Jumping contact / rein length - discuss

[Supanova]

I am interested in what people consider to be the ideal rein length / contact for jumping. I have lessons with a variety of people over the years and some people have told me 1) to lengthen my reins because the horse needs to use its neck to jump over the fence and 2) to shorten my reins and really feel the horse strongly taking the contact into the fence. I have also heard people say that dressage and jumping contact are two different things.

The background to my question is that I was at an SJ competition with my flatwork trainer (who is actually a dressage rider and judge but used to event) this weekend who has also been helping me out jumping and i think she is really good. She was teaching me the latter and i felt it really worked and my horse jumped very well and felt really confident. It also stopped my hooking to a fence (which i can be guilty off on the odd occassion) because i couldn't possible pull back, whereas with longer reins i would have been able to. I suppose my only question is that it feels a really rather strong contact and on occasion i wondered if i needed to relax it all a little bit.

I guess its perhaps horses for courses and all dependent on the rider's hands but i was wondering what are people's thoughts on the above as a general rule? Do you think having short rein and a really firm feel down the rein, stops the horse using its neck to jump?

 

[dianchi]

If you give over the fence correctly there is no reason that the horse cant use its neck.

Its horses for courses, my personal pref is shorter reins, but you need to adapt to the horse your riding, one way is not always the answer for every horse!

 

[Nugget La Poneh]

Definitely whatever works for you and your horse. Old mare had to have a 'short' contact for flatwork otherwise she took the pickle, but have that same contact for any sort of jumping and it was a disaster. However, Nugz is the opposite in that you have a short contact for flatwork and all that happens is he gets terribly excited, sticks his nose on his chest and shows that short rotund ponies are very good at piaffe But for jumping, because you can utilise the energy, it works. Have a longer contact for jumping and tends to choose a more 'efficient' SJ course which doesn't always include the jumps

 

[claire_p2001]

I also think it depends on the hieght of the jumps. If i'm going in 1m30+ I want the horse to be taking a strong hold on the rein and taking me to the fences, if they are smaller i'm happy to have a lighter rein contact. My last horse had to be strong in the hand or he could duck out last minute, Jack likes really soft hands on the last few strides so he can drop his head, really use his neck and feel free over the fence. I think all horses are different so you have to adapt to them a bit. As long as your horse feels happy and confident i wouldn't worry you are taking too stronger hold unless your arms are actually aching the next day!!

 

[Mince Pie]

I think it depends on the horse, I ride a cob so when I jump him if I have long reins he falls flat on his face and therefore isn't jumping well. If I have a stronger contact and shorter reins I can keep him on his hocks more and he finds jumping much easier (of course we're only talking the dizzy heights of 85cm lol!).

 

[Supanova]

Thanks all. I shall continue with the short rein approach then as it seemed to work well. Link to a couple of photos below with the short reins (sorry it won't copy as a link so needs to copied into web browser) - i think she looks happy enough in the face and hopefully not restricted?

http://www.everybodysmile.biz/cgi-bin/public.cgi?form_status=order_image&event_id=199387&img=S181_BS__1346{Class 7 - Equilibrium Products Senior Discovery.jpg&anc=p4_0033_es&ss=33&imgcat=Class 7 - Equilibrium Products Senior Discovery

http://www.everybodysmile.biz/cgi-bin/public.cgi?form_status=order_image&event_id=199387&img=S181_BS__1347{Class 7 - Equilibrium Products Senior Discovery.jpg&anc=p4_0034_es&ss=34&imgcat=Class 7 - Equilibrium Products Senior Discovery

 

[Tnavas]

If your jumping position is balanced then the contact you have should feel no different to your dressage contact and you then follow the movement of the horses head by reaching with your arms.

Unfortunately many people open their knee and fling themselves up the horses neck so can't give with their arms because they'd end up on the ground.

 

[PaddyMonty]

For me the two options above are far too simplistic.
I can ride with a long rein and have a strong contact or a short rein and soft contact. For any given rein length many factors come in to play but mainly rider body position, arm position and how the horse carries itself.
My personal preference is to use a rein length long enough that allows me to give fully over a fence without throwing my body up the horse and short enough that I can take a firmer contact without ending up with hands in my lap.
On pretty much every horse I've jumped the amount of contact varies all through the round depending on the fence I'm approaching, the fence I've just jumped, how much the horse settles during the round, if I need to take a sharp turn or push on to cover ground, approach up hill or down hill. The possibilites are endless. IMHO any predetermined contact be it strong or soft will be missing opportunities during the round.