I look down over jumps!!!HELP!!!

[bannerlover]

A few weeks ago, after schooling a horse, I hopped on a pony for 5 minutes to jump him around a course. Luckily, he is an experienced jumper and normally doesn't refuse because I have an awful habit of looking down at jumps, and one day its going to come back at me and make my horse refuse and I'm gonna fall off. Any tips?

[lamprellsarah]

well!! can't you stop yourself, can't you think look forwards look forwards etc!!!
or put a bounce in, so that you have to think about the next jump!!!

[ilovebacara]

concentrate on your horses ears! you will put the horse off balance and could one day hav a nasty fall! It is a bad habit and should b got rid of asap!
try and look thru your horses ears or look at your next jump! look at anything as long as it isnt the floor :D

[Maci]

Pick a point on the wall or something that you want to "jump at". Look at that point, and don't take your eyes off it (as you're going over the jump). I have that habit too, sometimes- I look down at the jump instead of ahead. Pretend that you're a pro show jumper, and you are doing a course of jumps on live air TV. To look all the more professional, you want to keep your head up, with that, studious, concentrated look on your face. ;)

Maci :)

[lleeaannee]

the thing I do with my cousin is stand in front of the jump some way off and she has to count how many fingers I am holding up. It also takes her mind of being nervous (hence the looking down in the first place).

If another person isnt able to do this concentrate on a point such as the barn door.

Best of luck - you'll sort it!

[ilovebacara]

thats a good idea lleeaannee! I'll try it on my guinea pig cousin rider next time i give her a jumping lesson!:D

[Dressage_Luvr]

Hi,

i alwaysa used to do that!

but, in our arena, there are windows at the one end, and i have to look at them, straight ahead.

maybe, if there is like a barrel or something that can be put at the end that you can look at, but dont toally concentrate onit, because youa re still riding a horse!!! lol.

well, i gtg!!!!
buibye!

[bannerlover]

thank you soooo much for the between the ears thing. I normally concentrate on a tree or something, but ears is better because it's closer. It's not because i m nervous, its more of a habit - i m a fearless jumper - I would jump 3 ft oxers with only a halter and leadrope w/ a bareback pad if I had my own horse!

[bannerlover]

Originally posted by Maci
Pick a point on the wall or something that you want to "jump at". Look at that point, and don't take your eyes off it (as you're going over the jump). I have that habit too, sometimes- I look down at the jump instead of ahead. Pretend that you're a pro show jumper, and you are doing a course of jumps on live air TV. To look all the more professional, you want to keep your head up, with that, studious, concentrated look on your face. ;)

Maci :)

cute idea, i've always wanted to be a pro showjumper if nothing else works out. Thanx

[Crazy_Jumper]

I know it's not going to help by just saying "Don't look down" but you could try looking straight in front of you, right through the horse's ears, or you could be thinking about and looking for the next jump in the course. Hope it helps because that's a terrible habit to get into especially when you start training younger horse to jump because that doesn't help them when you're trying to teach them not to refuse a jump. Goodluck! :D

[Rachel C.]

I'm going to go agaimst you all here,

Yes, you shouldn't be looking down, you should really be focusing on the point of takeoff infront of the fence.

Take a look at a video of a top rider riding, you will notice they are looking at the point of take off, not into the distance. Then there focuse will, over the top of the jump, start to look for the take off point of the next jump.

I beleive it was Ginny Elliot (Famous 3Day event rider) who pointed this out in many a magazine article, and I couldn't agree more!

How on earth can you see a stride into a fence if you are look at the barn door? It is a commonly taught thing in jumping to look ahead as you approach a fence, but if you watch your instructor ride, she probably won't be looking ahead, but at the base of the jump.

Looking down is unlikely to cause you to fall, unless you are riding a sticky jumper, but it will put your horse off balance and could cause him to knock poles down.

What I'm basiclly saying in my waffling way is, that looking down is a bad habit, but you could probably prevent it by:

1) Concentrating on the base of the fence in your approach,

2) Over the top of the next fence, look towards the next jump.

Good Luck!

Rachel

[lleeaannee]

Yes it is true that top eventers look for the stride but when you are starting to learn to jump it is not a good idea to start geting involved with placing a horse. It's hard enough to concentrate on your own position without worrying about the horses position. A beginner should not interfere with the horse's jump and simply let them "get on with it".

Before everyone critisces me for saying this, an exercise often used to build confidence in the jump is to look to the SIDE. Do not look at the fence at all. This stops you anticipating the jump and unbalancing the horse. This allows the horse to find his stide himself (which he is perfectly able to do). It is only when you start getting to higher levels like you metioned that you even need to interfer in any way (and this is only really for related distances).

The poster of this post was concerned about looking down so please don't confuse with more advanced ideas (you said this yourself - top rider riding). It is not true that looking down will not put you off balance or cause you to fall - it can (believe me ive done it). The head is an incredible heavy part of your body - don't underestimate how much it can effect your horses balance.

[lamprellsarah]

yeah you are both right, now i always look at the jump i am jumping, but then i look ahead too!!
that thing about not looking at the jump at all was in your horse, and there is a pic of a horse with a rider, jumping 3ft, without the rider even looking at the jump but sideways at the instructor!!
i mean when free schooling when did you ever tell the horse exactly where to take off???

[ilovebacara]

well sed lleeaannee

[lleeaannee]

Thanx you two. I was really expected to be slated there. It's the first time I've diagreed with someone and on other sites it doesn't get a good reception!!

Sorry if I did offend anyone tho. It wasn't my intention

[Rachel C.]

Hi all!

I can see Leeannes point, but I felt that I haven't made my point at all clear. I was interested by all your opinions being so similar, and I agree that is what most riding school instructors have tried to teach me! I fished out the bit that Ginny Elliot said, and this is an extract:

" some people tell riders not to look at a fence but beyond it. This is a complete waste of effort, time and breath. The only way to see a stride to a fence is by staring at it."

Ah well, Ginny Elliot agrees with me so I must be saying something right :-)

So I experimented with your ideas today!! First I tried looking through my ponys ears. Fine If you've got a big 'un but a 14hh pony on the bit, well then I was really looking down!!

I tried looking ahead, and well the strides I got into the fences poles everywhere!!

I understand it depends on the pony. My friends pony will sort his own stride out, but my pony has to have it done for her. This doesn't make her a bad jumper though, she is actually working at BSJA Newcomers.

You mentioned looking to the side of a fence to build up confidence. This goes against what you have already said about the horse being off balance by the riders heavy head! What I find is that for the horse to have any confidence in jumping it is better if the rider does find a stride to the fence because then he will meet it right, and become more confident. I know quite a few failed horses, because their riders "let the horse sort out the stride" the horse lost confidence beacuse he met some solid cross country fences on the wrong stride, and hit his legs. Now the horse gets very nervous if he sees fences over 2'!

Another personal opinion of mine, is that even from the beginning we should me trying to emulate the succesfful rider, rather than learning a much easier but ineffective method which will then be hard to change!

It's just an opinion, but I do feel that some people here have opinions that they are not willing to consider the ethics or reasonings for. Why do you look ahead over jumps? Have you tried looking at the base? See whether it works! YOu will probably be in for a surprise!

After all, I have tried your suggestions, and found that they didn't suit me.

PS. Sorry if this offends anyone, it's not meant to.

[ilovebacara]

everyone has their own style of riding and it all depends wat u find comfortable and that works well for the horse too!!! like if you were made to fo it the 'right' way and u werent confident about changing then the horse would pick up that u were nervous and make a mess of the jump

[Maci]

It is true that you see pro riders look down at the fence, then up, but I think it's always good to look up when you're first learning to jump, to get you used to it and confident.

Maci :)

[lamprellsarah]

yeah, i am on both side, but i do agree, that when learning to jump trying to see the stride and judge can end up in a lot of problems the horse should be good, and know it's job!!