Uprights... Advice!

[Mags Girl]

Can anyone give me advice on riding towards uprights.

Mags loves oxers (spelling?? :rolleyes: ) he flies over them! I just wish he would do the same over uprights.

I would usually sit and gently hold him until I can see the stride - usually two before the take off.

My trainer/friend always says that I hold him too much and he's taking off too close, hence the reason he's knocking the upright.

It doesn't feel right when I take off from what he says 'too far away'. :eek:

He's a big horse with big movements, maybe that's why it's different?!

Advice...

[CityGirl]

Do uprights = verticals? (Everyone uses different terminology so I always like to clarify :D )

You say he knocks them. Is he hitting them with his front feet or back?

[Calsanjo]

It sounds like by "holding" him you are killing the impulsion and ending up with a "pretty" canter rather than an economical one.

Try riding a little more strongly into your fences. If you are too far off your horse always has room to correct itself, whereas if you are too close there is no room for adjustment. Also, you definitely shouldn't be waiting until 2 strides out to see a stride, that basically means you haven't seen one! :rolleyes: Just let the fence come to you and get a feel for your horse's natural takeoff point.

When you're jumping oxers you're really jumping the back rail, which is probably why you don't have the same problem over them as you would generally take off closer to the front rail anyway. If it helps to begin with, imagine there's another rail in front of the one you're jumping when you approach an upright! Better still, slide the groundpole out. Or best of all, get someone to lay a fiver on the floor on your optimum takeoff point and if your horse stands on the fiver as it takes off, you get to keep it! (John Whitaker training method! :D )

Good luck!

[casey]

Agree with all of the above :)

[Bay Mare]

The best advice that I was ever given was by an ex eventer. She told me that you have to get a good, rhythmical, forward going canter BEFORE you line up to the fence as it's absolutely pointless trying to fiddle with it on the approach line as all you'll do is put the horse off and mess it up :) She also pointed out that most horses are perfectly capable of sorting themselves out so just need us to sit up, keep our leg on and follow their movement and 'shut up' when they jump :D

It certainly worked for me, I used to faff and fiddle and try to 'see' a stride. When I 'let the fence come to me' and put my faith in the horse it worked SO much better. When I wrecked my ankle in January it was because I over-rode it on the way in! I'd done the exercise beautiful one way (it consisted of a double, changing direction to a dogs leg, jumping across the line of the jump and then starting all over again on the other rein) but then got a teensy bit overconfident :rolleyes: I kicked her on going in, she jumped long (listening to what I was telling her and trying to correct my mistake!), I did a 'superman' (arms forwards, legs behind .... horizontally) over the double, she quite rightly stopped at the dogs leg and I did a perfect layout flip over her head landing on my feet (ouch) and then doing twisting rolls along the ground twisting my ankle all the way .... not the best way to learn a lesson!

[benjixchorse]

well my plan is to leave my horse alone, to sort himself out -sorry if that has already been put, im tired and finding it hard to concentrate!- the less you fiddle the less likely it is to go wrong

[Mags Girl]

:D Great advice... Will give it a try and fingers X'd it will work.
Thanks!

[rocketman]

Jump the upright the same as the front poles of the oxer. There is no difference, except in your head.

It sounds like you may be picking your way to uprights/verticals. Instead of holding and waiting to see a stride, try approaching on a smooth rythym and making only minor adjustments if you perceive you will be a touch too close or too far.