Jumping Postion

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EliteEskimo

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Hoping some of you nice people could offer some help! I've been struggling with my jumping position for the past few months, my main issue is not coming off the saddle and therefore not releasing enough for my pony. I compete at BE100 level and my pony has the tendency to get a little deep into fences sometimes. I didn't have this issue with my previous horse and I have had the current one just under a year, I have regular lessons but curious to see if anyone else has any ideas that might help. It's just become a bit of a bug bear lately, I either go through the motions too quickly and land on my horses back too early or I don't get my bum off the saddle at all! When I try and concentrate on it it feels as if it happens to quickly to do anything, I'm often too busy concentrating on the other aspects of the jump.. Sorry for the rambling post - would be very appreciative of any suggestions!

I will comment a link to an image below.
 
Could it be your saddle? I'm not "blaming the tools" - but you have an instructor so I'm presuming the obvious is ruled out. But we found having the correct saddle for all 3 phases made a massive difference. Having a jump or XC saddle that suits you as well as the horse can make it much easier to get and keep a good position. Its no substitute for the basics of course. But it does help.
 
Its only one image obviously - and we can't see the approach and take off so you could be in a "safety" position for good reason. But if this was a clean jump with nothing unexpected before or coming up then it looks like you are too far back in your saddle with your leg position too far forward. But if you had a reason to adopt a safety position then you're just fine!

Working on the presumption that this was a clean uncomplicated jump - what about trying a make / model with the stirrup bar a little further back? I know my daughter could not get on with many close contact saddles because the need for an uninterrupted "feel" beneath the thigh put the stirrup bar too far forward for her meaning she moved backward in the saddle giving similar issues to your description.

What did you have previously?
 
I had a Bates Momentum before hand that was classed as a jumping saddle but more of a glorified GP. This was an uncomplicated jump - we got a little deep into it if I remember rightly, I'll have a look at where the stirrup bar sits as it is much more forward cut than the last so that could be part of the issue..

This series of photos might be more helpful with showing the entire sequence over a fence: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/awhz4xi6ior0xxh/AAC1hn5XjBtDTpHD3cVY-354a?dl=0
 
You should get an expert's opinion. But it looks to me like you are far too far back in the saddle. The saddle almost looks too small for you? The take off didn't look deep to me.

Have you shown the pictures to your instructor?
 
I wonder if releasing with your hands more would help? Following the horse's mouth would mean that you would be positioned a little further forward. From the photos it looks like you bend slightly over your hands but no more than that. I'm no expert though!
 
Thank-you for the replies, I'm on livery with my instructor so he accompies me to all my events. My 14.2 cannot have a saddle longer than the current one but she is for sale in less than a week there may be an opportunity with the next horse for a different saddle. The photos are probably the worst my Postion has been but I've been told not to worry about it too much so it's something I'm trying to work on in my own time. I'm jumping tomorrow so thank-you for the suggestion Sylv I'll try keep that in my head and I'll update after tomorrow. 😊
 
Shay said:
You should get an expert's opinion. But it looks to me like you are far too far back in the saddle. The saddle almost looks too small for you? The take off didn't look deep to me.

Have you shown the pictures to your instructor?
Click to expand...

this is what I was thinking too, saddle looks too small. I'm not really an expert either though.
 
EliteEskimo said:
Thank-you for the replies, I'm on livery with my instructor so he accompies me to all my events. My 14.2 cannot have a saddle longer than the current one but she is for sale in less than a week there may be an opportunity with the next horse for a different saddle. The photos are probably the worst my Postion has been but I've been told not to worry about it too much so it's something I'm trying to work on in my own time. I'm jumping tomorrow so thank-you for the suggestion Sylv I'll try keep that in my head and I'll update after tomorrow. 😊
Click to expand...

Great, let us know how you get on! I find it useful to look at pictures of the pros with really good positions and keep that in your head. I've always though lucinda green looked good and ginny long always looked very elegant. They never looked like they were 'hanging on' and just look like they were letting the horse jump underneath them.
 
Your pony looks as though it doesn't have much neck - with those types, it's actually more important to stay off the front end to a) enable a proper takeoff and b) avoid crumpling on landing (horse, you, or both - I've seen this happen!). There's nothing wrong with basically sitting in the saddle over the middle of the fence, as long as there's still some tension in your leg muscles (i.e. you haven't just flopped down).

As the pony is going in a week, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
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