show jumping

[elle]

Hi, this may be a bit of a long thread so sorry if its gets a bit boring.

My horse is 4.5yrs old and has been showjumping for about 3 months, however it is not me that has been riding her it is the lad that broke her in.

When we are at the show though i do ride her in the practice ring, the only thing is i have never done much jumping and when i jump my horse whe we land i sort of land on her neck, what can i do to stop this happening, it doesnt happen all the time only over th bigger jump ( about 18-24 inches, i know thats not high but it is for me).

What can i do to prevent this, i thought it was becasue i was learning to far forward, could this be the case?

Also, some days my horse is really lazy and you hardly get her to trot without a whip, and then other days shes really eager and willing to please. My horse has started to canter a lot more now when shes jumping, but she tends to trot nearly all the time. (could this be becasue shes a welsh section D)?

I want my horse to be a better jumper by march next year becasue she has qualified fot the trailbalzers show jumping, if she come first or second at the next round then she can jump at the royal show at stoneleigh. its not som uch her jumping that bothers me but the fact shes not cantering, she nearly always goes clear, the other day she came 4th out of 43 which i was really pleased with.

Also, she over reaches so i have started using petal boots on her, she doesnt like these thought but they do tend to liven her upm do you think it is cruel to use them when she doesnt like them?

hope this thread makes sense and i'm sorry its so long.

[97jessicaedward]

when u are going over a jump in mid air think about coming out of jumping position and leaning back slightly toprevent being thrown on to the pony's neck. I landed on my horses neck once 2.

[lightning lover]

hi
I used to fall on my ponies neck 2 and he just used 2 keep trotting and not canter.
If i were you id do some flatwork with your horse to teach her not to run and also some lunging.
You maybe pushing to far forward with your posistion,just remember you dont have to throw yourself at her just move forward slightly,i often find myself doin this and i find if you work on the flat practising your balance it helps when you come to an actual fence.
If the petal boots are upsetting her i wouldnt use them shel just end up running away and not jumping her best.
She sounds like a lovely horse who will do well so good luck!:)
p.s let us know how she gets on nxt yr!

[Equistar]

If I read it right you don't want to fall on her neck. What I would do is do a lot of jumping position with and w/o stirrups to help strengthen my legs. Get your seat out of the saddle, but don't crouch over, keep from your waist up stretching up tall. Try getting into 2point 5 strides before the jump so that you don't have to rush into it. Also, don't go ahead of your horse. Strengthening your leg will help a lot!!!

[elle]

hi ya

thanks for replying,

i had a lesson on her a few weeks ago and was jumping small jumps but i was still landing on her neck so the instructor give me a focal point to look at which helped a lot because it stopped me crouching too low over her neck, i was only leaning forward very slightly but i wasnt landin on her neck, i think now i just need to keep practising gradually coming a bit more forward until i've got it right.

Also, she responded really well to a schooling whip which seemed to wake her up a bit.

I didnt use petal boots this time but i think i will have to get some kind of over reach boots unless shes stops over reaching as she matures a bit more.

[ilovebacara]

I KNOW THAT THIS MAY SOUND LIKE A BORING OPTION BUT WHAT I HAD TO DO WITH MY HORSE WAS TO GO BACK TO BASICS. SHE HAD THE SAME PROBS AS YOUR HORSE DOES. OVER REACHING AND NOT CANTERING ETC. WELL WHAT I DID WAS I USED TROOTING POLES AND RAISED CAVALETTIS. EVENTHOUGH YOUR HORSE MAY HAVE BEEN TAUGHT THIS ALREADY IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU TO TEACH HER BRIEFLY YOUR WAY OF JUMPIN (U SED THAT SOME1 ELSE DID IT) THIS SHOUL GIVE YOU BOTH A LITTLE MORE CONFIDENCE IN EACH OTHER. ABOUT THE LAZINESS, HAVE YOU TRIED FEEDING YOUR HORSE A LITTLE BIT OF ROLLED OR CRUSHED OATS? THEY WORK REALLY WELL TO LIVEN YOUR HORSE UP AND THEN WHEN YOU HAVE GOT THE FEEL OF HOW YOUR HORSE IS WHEN IT IS WORKED UP TRY AND TEACH IT THAT IT IS GOOD WHEN IT IS IN A GOOD MOOD AND PRAISE IS ALWAYS THE BEST WAY WHEN TEACHING A YOUNG HORSE. BUT REMEMBER DONT PRAISE IT ALL THE TIME BECAUSE YOU DONT WANT IT TO BE LIVLEY ALL THE TIME.
SORRY IF IT WAS A BIT MUDDLED BUT IT IS HARD TO PUT INTO WORDS WHAT TO DO!
JESS :p

[charlie]

yep, you definately have to go back to basics because you will never get anywhere if she is not well enough schooled or balanced enough. Loads of transitions, it could be very useful to teach her some voice commands, my pony will work just of say walk, trot canter, woah, etc, obviously you should not just ride by saying walk, etc, but it can be very useful. Lunge in side reins or chambon to balance, practice out hacking. I do working hunter and a bit of showjumping but when i have working hunter lessons, we hardly do any jumping, we just work on anything we need to, and so now my pony goes really nicely round a course 3ft6.
maybe try jumping a schoolmaster, yu dont want to upset a young horse or unbalance her.
hope this is helpful.

[maverick927]

Grab onto a peace of mane. Always worked for me when i needed it (Maverick is now hogged)

[Shmon]

Once you've got your line going into a jump, focus on some fixed point beyond the jump. This will keep you from looking down, which sometimes makes people lean forward or especially duck.

Although I've never had much of an issue with falling forward, what I try to do (and this may not help you, but here goes) is grab a piece of mane at the release, and as we go over the jump, let the horse's forward momentum straighten out my arms while I try to keep my back in the same spot. Basically, instead of my whole upper body following the horse's momentum on the way down, I sit up more and let the horse straighten my arms for me. (I hope this makes some sort of sense!) :)