5th lesson - really hard but went OK! and a bit of advice please.

[ann-jen]

I had my 5th jumping lesson last night and was feeling a bit nervous after the last one!
It was after dark so we had to go in the indoor school and Jen tends to be calmer indoors but as there's not so much room in there it can be a bit tight if she does light up.
Anyway we started with a really long grid of poles on the ground which we trotted over no problems. She then lifted the poles into crosses one at a time until we had a one stride triple combination. We managed this fine, but P thought we were getting a bit more onward bound so she put some little "stile" poles between the fences so we had to be really accurate and straight to go over the poles between the fences and also to give Jen more to think about and slow her down. This seemed to work well.
We worked loads on my position and I'm really proud to say I think I am getting better.

I always used to lean forward too soon and too much and then take ages to sit up after the fence by which point Jen was usually really running on. I am trying so hard to sit up and keep my hands down (I wish it came a bit more naturally!!) I have to focus on a point in the distance (in indoor the C or A marker) so I'm not looking at the fence and anticipating the take off point. This makes a massive difference LOL.
Anyway she then decided to move it on and bit and removed the poles and the middle part of the grid so we were left with a 3 stride related distance. I was amazed the first time we went down it as we managed it on 4 strides! In the past we've often been going so fast that we've taken strides out so even though it was 'wrong' I was still very pleased! Anyway she was doing it fine on 3 strides after that so she put the 2nd part up into a little vertical about 2ft3 - this is probably nothing to most of you (and me once upon a time) but it looked huge to me and I was nervous. Normally this would instantly set Jen off but I jumped the first cross, sat up and kept my hands down and she sailed over it

- probably jumping about 3ft3 over it! BUT I had a job pulling her up on the landing side - I think because I was so relieved just to have got over it so well that I forgot to keep riding her! Anyway once I'd let her get away with that she was a bit fired up and kept trying to fall in around the corner on the approach and zoom in so we had to spend a load of time circling her and doing transitions until she settled and then approach again. She jumped it perfectly (although still a bit exuberantly) every time but it was taking longer to settle her on the approach each time.
Also I don't know if anyone can offer any advice - I think it might just be my reactions are too slow but when we land she always wants to turn right and lands on the right canter lead. If I am focused enough to give her a little left rein aid in mid air we can make the left turn but I think I'm too slow to think of it or I'm too busy concentrating on all the other things that I seem to leave it to Jen and she always wants to turn right. By the time I'm thinking left turn she is often already veering to the right. I managed to get a left turn of a fashion last night but it was more of a veering to the right and then heading for the arena wall pulling up and heading left - not very neat! The positive thing was my position must be improving and I must be sitting up more to be able to even try and insist we turn the opposite way to the way Jen thinks we should go. I think maybe I need to go back to poles and tiny jumps to practice this but it only really happens when she's a bit fired up and onward bound which I'm trying to train her out of so if I keep the jumps small she doesn't fire up and it doesn't really happen anyway. Any exercises I could try? Or any tips would be gratefully received.
Thanks for reading.
AJ

 

[PaddyMonty]

Are you right handed by any chance?
If you are then your right leg will be stronger than your left. When jumping this ususally results in the rider putting more weight in the right leg over a fence and hence gives the horse a right canter lead cue. Try to put more weight in to which ever leg you want the horse to lead off on after the fence. A simple turn of the head is usually enough to achieve this.

 

[Rambo]

Usually if a horse favours one leg over the other on landing it is to do with the riders weight being shifted to one side or the other, so as 4faulter has said, try shifting your weight slightly to compensate. If however, that doesn't have any effect, you can also try flexing your horses neck slightly over the fences in the direction you want to go on landing, or even the opposite direction if that is what works for you. They are different exercises, but are all trying to achieve the same thing....a slight shift in weight

 

[ann-jen]

Thanks both of you - I am right handed and I've just been looking at a few old pics of me jumping and it looks like when I fold my upper body is fractionally to the right so it looks like you are spot on with the weight thing. I will try looking left as I go over the jump - I think I am so focussed on not looking at the jump that I'm now just looking dead ahead - I suppose it doesn't matter if I'm looking left so long as its not at the jump if that makes sense- sorry think I'm rambling a bit now.