Remembering courses.....

D

Dees-unpaidgroom

horses let us fly
Aug 28, 2008
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Ok i feel really stupid saying this! but does any one else struggle to remember the course like when they are show jumping?? I always walk the course and watch other riders but i always seem to forget where i am going to! its really embarassing!! :eek: i end up going down to trot or even walk so i can re caculate where i am meant to be going! which then ovb ruins the impulision which i had needed to get over the jumps! so i end up with a refusal which is my fault for not knowing where i was meant to be going and end up very embarassed :eek::p so basically i am asking how people remember the course? and i am also hoping i am not the only one who struggles to remember and gets lost!:eek:
 
nah your not alone, always wanted to do it but just cant remember where to go. done two a few years ago and first was a complete embarasment, second i was just stupid and so have not done anymore since. have been thinking of looking for a few local clear rounds this summer, to see if i can give it another go. sorry have no tips but will be waiting to see what others say :D
 
i never walk a course, i find it better to watch the other horses, and also try to think of a course as more of a pattern... if you see what i meen.
 
What I do is remember what rein to start on (that's easy!) and then every place it changes after that. In other words, after each jump, I know whether I should turn left or right. So I say something to myself like: right, right, right, left, left, left, right, right.

So, when I'm out there and forget the next jump as I'm in the air (which is where it usually happens), I know how to turn the horse, and this gives me time to recollect where I am to go next.
 
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I find it easier to remember courses now but I was always one for getting lost!! Walk the course untill you know it in your head even if this meens you have to walk the course 4 times!! I'm so much better now that I could even tell you my British novice course from monday!! I usually walk a course twice. It's usually two phase or single phase for me which involes memorising 14 fences!! in my jump off i'll remember it like left handed 9 yellow oxer, right handed 10 blue double dogs leg to 11 yellow upright etc you get the picture!!
 
I have had to walk a course a few times especially at some places wher u just have about 30 jumps in there for all the other classes as well that gets confusing, but otherwise I just try and watch the other ppl and i try and remeber by colours of jumps that sometimes helps or the type of jump, might be worth a try,

Hope this helps

Sarah
 
if i walk a course i dont do it for course order, i do it for distances.

i always find the best way to remember a course is to get on your horse so your at the correct height and phsycially point to the fences in order, and tell other people by pointing them out. number them simple 1-2 etc do this about 10 times.

if your at a bigger show or you can't get close enough to see the arena when mounted get someone to boost you up or stand on something to put you up higher so you can see the top of the fences.

i find that when your up higher you remember better as your at a closer height to what you are actually going around the course so your memory can gage it better due to the persepctive, instead of looking up from the ground then having to look down and remember the fences from the floor
 
jaydevon said:
i never walk a course, i find it better to watch the other horses, and also try to think of a course as more of a pattern... if you see what i meen.
Click to expand...

So how do you measure the strides between each jump, to find the best route for your horse to take?
 
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