Impulsion to Jump

[NoviceNic]

I have been desperately trying to jump Captain for the second year running. Recently I got a friend to help me try and get over my nerves and help at home. It seems I was fighting Captain at local Shows. He is a very willing cob who will jump even if I set him up wrong for the jump. :o Bless him. My RI got on him the other day and popped him over some jumps and said" Jump on, we now have the right impulsion". Anyway it would seem that the impulsion to jump is what I thought was Captain running away with me. :o What scares me now is I dont think I can keep my nerves at that speed, at a local show and come out still sat on horseback. :(

I took him over a few jumps today at home and let him go at the jumps with impulsion. He takes me over ok but he looks towards me for direction when we land and 9/10 we tend to be thinking of going in different directions. So I am struggling to keep my balance. I know I am not sitting up quick enough. I have to admit I think I am starting to bottle out of this. My show is on Sunday and I really dont think I have got what it takes. :(

[Mehitabel]

if it's going ot be an unpleasant experience then don't do it. practice at home, become accustomed to the feeling of power and impulsion, getto the point where you feel safe and enjoy it.

what do you mean about the different directions on landing? do yo8u mean you're thinking about the jump and not able to organise yourself quickly enough to give him signals on landing to go to the next one?

[NoviceNic]

To be honest I think I am sat there waiting for him to land correctly, therefore still looking down and leaning forward. Then he powers on to the next jump but not necessarily the right jump. My RI asked about trying a pelham on him. He came with a pelham as he can be strong. I might just put one in for jumping. I cant remember which but the RI says he favours one side when he comes out of a jump. So I am trying to go one way and he is off the other way. To be honest I think I am not very posotive with my legs and body as I tend to go into the faetal position. I agree I have a lot of practise to do.

[Ali_fewins]

aww...don't bottle out- go to the show thinking about your posetive points like- you know Captain won't stop at the fence, even if your not right at it. Just stay relaxed and remeber to enjoy it.
Getting used to power and impulsion is a long term thing and cant be curred within a few days. When you ride him, my advice would be to concentrate on one problem at a time. Like you have said you don't sit up fast enough, you and Captain have different ideas when you land, hes strong, too much impulsion for you at the moment, your finding it hard to keep your nerve with that much power and not posetive with legs and body...etc.. gets all a bit too much!
Maybe focus on each thing seperately because if you think on everything like that, it can all get a bit confusing making your goals harder to achieve.

[nutkin]

Ali is right.It will take time and practise to get it together but by working on one thing at a time the rest will gradually fall into place.One thing I noticed is that you said you are looking down when you land.I think it will be a big help to you to concentrate on looking ahead when going to the fence and while in mid air starting to look towards the next jump rather than down.This should also help your horse to know what direction you intend to go.Remember the head is the heaviest part of your body and has a big influence over the direction the horse will travel.If you are looking down the horse is probably getting a bit confused and therefore making the decision of where to go for you. Another thing is are you sure you have impulsion and are not just jumping fast and allowing the horse to get too far in front of you to maintain the control you need.

[NoviceNic]

My RI says it's impulsion. He is a lazy monkey in the manage. I have ridden another horse who jumps like a dream and he did the same and sort of went into flight and took over a couple of strides before the jump. This feels the same so I hope it is impulsion. :confused: I think I will do some work on keeping my head up and looking for the next jump. This may help me sit back as well when I come out of the jump.

[horsemadmandy]

Hi
I have read your post and find myself in a similiar situation but although being encouraged to do a local show this year I still find the speed and impulsion thing a big issue with my confidence. My horse is a jumper and loves it to the extent he will canter and jump over painted stripes on a road:rolleyes: I have decided to get more cantering practice and hope to go for the gallop on a hacking lesson soon as I feel that if I can practice again and again and feel as happy in the canter as I do the trot then the jumping impulsion thing hopefully will seem less stressful. I wish you all the best and hope you are sucessful in all you decide to do:)

[NoviceNic]

Horsemadmandy - I dont have a problem in canter. In fact it is my favourite gait. I love it that much I cant get enough of it. However I think I have a problem in gallop. Have only done it about 5 times with 3 of them feeling very out of control. Maybe I need more practise in gallop. Problem being though that when you ride out with young riders it isnt always controlled. Maybe I could get some practise in with my RI. Worth a go thanks for the idea. Hope you conquer jumping as well. Keep me upto date please. pm me with your updates please. :)

[Ali_fewins]

hi again! you said you have a problem in gallop?! your not meant to gallop into the fences and travelling at a higher speed doesnt mean you have more impulsion.
Impulsion is creating an extra energy in your canter with out increasing the speed or loss of control. You shouldnt feel out of control at any point.

[helenc]

Best thing to do is practice the speed & impulsion needed on the flat & whilst out hacking. If it is the common thing for you to ride like this, it won't seem so different when you start jumping.

As far as being together enough when you land, there is a very good exercise you can do.

Set up a small cross pole & then set up 3 trotting poles 2 strides away from the jump. The idea is to land after the jump, have 2 strides of canter & then be trotting by the time you get to the poles. Once you have mastered that you should move on to only one canter stride.

[carrimclaren]

Hi Nic,

Good luck on sunday by the way. Hope the show goes well. :)

With regard to jumping i know how you feel with the impulsion and feeling like they're running away.
A year ago whenever i jumped my mare i'd be sat there muttering on to my instructor about how it feels like she's charging off etc. My friend tried to explain to me that my mare wasn't running off but was just keen to the fences as she should be. She did assure me that the more i improved the more i would understand and be grateful for the energyIt scared the hell out of me as you just feel so out of balance and control. :o
I started to go back to the basics of gridwork and the basics of getting a good canter when coming round to the jump and over the last six months we've come on a great deal with me managing to trust her a lot more now that i realise that she's not wanting to run off but is just enjoying herself. She gets my goat sometimes when she's having a lazy day as i realise now it's harder to jump her when she's lacking that forward going energy.
I'm still a bit hesitant when jumping outside of home as last time she was going great guns over the practice fence but when we got in the ring i lost the plot and ended up not riding the filler fence no. 2 very well and weeee. She went one way i went t'other :o

[Lucyad]

Impulsion isnt speed necessarily - it can be controlled, when collected. So I wouldnt feel worried about slowing up as long as you can shorten his stride without loosing that impulsion. A pelham might help and isnt necessarily a more severe bit if you use 2 reins and only activate the curb when you need to. In fact a rubber eplham is quite gentle as has none of the nutcracker action associated with a jointed bit. It certainly helped me jump my share mare in a slightly more controlled fashion.

It might help your steering as well, but the main thing is, as PP said, to line up while you are jumping previous jump. That way Captain has more chance to land on the right canter lead, making turns easier and more balanced. Just looking in the right direction over the jump will help, not straight ahead.

Definately give it a go, just for a bit of fun. Go as fast / high as you feel comfortable, and you can always work up gradually. Good luck!

[drewpoo22]

I agree with what many other people have already talked about Impulsion & speed are not the same thing. With good impulsion it should feel like your horse has a TON of energy.... but contained energy that you're controlling. I won't blab on forever but your horse should feel like a bouncy ball with his hind end right underneath him with a short energetic stride ready to spring up over the jumps. Your horse could be strung out going as fast as he could be that doesn't mean he has any impulsion. Good luck at the show and just go at a pace you're comfortable with - with energy!:D

[xoxmissy]

Gl :d :d