.

Now this is a horse (pinched from the internet) with a truly great jump -
http://www.chevroncars.com/wocc/media/content/Sports/img/horse-jumping.jpg
and this little ponies jumping no where near the same height, but has the same style of ecomical and neat jump
http://www.atalanta.org/stables/images/Sales/horse_jumping.jpg

Look how low they've dropped their heads and necks, really stretching out, making them able to lift their shoulders and back and therefore needing less effort to get their front legs over. In terms of actualy height they've gone up into the air (and therefore effort) it's much less then this horse would have to do -
http://www.huxleyphotography.co.uk/images/horse-grid3.jpg or Mocha.

Do you see what I mean?

As for running away on landing, that shouldn't really be an issue as it's only over the jump that you need to release more. Having said that, I KNOW it's much easier said than done! ;)

I supsect than one of the reasons that she runs away one landing is because she lands too deep as she's not got the support she's used to, gets too much momentum and then thinks 'whooo-hoooo, here we go! ':rolleyes:

I think you'll find that once you've brought your weight back over the jump then you'll be more able to give with your hands (you won't need them for balance). You also look like your anticepating the jump. Either jumping with you eyes closed or go going up the the jump saying to youself ' wait, wait, wait' with every stride and only folding at the last possible moment (you'll probably feel you're going to get left behind) will help. Practise will make perfect.

Loose schooling her will help with her own style of jumping.

[**Krista**]

Hi Rips..

My IDxTB also ran off after the jump and my instructor noticed we didnt have enough impulsion on the take off and so the landing was rushed and panicked. Dont know if this is something for you to think about??

[Rips]

Pink's Lady
Thanks for writing all that out and the pictures really help, I guess it all comes back down to getting her to use herself properly on the ground too, which shes not really doing *sigh* and I definately DO anticipate the jump (comes from falling out the back door a few times too many) because she used to jump like that ...http://www.huxleyphotography.co.uk/images/horse-grid3.jpgback when she rushed her fences.

**Krista**
I hope its not an impulsion problem! YO is big into his "impulsion not speed" lectures, and coming into a fence is about the only time when I manage to get her off the forehand and back onto her hocks, if I tried to build up anymore impulsion she would probably do what was dubbed "the dance of impulsion" where she tucks up entirely and canters on the spot about 3 strides away from the fence :rolleyes:... she used to do that alot, it was hard not to hold her up too much when all she wanted to do was plough at the fences.

greeneyes13 just every weekend, mostly sundays, sometimes saturdays and sundays. Yeh, I was riding 6 years before I ever went to watch a show :D

Thanks HorsieLuver :)

[greeneyes13]

If you dont mind me asking how do you find out when shows are on and where? Id love to go and watch them but I never hear about them until they're all over! Should I be buying some paper I don't know about?! :)

[Rips]

When I registered Mocha with the SJAI, I subscribed to the SJAI bulletin, it comes in the post once a month and has listings of all SJAI point shows in the country, or updates on rules, passports, advertising etc
SJAI (http://www.sjai.ie/Calendar05/calendar.htm)
Theres a calendar of events on their site, thats the link, agricultural shows or charity events are sometimes listed in the farmers journal neswpaper, I've never seen in shops though, theres just always a copy round the yard :rolleyes: Look out for signs along the roads coming into or going out of towns either, agricultural shows are almost always advertised like that.

Looks like Oldcastle is on this weekend but so is Athlone show so we'll probably go to that. I rode in loads of different riding schools where barely anyone went to shows, or else it was just people who owned their own horses, the yard where I keep Mocha at though is full of competitors so show weekends are a social thing even if you're not riding.
Before I had Mocha, I could compete with the schoolies if I wanted or just go and warm-up, cool-off other peoples horses... if you ever want to compete a good way to go about it is offer to go and help someone wih their horses.

I'm a ridiculously nervous rider and I don't think I would have ever wanted to compete had I not gone and got used to the chaos in the practice ring first!

[greeneyes13]

Thanks! Em im just being retarded now but i followed the link and I can't make heads or tails or the listings :o
i see where it says sun 21st athlone but is what it says below that where you go? (And I have a law degree, what are the people of Ireland letting themselves in for) :o :)

[Rips]

No, every line in that box across from Sun 21st is a separate show, so you've got "Coilog Amateur" which would be part of the Amateur league (who aren't amateurs at all, starting heught is about a metre...) and you've got Athlone show and Oldcastle agricultural as well as the other two.

:o It never tells you where EXACTLY they are, SJAI shows are held at set venues, usually the biggest equestrian facility in a certain area. I guess they assume that horsey people know about every single field in their own province :rolleyes:
Like Athlone show for example, there is no decent equestrian centre so the actual show is held in the SJAI venue in Glasson, a half an hour away! Ballymahon show is also held there as well as Glasson show. I know incredibly stupid.

Thats why I get the Bulletin, usually the show organiser will place an add in the bulletin about the show, giving starting times and the actual address of the venue. Most shows start at 10, and the classes get bigger as the day goes on, depending on how big the show is, if you went about 1 or 2 o'clock , the 1m or the 1m10 would be on in the horse ring. Agricultural shows are the best because its not just jumping but all sorts of displays and in-hand showing, sometimes even sidesaddle classes or driving.

Ask your most knowledgeable horsey friend I guess where the nearest venues are. :rolleyes:

My YO is a course-builder so he knows where all the venues are, we just follow him! :D

[Waikato Valuta]

You two look great together. How high ere the jumps. (far to high for me, lol)

[greeneyes13]

ooooohhh! Thanks have a couple of people I can ask thanks RIPS. Good luck with your show anyway. Let us know how you get on :)

[Rips]

Thanks WV, They're about 95cm/1m, has been our "comfort zone" for quite a while now! :rolleyes:

Hope you find a show greeneyes13, I might just be on the ground this weekend depending on the level of my hangover!So we'll see!If not I'll probably have more pictures.

[roxycutie]

Wow! Rip, Mocha looks like a twin to my horse Tousca! :D

[LadyK]

aww she's lovely!!

And as for your piccys being blurred, they are nothing compared to all mine.

Everybody i trust with the camera says they are good at taking snaps, turns out you either get me landing, or not even taking off!!!

Will attempt again later!!

[Sámie]

wow them jumps are quite big! I can only jump 2ft at the mo lol, when I get a younger horse thats fit and healthy, I will proberly jump alot bigger! Hopefully :rolleyes: First I have to get my horse to canter! As my muva says Give it time! Yeah but there way good and essex rider is good for advertising shows, just pm me and I will let you know when some are on in september and october! luv sámie x

[RachelEvent]

Re. Jumping style - sometimes it's best not to meddle with a horses natural style. Don't have time to write a big post now, but just look at Jeanette Brakewell and Over To You - the most dependable eventing showjumper, and the least classical in style ;)

[Rips]

Roxycutie well we'll have to see some pictures!!

LadyK Thankyou :) Yep, sad as it is they are the best pictures I have of us doing SJ jumps :eek: Whereas everyone else has fantastic pics courtesy of me :o but fingers crossed I've some nice ones on the way, we had a group from sweden at the yard a while ago and they had a photographer with them, he said he'd send us the pics... so heres hoping :)

Sámie Yeah, it takes time, I'm itching to jump bigger but I just don't want to go backwards by getting a confidence scare :rolleyes:

RachelEvent I don't think I could change her style much no matter how hard I tried :rolleyes: infact the times she jumps best are when I've landed her in on the wrong line and far too deep/fast/slow, she puts more effort in then :rolleyes: and usually clears them with more height :p

greeneyes13 Try and get to ballinasloe show during the fair, the first week of october, as well as the sales and the SJ there'll be a huntchase. If Mocha is in good form I might see can I get on a team for the huntchase.

[flintyboy]

You already know you were ahead in the first pic so no point mentioning that at all!
Although the pictures are a tad blury, i just want to say how fantastic you look, you seem really balanced over all the fences. Super dooper!

What size are those fences? I jumped a very simular size spread the other day with casper thought it was about 3ft??

[Rips]

Thankyou, I think the green fence (No. 2) is about 3ft but the wall and No.5 are definately about 3'6 (that's 1m05 isn't it?) The person who took the photos was also crouching down to take them so they are probably a bit deceptive! I like No.2 and the wall, I think I look pretty stable in both of them and I'm looking ahead, which I rarely do!

[tb_rider]

your horse is really cute.

in picture 1 and 4, it almost looks like she stopped and then jumped though!? it could be the image but i don't know.

[Rips]

Thanks tb_rider, she didn't stop just got in far too deep so really had to plant herself to lift in no.1, No.4 is taken from a funny angle and she was a little unco-ordinated on take-off.

[xXSundanceBayXx]

OMG your mare is funky. shes soooo pwretty. :D

[Rips]

Aw, thanks Noggin :) This thread pops up every now and again :p its good to read back over the advice!
Might try and get more recent pics tommorrow, going to a show. Unfortunately she's unrecognisable right now with her fluffy winter coat and her big grass belly! :p

[thunderbird]

u'r pics ar gr8!!! i'v tried ta put pics on but i dn't rely kow how ta do it!!!

wb an i'l show some pics!!!


ellen whitaker 4 rob mcguire :p :D :D

[Rips]

Thanks :) If you upload your photo's onto a photobucket (http://www.photobucket.com) account, you can link to your pictures by putting photo tags around the URL address of the photo. Hope that helps :)