Show Jumping - advice

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BMA

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Only a real quickie...I am really struggling to get a decent canter for show jumping.

I seem to have flat and steady - which often results in her chipping one in before take off

Or fast and flat - which must look bloody awful

I also have a habit of riding up to the fence and then x amount of strides out I just seem to sit there and stop riding/start worrying that I can't see a stride!

I am an ok rider but am more experience (by far) with hunting my mare and doing xc.

and finally (as I am rambling) I just feel so bloody untidy show jumping

Has anyone got some exercises I can use to get a 'better' canter...I'm sure that will help the rest. One instructor said to use draw reins to help in the short term with a more together canter

As honest as my mare is she isn't the type that takes over and just pulls you over a fence
 
Lots of canter poles will do her the world of good, theres so many exercises you can do. You can set them out regular, then make them slightly shorter to help you feel how to collect up your canter. Raised poles will help her power more from the hock and poles leading up to a fence will help you both learn to see a stride and help maintain a short, bouncy show jumping canter. You can practice on the flat too by counting your canter strides down the long side of the school then trying to get more strides by shortening the canter. You need to have the feeling she is sat back on her hocks and you are holding her together with your seat. Make sure you keep plenty of leg on when you shorten as the tend to find this harder so she may just come back to trot. Hope this helps :)

ETA im not a fan of draw reins especially on less forward horses as they tend to just tuck their head in and not work correctly from behind which is what you need if you want to improve your canter
 
Good advice - you can also set up two jumps (or just poles to start off with) and then see how many and how few strides you can fit in between them. So you might set up two cross poles and a proper distance of 5 strides apart and then ride it for 4, 5 and 6 strides. Good luck.
I would echo the point about draw reins - they can easily make everything a little bit backwards.
 
Agree with Bexx re canter poles, they will help with you seeing a stride and also improve her canter.

I am, however, a fan of draw reins and they worked particularly well with my gelding, he's a big powerful horse and I am quite small (5ft0!!) so did struggle to hold him together sometimes, he was only young so also found it difficult to hold himself together so the draw reins helped me and him.

I don't ride him in them anymore, only once in a blue moon as they did their job and I gradually weaned off them.

Draw reins are a fantastic piece of tack when used correctly and when needed so I would definitely give them a go, using those as well as canter poles will help her to develop the muscles to carry herself in a better canter, more impulsion is what you need as it sounds like you either have one or the other which doesnt help with seeing/getting the right stride.

Good luck and hope you find something that clicks :)
 
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