Confidence issue? or something else.. PLEASE help! **Videos** (CR)

[Grey_Eventer]

After my post about me falling off twice here are the videos so you can see what happened. sorry not great quality but not bad. PLEASE watch them and any CC would be appreciated. does it look like a confidence thing? or is my riding? or something else? i know he has appuling bend, but rode him in a snaffle whereas i usually ride in a pelham, he was also very strong. PLEASE help me. any ideas, CC ANYTHING!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shkuPmAsw4I

Heres him just trotting in so you can see his paces, doesnt look like anything wrong from that, but please have a look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l50RLuomQg

This is my first round, he was very strong but jumped nicely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTQpK0ZjBtk

After the fall, jumped the rest of the course nicely aswell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDF0FXvBQ4s

Appauling first jump- cant have helped, and then i fell off.... was it bad riding?
PLEASE help me.. any ideas, CC just anything.. PLEASE

Im kind of desperate... please
thank you

 

[MrsMozart]

Im not very good on these things, but to me he just looks strong, and getting stronger.

Too far away to comment on why you came off, other than speed IMO.

 

[samstar]

Watched it twice on you falling off, did you line him up to jump properly as way I saw it it looked abit skew whiff.
Was abit far away though to actually see properly though

 

[f_s_]

Can I ask, do you do any flatwork with him, or do you only jump?

It's just that he has a typical jumpers bump on the inside of his neck, and seems quite hollow going into the jump. Due to this his head comes up very high, and is therefore difficult to control your speed.

Nothing essentially wrong with your riding btw, just looking at how you could gain a little more control.

 

[chunklovescooks]

Your riding looks fine to me! I think it was just bad luck with your fall, everyone falls from time to time.

He does look very strong, could you use a slightly stronger bit? Or has he got a soft mouth?

 

[Louby]

Sorry if this is complete twaddle and I shouldnt really comment on this as its years since I did any jumping but I was just thinking with you falling off pretty much the same way both times that maybe you need to sit deeper before the jump so you are more secure if he does put a dirty stop in. Its difficult to see as you are so far away.

 

[cokelly]

Hey

It was a little hard to see in the vids because you were far away! The first and only thing I really noticed about your riding was that you seem a little fixed in your hands- though I realise your pony is strong! I'd just like to see them move more rather than your seat- if you watch the vids carefully you may be able to see yourself really moving your seat as he canters around (and this is encouraging him even more forwards!)

Apart from that your riding looks great

Only reasons I can see for you coming off is him sliding to a halt before the fence. It's hard to tell whether he is doing this because he doesn't like the look of the jumps or whether it is because he's got the striding wrong? But you'll know which one it is. It probably is his speed that is throwing you off him as he's going soo fast and then halting so suddenly you're over the jump without him!

I'd agree with f__s__ about the whole flatwork thing. He looks like a typical jumping pony- scopey and fast! Perhaps a little flatwork and polework may help to steady him a bit and be more aware of your brakes!

He looks superfun to ride though!!

 

[elizabethshaw]

you look nice and tidy in your position, so think it's probably a schooling issue - would agree with the post re flatwork. He looks, by the over developed neck muscle, as though he just runs through the bridle and I doubt whether a stronger bit will do anything to help this - he looks as though he needs to work with a lower head carriage, and use his back and hindquarters more. I would suggest some flatwork lessons where he can slow down a bit, and start to use himself more effectively, and also jumping sessions with smaller jumps/poles/obstacles etc that involve him listening to you a lot more for what comes next. Even halt between jumps, ask for something completely different (back up, leg yield, halt, circle etc etc) to break the pattern of building up a head of steam that gets stronger the more jumps he does. He looks a really nice horse and you are a nice rider, so I really think it just needs a different mental approach and a lot of work at home to change his pattern of work. Good luck.

 

[martlin]

QR
Well, it's difficult to say with any certainty as it is quite far away from the camera, but IMO the both occasions you hit the deck - the turn and approach were pretty naff on your part.
Don't want to sound harsh and feel free to ignore me.
Although he is strong or maybe because he is strong, you don't support him with the leg enough, remember - the more you take a pull, the more you need to give support with your leg.
Let the canter rock your bum a bit, but don't put effort in rocking it yourself - if that makes any sense at all.
Lower your hand on the approach a tad and try not to throw yourself and the pony at the jump.

Last but not least - develop a bit of stickability, he ditched you with amazing ease, really.

 

[annret]

I think you look a little tense tbh and are concentrating too much on your hands and not using your seat and position to slow and hold together enough, which is probably nerves.

I agree with Samstar and Martlin on the line you take into the jump on both instances to an extent - I think he needed more time to get his head round what he was doing; obviously your steering is being hindered by the strength of the horse but as above school work will really help you with using your legs and body to steer rather than doing most of the work through your hands.

There is nothing majorly wrong there at all, you're a nice rider so don't be disheartened and I'd definately put a balance strap on the front of your saddle and have an easily grabbable neck strap so you have things to hold onto, but imo stopping becomes a bit of a 'trick' so it'd be good to nip it in the bud if you can.

I think it's time for lots of work without stirrups to work on getting your legs really under you so you're in a better position when there's a rapid change in velocity (canter to stop) but really most importantly don't psyche yourself out over it & if you need a stronger bit while you get a bit more secure and sit a bit deeper in the saddle then so be it

Good luck, anyway.

 

[Grey_Eventer]

Thank you so much for the replys. I take regular flatwork lessons, with a bit of jumping. The problem with him is that hes got to that age where there is no point in trying to get him round to a fence. He is not usually this bad, but yes he is a showjumper and thats how he is built tbh. He will work nicely, but once he seen a fence then the head comes up, it has taken me 2 years to get him working without a fence!
Im going to put him back in the pelham, i used the snaffle simply because he was very carm and collected in the first class i did, maybe a bit string- but not this strong. I never thought that it might be his speed that is putting him off, i think i will really try and set him up more for the fences, the bit where i fell off at the yellow double was a very difficult line to get, it was about 3 strides off the fence and so was hard to get a nice line, but to the blue that was just bad riding i reckon!- sorry Barney

I think i came off due to his speed, as i have had 4 years previous to him of very very dirty stops, which means i sit most things, but because he was going fast i wasnt really stable in the saddle.. and just kept going!
oh and when i put the pelham in he does tend to come rounder as he is listening to me. Im wandering whether he is more confident in a pelham as hes not tanking into the fences where as in the snaffle he is... hmm.. back to pelham!
I also think his way of going is just down to no one really caring about how hes jumping. The girl before me did limited work with him, the odd SJing competitions but very little XC- he now LOVES it! and before that he came from a SJing yard which was obviously baout importing horses, winning money, seling horses- he won £500 in 5 months at Newcomers!
I will get dad to video me- in a better position! next time im out- an ODE at the end of the month, and ill get someone to video me just practising so you can see that.. and also some of his flatwork!
Thank you

 

[MrsMozart]

I like different bits for different disciplines, unless a ned happens to 'like' one bit and goes well in it for all things.

LC does his flat work in a french link boulchar(sp! brain faze!), and hacking in a Pelham 'cos sometimes we need a little extra brakes. After seeing him last night do his first jumps in a big field I think he'll need a pelham when cross countrying as well lol.

Hope your plan goes well. Look forward to the pictures/videos

.

 

[ester]

Can't see obviously but have a think of whether you are falling in to the trap of not putting your legs on enough as he felt strong in the snaffle. It is something I was certainly doing for a long time with Frank, although he looks strong and feel strong I do have to use a lot of leg, if I sit there like a numpty I will get away with it so many times then he will stop.

I think it might have been a combo of this, him getting away from you a bit more, not turning quite so well and then not quite hitting it right. Don't worry about it, pop the pelham back in and take it down a notch for a nice couple of schooling rounds.

 

[fornema]

My old pony used to do that with a girl who used to ride him as she didnt give him a good lead into the fence and push him into it as he could be a spooky pony sometimes but make sure that your pushing him right into the fence and dont leave off at the last second otherwise he will back off of the fence. but bit change will probs influence his way of going a little to