Seeing a stride

[SWE]

Interesting topic of conversation arose today, around where you focus when you are coming to a fence to find your distance. I played around with where I'd draw my eye to over a small fence today and it actually made a big difference changing the point I was looking at! If I found that spot from far enough away, I had a perfect stride ever time, which is not always the way!

So I'm interested what point you focus on when seeing a stride, the front rail? The ground line? The spot you want to take off from? How does that change when you're jumping off a turn? And I'd be interested to see how accurate you feel your eye is.

 

[scats]

My eye used to be incredible when I was jumping but I had a Wembley pony so she taught me a lot. I think I used to look just beyond the fence but I never remember it being too much of a big deal because we were just practically telepathic and I knew exactly when she was going to stand off or chip in, it was like I could feel it in her body in advance.

I think I still have a good eye for a stride but unfortunately Millie likes to play stride bingo. We don’t jump much other than out on farm rides, though it is something I want to start doing at home as she does really enjoy it. I will be cantering into a fence and see a stride easily but Millie has a tendency to take a stride out with no warning. We need to do some grid work and play around with placing poles I think.
She does the exact same into canter poles. I think it’s just a lack of education really and one I am going to address this summer as her love for jumping has become much more apparent now.

 

[HelenBack]

I think I focus on the back rail but I'm not entirely sure! Definitely not the ground as I always used to be told that where you look is where you end up!

When I was a kid at Pony Club (a long time ago!) they used to do this exercise where we had to count down the last three strides into the fence. I have had always had the problem of interfering on the approach though and more recently found I got on better with instructors who took the focus away from seeing the stride. Then I was told to look at something fixed a reasonable distance beyond the fence, e.g. a tree. My job was to establish a good quality canter and then just keep in the rhythm and let the fence come to me. I found if I did that it invariably went better than if I tried to see the stride and then messed it up.

When my horse was young I was also taught not to do the work of seeing the stride for him as then he'd never learn to work things out on his own. So just a bit a different perspective there but it definitely worked for me, even though my default was the revert to old habits whenever I wasn't kept in check!

 

[sportsmansB]

My trainer thinks this is a bit weird but I guess I don't know any other way... I see a sort of outline of a horse cantering to the fence a few strides ahead of mine and adjust my stride based on where they end up. We call it my ghost horse. Yes weird.


Just reading this back realising what a lunatic I sound. Presumably other people who always see strides just see the distance on the ground and not a spectre of a horse actually cantering it?!

 

[AmyMay]

I used to have a brilliant eye for a stride, just used to focus beyond the fence. Such a shame I was a right old pansy over a fence ???

 

[LEC]

I have had hours and hours of conversation around this. I loathe the whole get the canter right and they will always hit the fence on the right stride. Well yes, but you had to have an adjustable canter for that and a little bit of skill in getting the right canter from the off. This approach also works if on a decent enough athletic horse at a level they are very comfortable with.

Sam Watson - International Irish eventer has talked about his sjing woes a lot and how he overcome them and basically its hard work and a lot of practice on accuracy with poles.

There has been research in where elite levels riders look - Olympic Science: Jumper Eye Movement - Expert advice on horse care and horse riding (equisearch.com)

 

[paddi22]

a trainer really helped me before by saying to get the canter adjustable and then make a call three strides out about whether you need three compressed shorter strides or three longer strides.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Tik Maynard talks about the scales of training for jumping as similar to the scale for dressage: line, balance, rhythm and the right kinf of canter for the jump were - in his view - all far more important than seeing the stride. You still need an adjustible canter for that basic canter quality to be good and appopriate for the fence or line.

There is not much benefit in coming into a fence on a wibbly line, with a flat unbalanced canter and shouting 3,2,1 before the fence.

He said if you get the canter right, 99% of the time the horse will get to the fence at a good spot anyway. Also there is a difference between you and your horse seeing the stride so you stay together over the fence and you trying to place your horse.

So I think it depends where you are in your jumping generally and what is the priority to work on.

 

[Cowpony]

Many years ago my instructor had us coming into the fence and saying "now" when we could see the stride. In those days I didn't have my own horse, which makes it difficult, and I was pretty inconsistent - sometimes I just knew we were right but most times I couldn't see it until we were a couple of strides away. That lesson was one of those times. One of the other pupils on the lesson was calling it from miles away and I couldn't understand how he was doing it. He had less experience than me (although I know there are some who seem to have a gift). After the lesson it turned out he was calling when he felt the horse had locked onto the fence and was taking him into it. I'd felt so inadequate for the whole lesson!

 

[greenbean10]

a trainer really helped me before by saying to get the canter adjustable and then make a call three strides out about whether you need three compressed shorter strides or three longer strides.

This is what I used to do but from 4 strides out and it worked pretty much every time.

Unfortunately, I then started to see whether I was going to be right or wrong from much further out than 4 strides which has actually made it so much harder as I totally overthink what I'm doing.

I actually think knowing you're on a miss from too far away can be a bad thing - as 99% of the time I faff and start doing stupid things when I'm not even anywhere near the fence!

 

[SWE]

Thanks for the replies all, appears there is quite an array of approaches ? I might continue to play about with it!

 

[TheMule]

For me I need to be forwards enough and looking at the top of the fence. As soon as you're not trying to over-think the strides but are riding positively to the fence in balance you can only ever be a maximum of half a stride out and my horses learn to cope with that. A strangled canter to the base of the fence or pushing out of the rhythm on a chasing stride doesn’t work.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Exactly that Mule. If I could see I was slightly wrong I had a tendency to kill the canter coming in to try and correct the stride. Not helpful. It was so much better when I just focused on my line and my canter quality and looked at the top of the rail on the approach and then ahead to the next fence once she was about 3 strides out.

 

[scats]

I wonder if it’s partly to do with spacial awareness? You know how some people have no idea how wide their car is and sit and wait for a wide space to pass coz they think they are far bigger than they are, well I wonder if that’s why some people find it easier to work out how far they are from the fence?
Just a musing.

 

[milliepops]

i don't think that getting the canter right means you'll be in the right spot but for me I had to get the canter *consistent* in order to be able to see appropriate strides. if you go everywhere at a fairly standard speed then it's much easier for mere mortals like me to gauge progress towards a fence and then the amount of adjustment needed is hopefully small. plus if you aren't losing revs on turns and then flattening on the approach even if you get it wrong, it's easier for the horse to correct.

I naturally see horrendously long steeplechase strides, i had to learn to look softly at the back rail to get my take off points closer to the fence.

I did an XC course walk with a pro when stepping up a level once and they really helped where there was a big corner randomly in the middle of a field after a long stretch, they said not to start eyeing it up to try and find the stride too soon but to pick a spot where i was going to start looking at the fence, coming off a slight turn. That was the best piece of advice for me, because otherwise I'd have prepped way too early and fudged it.
That has been applicable to other things too, I find if I think about it too hard I can't see the stride for a flying change in dressage (the horrid changes between piris in the PSG are the worst for me) but if I ride towards it from the corner instead of thinking too early it comes easy.

 

[TheMule]

i don't think that getting the canter right means you'll be in the right spot but for me I had to get the canter *consistent* in order to be able to see appropriate strides. if you go everywhere at a fairly standard speed then it's much easier for mere mortals like me to gauge progress towards a fence and then the amount of adjustment needed is hopefully small. plus if you aren't losing revs on turns and then flattening on the approach even if you get it wrong, it's easier for the horse to correct.

I naturally see horrendously long steeplechase strides, i had to learn to look softly at the back rail to get my take off points closer to the fence.

I did an XC course walk with a pro when stepping up a level once and they really helped where there was a big corner randomly in the middle of a field after a long stretch, they said not to start eyeing it up to try and find the stride too soon but to pick a spot where i was going to start looking at the fence, coming off a slight turn. That was the best piece of advice for me, because otherwise I'd have prepped way too early and fudged it.
That has been applicable to other things too, I find if I think about it too hard I can't see the stride for a flying change in dressage (the horrid changes between piris in the PSG are the worst for me) but if I ride towards it from the corner instead of thinking too early it comes easy.

I agree- you basically need to be in a medium canter for jumping. Then you can adjust back and forward easily. As you get to a more advanced level and have more gears and adjustability (and a more capable horse) you can put the canter smaller or bigger but most people need that middle canter

 

[Upthecreek]

Once I know the horse has locked onto the fence I look beyond it and don’t interfere. I focus on keeping the quality and rhythm of the canter and keeping the horse straight. Let the fence come to you, no chasing, just wait and let the horse decide whether to take a long one or a short one. Meticulously counting strides and trying to set the horse up perfectly for every jump is counter productive. Firstly because it will likely learn to stop if you make a mistake and everything is not perfect, and secondly because the horse has to learn to think for itself. This is essential to keep you out of trouble as the jumps get bigger and the courses get more technical.

 

[DabDab]

I look at the front bar of the fence until 3-4 strides out and then look beyond the fence.

But I've seen lots of people do a variety of different things and make their method work for them. I think it's one of those things that can be quite personal.

 

[spacefaer]

Words of wisdom from my American sj trainer
The course builder works on the horse having a 12 foot canter stride. Work out what your horse's natural stride length is.
Aim to ride a consistent forward canter of 12' length strides. Then it's easy ......
(He was jumping GP at the time ?)

He also said '"the jump is the least important part of the round. It's just an elevated canter stride"

 

[GreyMane]

Really interesting.
Reminds me of in "In the company of horses" by Kathleen Lindley, a book about working as assistant to Mark Rashid.
While helping an English rider get her take-offs more consistent on an experienced horse, they found the horse was sighting the jump about 13 strides out, and adjusting stride soon after, usually by 10 or 11 strides out.

 

[SibeliusMB]

Establish a good canter and ride the rhythm, don't ride for the distance or look for the spot.

For me, getting a good, forward canter and keeping that even rhythm is what gets consistence distances. The harder I look for the spot, or look at the jump, or try to manage, usually the worse it gets. Usually the mentality of looking for the distance gets me (and a lot of other people) inadvertently pulling and/or riding a bit backward. Having plenty of canter and maintaining that rhythm allows you to compress slightly if (as you get closer in) it looks like it's a shorter distance. Better to get there and whoa slightly than be too slow or backward, and try to go for the flyer.

 

[MummyEms]

I'm in the don't over think it camp.
Get a positive forward canter, let the horse lock on, soft hands, leg wrapped, focus my eye past the fence and let the horse do the thinking. My job is to ride nice balanced turns and get straight lines into every fence. Also to give them confidence and not be annoying them by fiddling or over riding . It is hers to decide where to take off.

Grid work all the way in training