Is it possible to give too much rein?

[gnubee]

I have noticed recently that when a jump doesnt go quite perfect, I tend to forget to give with my hands properly. So tonight we were working over a pretty straightforward jump and I was really focussing on making sure my hands went forward enough to create slack in the rein (overexagerating the movement).
Usually very competent horse then managed to trip twice on landing in about 5 jumps.

So I'm wondering if it is possible that she is relying on hand contact to kind of pick her up again after the jump? It almost felt like that was happening, because it seemed a bit like her head was going down after the jump so we weren't really moving away properly, but its not a problem I have heard of before.
Alternatively it could just have been a bad day, or I could have been moving my whole body forward more rather than just my hands although it didnt really feel like I was off balance.

 

[SamandMonty]

I've always thought you should always keep contact when jumping. that's personally what i do. I got told off by my instructer for droping my horse before a fence because i weas making sure i pushed my hands forward to give the horse chance to use himself. Now as he takes off i tend to lift my hands with him and maintain light strong contact with his mouth. If you do miss at a jump, its easy enough to let your reins slip to make sure you dont jab them in the mouth.
xx

 

[bathmat]

Your contact should be constant but very elastic. The contact should follow the amount of stretch the horse needs to jump- not too much and not too little. If you have not been giving enough then it is better to give too much whilst learning, in order to meet in the middle and give just enough. There is nothing worse than jabbing the horse in the mouth, even by accident.

I wouldnt say the horse was relying on the contact to stay up, more that the horse is on its forehand so then when the contact is given it falls more on the forehand. Think of the give and retake of the reins in a dressage test- the horse should maintain its outline. If the horse is on its forehand then its nose drops when the reins are given.

 

[katie_and_toto]

Guilty of this

Have touched his ears several times But usually about 3/4 of the way down his neck always make sure i pick up again quickly though, never had problems, its just a habit really, get scared i'll pull him in the mouth

 

[unbalanced]

I think you and your horse should be capable of jumping without relying on your reins for balance. If you knotted your reins and went down a line of jumps, you should still be able to fold and go with your horse and your horse should still be able to jump and land without tripping. Then for cross country, if you need to slip your reins, you need to know that your horse will be able to balance himself as long as your weight is in the right place.
When I feel I've let my horse down before a jump usually it's because I've gone wrong with my weight and put my weight onto her forehand so it is hard for her to take off - so she stops. Is this dropping her?
I think when we ride, flatwork or jumping, horses are responsible for their feet and we are responsible for the direction. You should be able to ride at any pace on a loose rein without tripping as long as you and your horse are in balance and you are sitting up and looking where you are going. If your horse is tripping I would say the problem is unlikely to be in your reins. Either it is a medical problem such as sore feet or it is because your horse is slopping along not going forward properly and you need to wake him up and ride forwards type thing. Reins are the icing on the cake!
Maybe have some lessons jumping without reins (or even without stirrups) to work on your weight aids) or do some gridwork. I'm sure my horse would much rather I give too much rein jumping than too little.

 

[gnubee]

I do normally keep a light contact in the air, but I thought it might be a good exercise to try to give it more consciously. I think you could be right, bathmat, about her just falling onto the forehand on landing without the contact there, and that causing the tripping. She is quite on the forehand anyway, so does need riding into a contact to use the back end. I can imagine that if you did a give and retake reins on her, you could probably see her body rotate as she dived back onto the forehand in the absence of contact.
If I decide to continue with the exercise, I will try it on one with a bit more self carriage.