Approach and position

[racaille]

Was watching the No1 trainer give a jumping lesson and found it fascinating. Not sure how you are taught in the UK but I thought this was a really intelligent approach.
The four girls all have a good level (Galop 6/7 - pretty much enough to get them into trainee instructor programmes).
So ... I've mentioned before that here we don't bother with all this 'stride' stuff - we think it is the horse's job to jump, and our job to put the horse at the jump in the best possible way and then not to impede it as it does its job. That is, cardinal sins are approaching the jump at the wrong angle, rushing, not enough impulsion, rider 'jumping' before the horse, looking down etc etc, all things that would not give the horse every advantage to successfully get over the jump. Any courgette on a generous horse can get over a jump, but if you are asking a horse to do a course of 14, it needs to be given every chance to do its stuff.
The girls were working over a tiny jump to start with and were working on their positions, and I mean really fine tuning. The trainer's point was that once you can get your horse to a jump perfectly, the size of the jump isn't that important. It was really interesting to see how the horses (none of them very experienced) responded to seemingly minuscule changes in the rider's position or hands. She was severe about their bums - she wanted them to have very strong and stable legs so that their weight was out of the saddle, but only enough to free the horse's back, not so high it destabilised them. Then the aim was to keep still, allowing for soft hands.
She added another two jumps, still very small, in series, and this really tested them as the horses had to work hard to sort out their legs. But when the riders got it right, they sailed over beautifully.
For me it was riveting. (But I have to admit I am not that tidy, myself! )

[duckles]

That's very interesting Racaille- I love watching a good lesson, you learn so much and then of course I am always inspired to try out what they were doing! We don't really go in for the striding thing here either - its all about getting a good rhythm and approach etc. But the rider's seat, position etc is not given a lot of attention which I think is a pity as they are all connected.
What is the view on stirrup lenght? We were always thougth to keep short for jumping (which I think is the conventual view) but I remember this guy I knew going to a international sj who had worked on the continent for lessons and he was told to keep stirrups longer and a more classical upright rather than forward seat. So we all tried that for a while.

I prefer the longer lenght but we used to have jumping lessons with the stirrups so short that it was agony, with stirrups tied to girth, with no stirrups and with no hands. THe no hands was fun as they set up a grid and you knotted your reins and put your hands in the air as you did first jump. It was good for making you look up and balancing right but I always drifted to the right which really showed me that i was one sided!

Isn't it great to get the international flavour on this forum!!!

[madcatwoman]

my instructor over here just does nothing for me at all , he is samur trained and does compete at top level himself so he does n=know his stuff , but, for example with harvey , i was having lessons with a lady who is now training the GB olympic team , and i was getting results , and the difference in H was amazing, her baic ideal was , its what you achieve thats important , as in a good jump and a horse going well, not how pretty it all looks, and the riders job was to be there to help the horse if it went wrong , not to teach the horse but let it make mistakes so it would learn by them , and your horse would know that the mistake was there doing and nothing to do with the rider so next time it would adjust itself to suit , and that all horses are different so you cant expect 2 horses to behave the same , and it was daft to change somthing that worked for that particuler horse

but jc , over here , is compleatly the opposite , even with flash he was trying to change my riding style , when for the past 24 years weve been doing perfectly well with the well we jump , ( winning over £5000 l must of done somthing right) and when we had a fun show i took pika in the speed class , he went ballistic at me for cutting corners , good job he never saw me & masha cos she was a speed queen and would jump fences sideways

[fleabitten]

No, im my lessons we will go over a jump once, only doing it again if you have a run out (not mattering if you knock it down). Ive heard my RI saying its not the size of the jump that matters, its how you get over it. I think i have a problem with turning/ approach to jumps because i usually turn too early - luckily enough the approach is long enough (indoor is quite big about 60m long i think) that i can correct it. I think im a bit messy when jumping. I see my instructors veiw on lessons, in that she uses 80% of the lesson on the flat and then some jumps at the end.

Stirrup length - my riding school is the only place out of 5 places ive been to, bar 2 maximum, where we shorten our stirrups for jumping - we dont go jockey style, just one or 2 holes. Ive treid jumping with long stirrups and i found it very uncomfortable. I found it strange in other riding schools, not being asked to shorten stirrups.

[racaille]

I agree Duckles - it's great to see how people do stuff elsewhere, isn't it? Certainly you Brits seem to fold much more over jumps (I'm not talking about big stuff).
Yes, we shorten our stirrups too, but at least two holes, it does make you more stable 'en equilibre' and helps avoid that all-too-common problem of thumping down on the horse's back at the reception . Personally I am much more comfortable with longer stirrups but I can't get away with it and I do see the point.
Kflashy - I agree there really is no point in trying to change your riding style! And there doesn't seem much point in balling you out for cutting corners either. BUT if you are teaching, there is every reason to teach the 'ideal'. As I said, the horses in the lesson were inexperienced. There are old hand jumpers who can jump anything from any angle, flat out. But other horses need all the help they can get. Paco is a rubbish jumper. If I make any mistake at all in the approach, he will crash through it. But if I turn well to give him a good look, time to get his legs sorted out (can horses have two left hooves??? ;D) get him right in the middle of the jump and straight, he can manage nicely.
I used to do the odd competition of a lovely mare called Sapho. All you had to do was get her going actively and then hang on. She just did the rest regardless of your mistakes. I once really tested her (ooops) by putting her at a chapeau de gendarme ( a jump on top of a bank) and instead of doing a nice smooth descent the other side and a loop to the next jump, took her straight off the bank, sharp turn left and immediately over the next jump. I heard the huge intake of breath from the spectators, but she managed, no thanks to me. The next competitor tried to do the same thing and just went straight through it! Bravo Sapho!

[duckles]

Hey Racaille, I'm not a Brit!

[racaille]

So sorry Duckles, no insult intended! ;D

[duckles]

Absolutely none taken!

[racaille]

;D