Advice for jumping solid, square and wide xc fences

[MrsMurs]

We're having a lot of fun doing low level ODE's, but for some reason I get hang ups about jumping big, square, wide solid fences. Roll tops are no problem, just the square, scary looking jumps. Fortunately my horse is a saint and doesn't have the same hang up as his mother, but is there a way for me to approach or visualise them to make them seem less daunting ?

Eta. Im the same with oxers sj. How can i not stress about the width?

 

[LEC]

Practice is the simple answer and with good eyes on the ground to make sure you are in the correct position and at the correct speed. You just build it up.

 

[be positive]

As above practice at home, many people rarely jump a true square oxer at home and when they see one correctly built at a competition they think it looks huge, I often set up a double of low wide oxers and ensure when they go higher they always go wider so the rider gets used to seeing the gap between the poles at the top, sometimes jumping a triple rail is useful as they are rarely seen in sj now so rarely used in training but give the rider the idea of jumping more width.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

I know what you mean!! I find when I walk the course and there's one, I work out my approach etc but don't actually look properly at it as I walk past it to the next fence so I don't take in how wide it is. Ros Canter says she never looks at her fences.Once she's got the approach sorted she looks ahead to something on the horizon or the next fence. A very respected instructor told me that if a horse can jump the first half of a wide fence then the momentum will take them over the back bit, so in effect they are only jumping half the width, if you see what I mean. If they can get to where the flags are then they will be able to clear the rest of it.

 

[MissTyc]

I visualise the edges of the fence as coloured poles, and mutter RIDER SCARER as we approach. It's become a game and they really haven't worried me in a long time. But they used to!

 

[Jellymoon]

I’m the same, have always found them scary, but overcame it by forcing myself to go BS showjumping, starting with the 80cm clear round and then progressing up the heights on a ticket! That’s the only place you really see proper wide, square oxers. Then when you see one out in the xc course, they don’t look so bad. And you will know how easily the horse can skip over them.

Also, tell your instructor to build some for you in lessons, starting small. As someone else said, I never build myself something square and wide at home! If they do one at the end of a grid you can get the feel of it, but then you really must practise heading down towards one in its own, which is totally different!

And lastly, remind yourself that generally horses are quite clever and don’t want to fall, so when they take off, they can stretch out a bit in the air to make it over.

Oh and another thing, try really really hard not to see a long one coming into something wide!! We’ve all been there I’m sure and it normally leads to an embarrassing scenario where the horse puts in another stride with you hanging over it’s neck, or slams the breaks on as it sensibly decides you are nuts and it’s not taking off from there!

 

[MrsMurs]

I know what you mean!! I find when I walk the course and there's one, I work out my approach etc but don't actually look properly at it as I walk past it to the next fence so I don't take in how wide it is. Ros Canter says she never looks at her fences.Once she's got the approach sorted she looks ahead to something on the horizon or the next fence. A very respected instructor told me that if a horse can jump the first half of a wide fence then the momentum will take them over the back bit, so in effect they are only jumping half the width, if you see what I mean. If they can get to where the flags are then they will be able to clear the rest of it.

Thats a great visual to practice, effectively halving the width. Thankyou 👍