Showjumping: looks like it is correct to pivot knee and swing back lower leg!

Bounty

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Haven't read the rest of the thread yet, but for me (and yes! I know this is an XC shot but I think a good comparison as same moment in time over the same fence) these couple of photos demonstrate the effect of my lower leg on the rest of my balance/posture.... You just need to extrapolate the effect over a much bigger fence :p


Wannabe SJer :p
Jump21.jpg


A little more correct...
Jump24.jpg


So, it looks like for me, without my lower leg underneath me, my natural tendency to tip forwards just goes wild :D
 

SJFAN

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Point of information: Having met Franke I can safely say he is not almost 6 ft 6" - definitely no more than 6ft 2".
Eventers may be less inclined to swing legs back as they are more likely to adopt the "defensive" leaning back seat when going cross-country. The important thing in whichever discipline is for riders to keep themselves in balance (for their own safety as well as the performance of the horses). How they achieve this is surely more a matter of aesthetics than anything else.
Thanks for the super pic of Geoff grinning at the audience while jumping!
 

martlin

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Point of information: Having met Franke I can safely say he is not almost 6 ft 6" - definitely no more than 6ft 2".
Eventers may be less inclined to swing legs back as they are more likely to adopt the "defensive" leaning back seat when going cross-country. The important thing in whichever discipline is for riders to keep themselves in balance (for their own safety as well as the performance of the horses). How they achieve this is surely more a matter of aesthetics than anything else.
Thanks for the super pic of Geoff grinning at the audience while jumping!

From Franke's rider profile:
DoB 2/2/1958
height 197cm
 

jenkaywilli

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This seems like an old post but I'm very interested in this as coming back to jumping bigger fences after a break. It seems to me that as you take off for a big fenc, with the lower leg in the 'correct position on take-off, as it really needs to be to hold yourself up with the horses body coming up in front of you in a big bascule, with the weight in the stirrups the momentum of the movement is then forward and up meaning the forward motion will keep your legs pushing off from the take-off point and then need to be swung forwards for the landing. This is all done very quickly...of course the photos only catch a moment in what is actually a very quick movement...prior to decending on the other side the riders legs will still be pushing their body up and forward from the take off point hence the feet are still pointing back to the source of the movement. And then need a lot of upper body strength and connection with the horses movement to bring the legs forward for landing. To have the lower leg in a vertical position over the jump at such heights, as i have found previously, requires a focussed effort on pushing the feet forward during take off to be in the correct position over the fence, which somewhat hinders movement with the horse....although obviously those that do do this have mastered this well. I probably haven't explained my thoughts very well here but i can see and feel why they do this now having thought about it. Initially i was puzzled by it but it seems to make perfect mechanical sense.
Of course over smaller and/or wider fences or as in xc when the horse and irder are already in a forward speed and with less upward bascule over the jumps - this take off position and weight direction of the riders legs would not be such an issue during take-off and consequently during flight. If you think about where the power and force is coming from for both rider and horse over the jump the gravity in a showjumping take-off leaves the weight pointing back to the take off of the riders legs before going UP over the jump whereas in XC at speed the weight is kept downwards.
 

Mule

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Equitation is very important in America. The US showjumpers look very stylish. They get up off the horses back and don't pull the head off the horse when they half halt. Their rounds flow nicely.
 

jenkaywilli

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I'm also considering now how the horse needs to move their head to see the jump and i know riders from some countries actually have a high head carriage all the way round rather than riding the horse 'on the bit'. I should probably start this in another thread though :)
 

Wheels

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Do you really want a vertical lower leg going over the fence? In my mind the lower leg should stay in a very similar position going over the fence as it would in canter 2 point, to give the proper base of support, anything else leads to a lack of balance one way or another. Easier said than done!
 
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