Photo critique - some specific questions, I want constructive critiscm!

[tasha]

Here's the pic:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c190/tashakally/Horses/Easter%20Fun%20Day%202006/easterfunday2006.jpg

Not very big, sorry!

Questions:

1- Kal's not basculing much here, am I restricting her with my hands? If not, what other factors could be causing the lack of bascule?

2- Are my reins a good length? Too short/long? I dont think they are too short, as any longer and I'd have steering troubles. Too long maybe?

3- Am I in balance with Kal?

Please bear in mind I am jumping in a Flexion SBS dressage saddle, so no tree and no forward cut knee rolls :eek: And *constructive* critiscm please, I do want to improve so please give me pointers!

Thanks!

[Colorado Sunset]

I would say give a little more with your hands, your in balance, however I would get my bum out of the saddle a little more (stress little :) ), although I cant say Ive jumped in an SBS so cant give you any specific help on that.

To improve her shape over the jump do lots of gymnastic jumping at home. The fences dont have to be big, but lots of bounces and combinations should help improve that :)

[PinkGlamourGurl]

Nice photo :) No idea about the bascule-maybe its because its not a really big fence or she was being strong and pulled into it?

Reins maybe slightly long but not overly long.

You look in balance to me, but im not very good at critisizing(sp?) lol. Maybe you could be out of the sadlle a little more? but overall you and your hoss look great :D Natxx

[Mehitabel]

1 - hard to say at that size pic and remember it is just a moment in time - for jumping, what happens in the air is so connected to the approach that it is very hard to give a definite answer.
there are a number of possible reasons for the lack of bascule - it's not a very high jump, so she may not be making much effort and not need to round and really push off with her back end.
if you came in fast and flat she will jump fast and flat with head up as she is - that kind of style is seen more in a jumpoff than in a first round.

so you might be just giving with your hands as much as she is taking with her head - that is good, not throwing the reins away at her. on the other hand, it could be the other way round and she is trying to put her head forward and meeting the limits of your hands. absolutely impossible to say from a photo.

2 - again, hard to say, if you can follow her head wherever it goes withotu catchign her in the teeth or losing the contact, then reins are fine. really it's something best seen in motion.

3 - if we photoshopped kal out of the picture, would you land on your feet?

[xXSundanceBayXx]

your hands need to be further forward up the neck, and lower your body and push your bum back a little, you suit her :)

[equestrian3241]

you might want to give with your hands a bit more, it makes it very difficult for a horse to jump if it is being restrained. also, your jump looked a little bit late, you might want to try taking off earlier depending on the jump. Your horse is gorgeous and you have a great natural seat though. Good luck to the both of you!

[tasha]

Thanks guys. Ive got a video of the sme round, and possibly the same jump, but from another angle. Its not great but it might help!

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c190/tashakally/Horses/Easter%20Fun%20Day%202006/th_ShowApr06.jpg (http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c190/tashakally/Horses/Easter%20Fun%20Day%202006/?action=view&current=ShowApr06.flv)

equestrian3241 - I leave it up to Kally as to when she takes off, as I believe the last 3 strides are the horse's :D

I'd forgotten about the size of jump factor - it was a 2ft3-2ft6 class and as you can probably tell Kal is capable of much bigger!

Mehitabel - Im not sure about the photoshop thing, hence the question! I think I would - just! - but my weight would be on my toes.

Thanks all for your comments. I think my reins were about an inch or two too long, and Ive always found rein length makes a drastic change to my position. Take this pic for example:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c190/tashakally/Horses/General/fairoaksxc.jpg

Reins too long so Im restricting Kal through not giving with my hands, which has caused me to block her through her shoulders - not much of a bascule!

[Mehitabel]

can't see the vid on my home computer - will look at it sneakily at work tomorrow.

how big is the fence in that last pic? again i am not convinced you are really blocking her from basculing - she is not a little horse and they are not huge fences, so she may just not be being stylish over them because it is easier not to. you don't want to have your hand the same distance up her neck over every fence - you need to follow her mouth as if your hands belong to her head, not flinging your hands halfway up her neck even if her head only moves three inches forward.

here are a few pics of me over fences to compare -
http://groups.msn.com/nrphotos/esspictures.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=184
he is stretching, so i have folowed him - he is really making an effort over it and basculing.

http://groups.msn.com/nrphotos/esspictures.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=185
this one, he is much more 'up' - not stretched forward, and my hands again have maintained the rein contact and only gone as far as he wants to take them - it's an earlier phase of the jump.

http://groups.msn.com/nrphotos/esspictures.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=186
my body folds much mre than yours, but my hands are not that much further up his neck here, and even over a biggish fence he has all the room he needs.

http://groups.msn.com/nrphotos/esspictures.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=191
we were goign hell for leather here (i couldn't stop!) and she has come in and jumped fast and flat, no bascule to speak of, and i've barely changed position from the previous pic (go to previous pic) as her outline has barely changed.

the key is to maintain a contact, not chuck your hands forward regardless.

[tasha]

That photo isnt very clear, unfortunatly. If you look carefully you can see her grimacing against the reins, baring her teeth. It was a novice XC/SJ, so the jump was a maximum of 2ft9. Again, still not big, but more sizeable than the very first critique pic. Mind you, she's wearing the old treed saddle which was too narrow, so another factor against basculing!

When my reins are too long I have a tendency to keep my hands at the withers, restricting the jump. Shorter reins make me move my hands with the movement of the neck.

What a huge jump Copper has!! There's so much air between him and those jumps!

Edit: Just re-watched the vid, Im pretty sure my reins were too long - I was having trouble round the turn after the first fence :D Oh, and to add: the reason we wiggled around the first jump was because Kal had taken off and we had overshot the turn into the first jump! I wiggled her round, managed not to cross my tracks and figured I'd just point her at it anyway. Was very impressed she jumped it :)

[Tangle]

I wiggled her round, managed not to cross my tracks and figured I'd just point her at it anyway. Was very impressed she jumped it :)
She's a willing girl, isn't she :)

I think the first frame of the video may be at least a partial answer to the "basculing" question - if she tends to be a bit hollow between the jumps, she's never going to find it easy to bascule over them. It also looks as though you're having a bit of a battle with her for her head. How is her canter when there aren't jumps around? If you can work on her groundwork so that every canter stride is a mini-bascule and she's listening to the rein more (not trying to control her own destiny quite so much;)), her jumping should improve dramatically :)

[Colorado Sunset]

I agree with tangle. I think the quality of the canter really needs to be worked on in order to improve the actual jumps. She looks a little "hot-headed" and hasnt really got a steady rythym between the jumps, although you are doing well trying to influence it by the looks of that video. If you can try to get her rounder and more "springy" in her canter between the fences, she should be rounder and more "springy" over the fences to :)

Jo

[tasha]

Canter without jumps? Non existant really. If I leave her to it, very fast, in fact a gallop really. If I try and improve/correct/interfere, it ends up a bouncing and/or bucking fit. I agree her jumping will improve dramatically if I can sort the canter out, but its an uphill slog. Teeth, back and tack all checked, no physical problems. How I see it is the impulsion is either up (bouncing/bucking) or about ten miles ahead of me (gallop). It takes a very skilled rider to get her between hand and leg, and unfortunately, Im not one. I dont think I can improve it myself, but see no harm in jumping, so do so. The questions here are I guess so that I can make sure Im doing everything else I possibly can to get it right :)

On better days the canter isnt quite so hollow betwen jumps, at this show (abut 3 weeks ago) she wasn't quite her normal self, not so happy to jump. Nothing specific, the sort of thing you pick up when you are in a 1 to 1 relationship with a horse.

[Tangle]

That makes it tricky :(

How about schooling her around jumps? Could you have a couple of jumps up to keep her interested, but do mainly flatwork?

Do you get any "nice" strides at all?

I'll confess now that jumping isn't really my thing, but going for the working with her approach, could you use poles/jumps to make her think and not rush so much? I'm thinking either using canter poles or grid work so she has to stay a bit more controlled.

Realise the flatwork's not easy, but I'm really not sure you'll be able to do much to improve her jump without finding a way to improve her flatwork :(

[kunama]

with out waiting ages for my poxy slow computer to down load the vids, i will say you are jumping hollow, wich may be why she is too, you should look ahed , fold from you'r pelvis and relax you'r back a bit more, you look very tense!

[dilaika]

My instructer made this big point w/ me - a jump is basically a big canter stride. So, if your canter isn't nice with her using her whole body correctly, her jump is going to follow.

If I were you, I might see if I could take a couple of dressage lessons. Getting her to get a nice canter with her more on the bit and using her neck would help. Right now from that still, it looks like her front end isn't really engaged - so its not suprising that in the jump she's basically just using her back end to thrust up, instead of her whole body in a nice round.

[tasha]

I can get a better canter using jumps, ie jump, then circle in canter, and when I do school over fences I do have a bit of a canter round etc to take advantage of this. Grid work slows her down eventually :) but canter poles are hard work (poles = jumping = fun!!) in fact we once did a double with placing and landing poles. Kal insisted on jumping the poles too as a row of 5 bounces :rolleyes:

dilaka - dressage lessons are out of the question at the moment, being a poor student. Once I qualify (Im a trainee teacher) in 18months I'll definately being having lessons.