Help me get my eye back in... I can't see a stride any more!!

rosiesowner

rosiesowner

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To sum up the situation:
-Jumping was beginning to feel like we'd cracked it, I was happy schooling round 1m courses which I felt was good enough for me
-Winter began, horse dropped a little condition so popped her onto a feed with a little more to it on recommendation of owner
-Fast forward a few weeks, horse's mind seemed to melt with all this extra energy
-Horse became practically unrideable, including when jumping which is her favourite thing!
-As such, gave up on the jumping to just focus on relaxing the flatwork and hacking
-Gradually changed feed over to something less heating (Bailey's No.4) and pony now back pretty much to her normal self. Woo hoo!
-Other night, jumped. Horse: As calm as she's ever been when jumping apart from a little excitement as the fences went up which is fair enough. Myself: No confidence and totally faking it to make sure I gave my horse as good a ride as possible.
-Fences can't have been any more than 85cm but I just could not see a stride.

So:
Please give me suggestions for exercises/techniques to help me get my eye back in and also perhaps build a little more confidence-though I think that will come with jumping more regularly again. I felt incredibly rusty-more like I hadn't jumped in months.
In better news, flatwork is getting better and better :)
To sum it all up:
HELP ME REMEMBER HOW TO SEE A BLOO*Y STRIDE!!
Here's a pic from the other night
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Go back to gridwork, it is far more useful than jumping individual fences or trying to do a course when you are rusty, a few sessions should get you both back together, also do lots of canter poles in flat sessions to get the canter as you need it for jumping, there is little point in jumping courses for the sake of it on a fairly well established horse there is far more benefit from grids and related fences that make you work hard and get the partnership thinking as a team.
 
Grids & Poles to help you count out strides. Also once a bit more confident try playing with lengthening and shortening strides between 2 fences on a related distance to get more feel for your horse :)
 
Ha I never attempt to see strides. Competing at BE90 and frankly I let B sort it or himself, if I fiddle I tend to cause more trouble. But he is a horse that's very good at digging deep and sorting himself out when we are in trouble!
 
I had a couple of months off jumping because my horse had a few issues. Had a jumping lesson again last week and my eye was totally 'out'.
Hoping for better things this week. So I feel your pain. Sorry no suggestions though.
 
yep, grids always worked for me :)
plus, I always found that I started to struggle to see a stride when my canter had gone to pot. If your canter isn't forward enough, or is lacking impulsion, losing balance or the rhythm is a bit hit and miss then it is 10x harder to get your eye in, IME. So pay a little attention to what's happening in between the jumps, to make sure you have your horse's optimum canter absolutely nailed and consistent all the time. Then ride THAT canter, and the fences will probably come up nicely more often than not anyway.
 
Tend to agree with everyone else. Grids and canter poles will help, but making sure you have a good jumping canter is key - and then don't change the rhythm a few strides away. Pick your rhythm and stick with it to the fences. If you're not seeing a stride and either pulling or kicking and changing the rhythm in front of the fence, you will generally take off in a bad spot. Try to keep the canter consistent in the approach, through the track or exercise, and upon landing.
 
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