hazza_s
Member
But as its just the theory of someone who knows little about cross country riding - I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on my plan 
I HATE corners. They give me the heebie jeebies. And I have to jump one in the 90 at Calmsden tomorrow which comes far too early in the course for me with the corner demons, so naturally I am musing on the internet instead of cleaning my boots :angel: Also, I've never actually had a problem with one in competition, its all in my head, so I may be making something out of nothing here.
I know the usual advice re picking a line @ right angles - looking for a spot etc. But I've never heard discussion of what lead leg you should be on (and for any other angled fence too I suppose). If I take the example of a corner with the pointy bit on the right, I have this idea that on a horse that might be tempted to duck out right it'd help to be in a left lead canter. If the horse isn't thinking of jumping and therefore doesn't put both back legs down together, it is harder for them to push right if the first back leg on the ground is also the right one. It might be entirely "placebo" effect, but I think it might feel more secure. Like if I was running and wanted to suddenly jump right, I'd push off from my left leg.
But, I also have a counter argument to myself. As it takes a bit of time in the jump for the front legs to become "level", as the horse takes off the outside front leg (the right in my example) gets higher faster, ... and in my scenario above, the slower left lead leg would still potentially be coming up as it meets the wide bit of the corner, which is inherently close to you when you're forced to jump on an angle. Which would make you more likely to hit the fence (I know this is super techy) with that leg. I doubt it would matter for my level - but I have a dangly pony who's tipped me up before, so reason to consider it! I make every effort to be a straight as possible for everything else for this reason.
For tomorrow, I'll just sit up and kick I also think that this is a very minor point compared to having the right line, right canter, and right attitude. But because I'm a nerd, I'd be fascinated if anyone who knows about xc riding/has discussed this with someone who knows about xc/just has a brain and likes a debate has any views?
I HATE corners. They give me the heebie jeebies. And I have to jump one in the 90 at Calmsden tomorrow which comes far too early in the course for me with the corner demons, so naturally I am musing on the internet instead of cleaning my boots :angel: Also, I've never actually had a problem with one in competition, its all in my head, so I may be making something out of nothing here.
I know the usual advice re picking a line @ right angles - looking for a spot etc. But I've never heard discussion of what lead leg you should be on (and for any other angled fence too I suppose). If I take the example of a corner with the pointy bit on the right, I have this idea that on a horse that might be tempted to duck out right it'd help to be in a left lead canter. If the horse isn't thinking of jumping and therefore doesn't put both back legs down together, it is harder for them to push right if the first back leg on the ground is also the right one. It might be entirely "placebo" effect, but I think it might feel more secure. Like if I was running and wanted to suddenly jump right, I'd push off from my left leg.
But, I also have a counter argument to myself. As it takes a bit of time in the jump for the front legs to become "level", as the horse takes off the outside front leg (the right in my example) gets higher faster, ... and in my scenario above, the slower left lead leg would still potentially be coming up as it meets the wide bit of the corner, which is inherently close to you when you're forced to jump on an angle. Which would make you more likely to hit the fence (I know this is super techy) with that leg. I doubt it would matter for my level - but I have a dangly pony who's tipped me up before, so reason to consider it! I make every effort to be a straight as possible for everything else for this reason.
For tomorrow, I'll just sit up and kick
I also think that this is a very minor point compared to having the right line, right canter, and right attitude. But because I'm a nerd, I'd be fascinated if anyone who knows about xc riding/has discussed this with someone who knows about xc/just has a brain and likes a debate has any views?
thank you. I know I'm also overthinking - not really going to be something I'm worrying about when I'm actually approaching the thing, but I'm curious as to what the technical ideal would be.