jump-off practice - ideas needed for tight/difficult turns/combos please

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blood_magik

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I'm starting to work on getting me and my boy reading for competing next season and, ideally, I want us to be able to go to a new venue and not be intimidated by a scary combo or a dodgy turn between fences :D

Trouble is, I can't think of any "difficult" combos to practice other than a dog-leg where you go back on yourself after the first fence in a sort of v shape (hard to describe).

Can anyone think of any other combos? My brain has decided to go to sleep :o

My old riding instructor was brilliant at making us do difficult courses - should have packed him in my suitcase when I moved :rolleyes:

Costco mahoosive lemon cheese cake on offer :D

ETA: my aim for the end of next season is a DC at disco :)
 
My friend puts up a bouble in the middle of her arena, centre line, either first part upright or spread then the last part the oppersite to what the first part is, with a stride inbetween. she does this so its is jumpable either way. This enables her to do tight turns into combos and means she is able to jump spreads/ uprights on ERY acute angles at any speed.
she always says, start off small and gradually build up to the height you ARE competing at then the height you AIM to compete at
Yes, she is an absolute nutter!! :D :D

Hope this helps :)
 
just the thought of a tight turn into a 1.10m spread is absolutely terrifying right now :D
What's the worst that can happen? He stops or I go splat :p
 
I'm sure you know this anyway, but the 'secret' of tight turns for jumpoffs comes directly from flatwork - making sure the back end is engaged and your horse is not on the forehand. If you work on accuracy in flatwork sessions you will see a huge difference in your jumping. The other exercise I will practice is cantering a 'square' with a quarter turn on the haunches at each corner.

Good jumping exercises include jumping on an angle and jumping the specific 'bit' of the jump you aim for - e.g. for stripy poles aim to jump a specific 'red' stripe. Making sure your horse stays straight (even if you are jumping on an angle) will save time in jump offs.

Lots of gridwork - won't especially help with speed in jump offs but will help athleticism and encourage the horse to snap up well in front.

:)
 
Put one fence on the centre line. fence a
Two strides on slight dog leg to the left next fence b.
Three strides from !st fence again slight dog leg to the right to another fence c.
You can then jump fence a to b or c
fence b to a or fence c to a or a b c a or even a b c a b
You just need to make it so you can them jump both ways.you can also vary the distances.
I hope this is of some help.
 
I have done an S shape type exercise down our school, its only 20x40 so getting to many fences in is hard, I had 3 fences all with a curving 2 strides between them. Starting off small and in trot linking two together then linking the three. My boy can only do the 3 in trot at the moment but its a work in progress, it really helps you to turn in the air and focus on the next fence. This can also be done as a zigzag and you just keep circling and jumping linking as many as you can.
The other one is a grid with two options at the end so its a Y shape and as you get to the last fence have a helper shout left or right and you have to go to that fence.
 
I think you have to have your horse listening to you, so practise practise practise on the flat. If you have a good enough canter, and your horse pays attention there is no need to be dragging/hauling them round corners (not saying you do btw! :) ). You should be able to land and turn without any problems, backing off, yanking etc. This could be practised by doing figure 8s over some poles on the ground at first :)

Other than that fences set like this \ / \ in a line. I always struggle with lack of impulsion from my horses big bottom when I have to do a 180 turn into a fence, I have to be really forward thinking with him - I much prefer tight twisty courses to long gallopy ones, I cannot gallop at fences without the worry I'm going to flatten them! :eek: :D
 
great ideas :D I'll try them on Wednesday when there's no-one around to watch us mess up :p

I was attempting a dog-leg with 3 strides between the fences and naughty jerry jumped the dog leg at an angle because I was too busy concentrating on maintaining my canter :p oops
 
Basically try jumping fences as tight an angle as possible (ie. across it) as thats very helpful in jump-offs. Also just jumping and turning as quickly as you can after it, as well as turning into it from a circle leaving only 2 or 3 strides into it. That sort of thing is good for jump-offs.
 
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