A gentle bit of CC please...

vallin

vallin

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So was jumping today and my position just felt awful,It was the first time I'd jumped since feb and I think i know what most of the faults are, but I was just wondering if you lovely lot could give me some CC and how to improve my position-I have a feeling my stirrups need to go down a hole, but any thoughts appreciated! Thanks! :D

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(please not these are the worst and pone generally doesn't look like a giraffe, but anywho...)
Thanks!
 
Awww, your pone is v nice. I am by no means an expert, and am a complete jumping wuss, so take what I say with a pinch of salt.

I don't think your stirrups are the problem (if anything they could do with going up a hole or two!). It's all about your weight balance I think. You're main position issue is your lower leg. Try keeping the weight lower down into your heel, dont grip with your knees and do less as you go over a fence.

Try some hip opening exercises to get your knee away from the saddle and weight down into your lower leg. Lots of walking/trotting around in jump position will help with this.

Hope thats ok!
 
Thanks for saying pone is nice :P (most of the time she's a little-well actually rather big!-b****r!) lol

Thanks, I agree with needing to get my weight down my heel, was thinking that lengthening my stirrups might help lol, maybe not! ok lots of two-point position/jump position practice it is :D
 
Just wondered if the saddle is the right size/shape for you?. It rather looks as tho' your knee is being pushed back by the block of a rather straight cut saddle, which makes it very difficult for you to keep your lower leg more forward.
 
I'd agree with trying to push your weight into your heel but I think you'll find this hard at the moment as your not quite 'folding' over a fence, think bum to the back on the saddle and this will help your weight stay more central, rather than pushing yourself forward over the fence!
hope this makes sense!
 
eishi said:
I'd agree with trying to push your weight into your heel but I think you'll find this hard at the moment as your not quite 'folding' over a fence, think bum to the back on the saddle and this will help your weight stay more central, rather than pushing yourself forward over the fence!
hope this makes sense!
Click to expand...

I agree, you seem to be standing in your stirrups a little, push your bum back, bend at the waist and try to bring your head nearer your horses mane, keeping a your back straight, easy in theory ;-) x
 
saddle does look a bit short for you, what length is it? very sweet horse, looks nice. stirrups if anything could go up 1, definitely not down.
this isn't crit, this is supposed to be helpful advice!
okay... most of all i think you need to stop gripping with your knees and let your weight travel down to your heels. you can practise this in walk, repeatedly, let your toes point out (it's just a phase you need to go through, honestly!) to let your knees sag off the saddle, so that they can't grip. weight will travel down to your heels, making a neater picture, more effective (longer) leg, and much more secure position - the lower your weight, the safer you are. practise at walk, then trot, then canter, with bum out of saddle (2 point seat), standing up in your stirrups and balancing (use a neckstrap or bit of mane to keep balance until you get the hang of it.) when jumping, keep hands up and forward (think of pushing towards ears with hands the moment the horse has taken off) so that you can't drop them low on the neck and lean on them, rotating over your knees, which is what is seems to be happening now (v common problem).
when your knees have gotten totally used to staying lax off the saddle, not gripping, you can gradually turn your toes back in to make a slightly neater picture.
hope that helps a bit!
 
ditto above you need to get your weight in your heels and fold instead of standing.
Kerilli two point exersise is the best way to help but i ward you now it will hurt when you first start and your legs will go to jelly quite quickly so build it up. (spot the person who discovered this after a break from riding and new horse was happier cantering with rider in a two point seat :D)
The more you do it the easier it gets and you will be able to do it over a fence.
When you jump think fold from the waist and bum back. Your feel like its really over exagerated but it wont be.
 
Work without stirrups will get the weight in to your heals, just walking and some slow troting (i dont recomend jumping without stirrups!). But remember to not grip with your knees.
 
Thanks for all the advice (was at work hence no earlier reply) glad it was more or less what I was thinking, just a slightly different solution :D Saddle is fine and fits both me and horse when I'm siting on my bum not my crotch lol the saddle has to be that shape as unfortunatly she is incredably square backed so this is the only type of event saddle that fits (I have still to find a GP that fits-we'll just have to make to with dressage and event :P)
Looks like lots of going round the track in twopoint position for me :D and we're reconing taking the stirrups up a whole? that's cool, that's the length I usually do XC at but I've riped one of the ligaments in my knee so riding short is a little painful atm, but I shall grin and bear it :D
Thanks for the help! Any other thoughts welcome!
V
Oh and thanks for all the nice comments about French :D she's very sweet when she wants to be :)
 
My old instructor at college used to make us ride round in jump position with no stirrups, knees had to be away from the saddle!!! Was the most painful thing i've done but was really effective! X
 
Firstly, what a lovely horse! Reminds me of my old boy, very pretty!

The main thing I can tell (and I am a beginner at these things too so I hope you don't mind!) is that your leg is way back. That's going to put you at a disadvantage because I guess your weight is just IN the saddle rather than travelling down into your heels. The point at which all your weight is going into the ball of your foot, which doesn't help keep your body secure. I would concernatrate on getting your heels down and practising a jumping position on the flat. I would think once your weight is going down your leg properly, it will make it easier to fold properly. :)
 
Firstly thanks for saying Frenchie is lovely, it's taken a huge amount of work to get there (think pregnant with twins after being abandonded in a field for 18months) :D

Glad we've got a concensus going on her-wieight needs to go down through heel-lots of hacking is 2point/jumping position to build up some strength in my lower leg i think :D
 
I agree about you being 'on your toes' a bit. My instructor has a great excercise for improving that, though it may be a bit unconventional (& you'll want to wait until your knee's better!). She had me put my stirrups up very high - higher that xc length (almost jockey length!) + then practice transitions in a light seat - then swap to no stirrups, & finish off on normal length. It made my legs ache loads, but had my leg position looking spot on!
 
See you'd be a fantastic case for the Kvall stirrup - would stop your toe pointing without hours of trying to stretch your ligaments to achieve heels down!

So if you want a quick fix, they'd be the answer!
 
My take on this is that your stirrups probably need to go up not down and you need to get your weight down through your heel. You also need to fold over the jump rather than tip.

With your heel, all the exercises above will help, I used to grip with my knee because I had sore ankles so you may find it painful until you build your strength up. You look as though you are lifting your heel to get her forwards too, are you working a bit too hard with your leg? Are you nagging her? Consider doing some work to get her more responsive to your leg and make your self stop nagging if so.

In terms of the fold, the analogy that worked for me was being told to think about going to the loo in a really minging public toilet. Your position over a fence should be the "hover" position you would adopt for the loo, so you are pushing your bum out behind and keeping your weight over your feet. Keep thinking bum out rather than fold forwards and it should help. But you need to relax through your knee to really get this, try coming into the fence thinking "loose knees" or "toes out" whatever works for you.
 
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