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Post by fimacg on Apr 14, 2015 11:57:13 GMT
I videoed my round jumping at the weekend and it has hit me like a tonne of bricks that I jump with the handbrake on.
I know why this has come about - basically because I lost all confidence with Brave running out and doing dirty stops etc, but now I am making his life and mine more difficult by not allowing him into a more forward canter.
so I need some tips to help be take the handbrake off (its worse because I don't even know I am doing it most of the time) bearing in mind I ride 90% of the time on my own I need some exercises to help remind me what a good forward canter feels like.
I am planning on putting a couple of poles out on the long side of the school 5 strides apart and making sure I ride it in that distance before trying to put an extra stride in and take one out etc.
Any other ideas?
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Post by racaille on Apr 14, 2015 12:24:36 GMT
Gosh this rings a bell with me! I too have become very defensive after a lot of dirty stops and consequent falls. I kept wondering why P kept falling back into trot..... What worked for me ( should say what IS WORKING as it is still in progress  is rethinking my position. I have spent a lot of time really working on getting stable legs (sounds like an equestrian illness  ) and improving my seat 'en equilibre'. This has made me more confident and I am able to 'let go' a bit more. We're not fussed about strides down here and I'm not sure poles will help you but an exercise that you can do on your own that will help you tell the difference is to canter round your arena, collecting on the short sides and lengthening on the long sides. If you think you might be giving him 'slow down' signals with your hands, try a neck strap and hold onto that (I know a Big Name rider who always uses one to train). But remember, it's not necessarily speed you need for SJ but bounce so Brave has to learn to be compact. Sounds daft but some dressage schooling can help with that. I know what you mean about being solo most of the time, me too. It's quite tough. |
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Post by solomon on Apr 14, 2015 15:27:22 GMT
With Pete just going across country would have helped him go forwards more. Maybe like the marches you just need some damson gin first!
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Post by pboy on Apr 14, 2015 18:26:49 GMT
Alcohol definitely helps  . And I agree with the neck strap - lots of the top eventers use them as standard (including William Fox-Pitt) so there's no shame in it. IME eventers generally like to teach the horse to go forwards and work out the jump for themselves so I think they're a much better model for us mere mortals than pro show jumpers!! I liked the sound of the 'eyes shut' exercise too. Maybe doing that with long-ish reins and fingers through a neck strap would really get the brave pants working. Alcohol maybe needed to give it a go of course..! |
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Post by fimacg on Apr 14, 2015 19:57:40 GMT
Rac when I watched my video Rac I could see what I was doing, basically slowing him down on every approach so if was canter, canter, lurch, which would then unbalance me so I would then have to get her everything together again and would kick on, but pull up at the same time, not a pretty sight really.
I tried my pole exercise and first time I rode through my five stride distance at I what I thought was a decent canter we did it in 7.5...
After a few attempts missed strides, stretches, knocked pokes etc we got 5, when Brave gets something he 'gets' it and after that and he realised I stopped interfering he gave me 5 strides each and every time. I also had a cross pole and straight jump set up in the school and after getting the feel of the canter I tried the jumps again the first couple of times Brave got it wrong and either took of early or chipped a little one in, but then he flew... The jumps became part of the stride and it felt Brilliant!
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Post by brigadier on Apr 15, 2015 8:54:13 GMT
Fi- Im now exactly the same and when I analyse why I think it is a confidence thing. When I fist got Basil he was much more exuberant and covered more ground than anything I had ridden for a long time. Post baby it was not a good thing as I thought I was whizzing about out of control everywhere but in actual fact we weren't making more strides we were just covering more ground. Coupled with the fact that I'm naturally a controlling person and that I can see a stride so have always done the 'let the fence come to me' style, the result ended up me slowing down behind his natural rhythm and then becoming a tad backwards which is not healthy for rider or horse.(so backwards in fact that I have avoided all jumping for many months but jumped yesterday so going in the right direction again)
So I too have some repairs to make to my style so shall be following your progress with interest. The thing that may help was when I was doing the point to point horses, you couldnt stop them in anyway shape or form, they had to go forwards and work it out as at speed any alterations are dangerous and too much collection can lead to disastrous outcomes, ie rotational falls etc. Which is why they have to qualify on the hunting field first. So go hunting or ask someone who is good across country to 'team chase' with you following around a course, so that the control is taken out of your hands somewhat and you learn to confront the speed of the horse. That should help your show jumping (and yes they are somewhat different disciplines but this is all about confidence and forward action) one will improve the other.
yes there is more...... then once back in the arena set some combinations with worked out strides and ride to the strides- you've done some of that above but it now needs to be a regular thing. Go to your local(decent) show jumping venue and ask them if you can spend a day with them course building when they next have a good competition coming up and pick their brains re times for the courses and layouts so you can replicate it in your training. They may charge you but they wont turn you down as who would turn down free help lugging poles about? And you get the knowledge of just how fast or slow you should be going. Hope some of the above helps. If I find Im backwards on Harriet I will be following my own advice!!
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Post by fimacg on Apr 16, 2015 9:23:52 GMT
tried my 'bigger' canter exercise again last night and went straight for 5 strides through the poles... this time when we turned to the jumps Brave got them spot on every time and suddenly my body (with no help from my conscious brain) remembered how to jump (its been 7 years since I jumped really well)I felt brilliant, I could fold, release and FLY!
Its going to be interesting when i try jumping away from home again to see if i can let my subconscious muscle memory rule or my fear and brain takes over again. Especially as I am going back to my confidence camp next week ad we are jumping either in a field or on the XC course.... no security of arena fences
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is rethinking my position. I have spent a lot of time really working on getting stable legs (sounds like an equestrian illness 
) and improving my seat 'en equilibre'. This has made me more confident and I am able to 'let go' a bit more.
for so much hard work we thank ye!!