Sitting To Refusals?

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MB1201

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How on earth do you guys sit to refusals?

I am starting to jump slightly bigger fences now and learning about combinations and lines etc. and the horses at my riding school are generally very good but when they do stop I go flying!! I dont think im leaning too far ahead because if they stop dead straight ill barely move, but a horse stopping and ducking has sent me over the shoulder on many occasions.

How do I sit to runout/refusals/spins etc. without anticipating a stop and riding too defensively that I get left behind or ahead of the motion so the slightest change will unseat me?

Thanks :)
 
Custard Cream said:
Your lower leg is your seatbelt. Have it in a slightly forward 'hunting style' position.
Click to expand...

Agree, also, keep sitting up straight until the horse actually takes off.

The 'stop 'n spin' is horrid. My little Arab X mare was an expert at these. Decked my every time LOL
 
Ironically, the best way to learn to sit to stops/spins etc. Is by experiencing them :p

I had a pony who was nappy/naughty when younger. We did lots of xc (through tetrathlon/eventing) and he would stop a lot xc. At one ode we managed to get 380 xc jump penalties :o I wish I was exaggerating... We had a stop at nearly every fence... I even got a warning from organised... Whoops! But I learnt how to ride a stop and believe me, the ****** never stopped again - went on to do PC champs eventing & compete tetrathlon internationally :p

Best way to sit stops - be behind the horse. Sit up, almost behind movement if on a pony that stops (although dirty stoppers are the worst!! Especially the stop & drop ones!) and ride strongly with your seat and keep your leg firmly clamped onto their sides. And make sure you mean it when you jump - if you say jump they jump! :)

Spins etc. Are harder and imo depend on the speed! Usually you just cling on for dear life lol.
 
Make sure your weight is in your feet and that your bum is light in the saddle - that way, should the horse change speed or direction underneath you, your weight will go into the balls of your feet, and you stand more of a chance of staying on.

You should feel that if the horse vanished in a puff of smoke from underneath you, that you would land on your feet, not tip forwards onto your knees, or fall backwards onto your backside!

If you are sitting heavily in the saddle on the approach, or gripping with your knees, then you will be less secure if something goes wrong.
 
I don't jump, so please forgive me if this is horrible advise, but its just what popped into my head as logical and im quite happy to be told i'm wrong. Firstly, if the particular horse has a particular spin out side, keep the rein on the other side a bit firmer so they have less to spin away from. Also, if you know you are heading to a jump a bit more towards one wing than the other, keep the leg/rein on the other side firmer to try to encourage them to go that way more rather than thinking they will duck out but not so much that they will duck the other way. Perfect your leg yeilds!
 
You might find it easier at first to practise on one horse who's likely to stop, if you can, so you can start predicting and preparing to deal with it eg if you know they're likely to stop and spin left, you can concentrate on keeping hold of the right rein and closing them off with your left leg so you then just have the stop to learn to sit through. Ride forward, keep them in front of your leg and sit straight on the approach - try not to fold too early and make sure you're looking up and ahead, not directly at the fence. With one of my previous bratty ponies, my instructor always told me to ride him like something was chasing us - focus over and ahead, keep your lower leg well balanced, sit up and drive into the fence, and keep them straight and centred on the middle. Either that or superglue on your jodhs! Good luck!
 
Go to a riding school which has better horses or find one you can ride.
The height of the jump is irrelevant, you need to do lots of exercises which improve your seat., including no stirrups.
You should be able to pop a row of three small fences with reins and stirrups, then with no stirrups then no stirrups no reins.
Take a private lesson with a BHSII and ask them to help you srt you position, if you only have one lesson per week progress will be very slow.
 
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Agree with only_me! You will probably up with a really good seat. My daughter had a little s*d of a pony who used to dump her all the time (once 5 times in a lesson). His favourite party trick was to jump the fence and then drop his shoulder which would send her out the side door. She now has a brilliant seat (unlike me!)
 
You learn through experience ��
The old pony is a dirty stopper, and if he thinks you haven't learned your lesson he'll add running backwards or ducking sideways too. Your legs keep you on. Make sure you're in charge of your shoulders too.
 
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