So I took all your jumping advice...

J

Jingleballs

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from here - http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=366734

And I managed to fall off twice lol :D

I had a lesson with my Y/O to try and work on my position and to be fair, it was a bit of a disaster!

I had a few nice jumps but also some awful ones.

It seems that multi tasking is not my thing - if you ask me to focus on giving with my hands I totally forgot to keep the weight in my legs, if you ask me to bend slightly as the waist I forget to keep the leg on and push pony forward.

As a result I hit the deck twice - first one happened when pony tripped one stride from the jump - me being so in tune with him though that was him taking off so I went into my nice forward position - he's a very honest pony so despite being totally off balance he jumped it anyway - I fell forward onto his neck and then ended up on my bum on the ground!

Then managed to fall off again while focusing on giving with my hands - I gave away too much before the jump and he took a flyer and I ended up on his neck again - this time I was able to slide off onto my feet.

After going home in a strop and having a chat with my OH (he's a training consultant and gave me his big 4 stages of learning lecture) I've decided I'm trying to fix too may different areas at once (and am also currently in the stage of conscious incompetence!)

So, since these area's are slightly better than others I've decided to continue focusing on strengthening my lower leg and getting a nice bouncy canter into the jumps (pony is very downhill in canter, likes to nose dive and is very strong in hand).

The folding/giving with hands can wait until these other things are sorted -I'm certainly not upsetting him with what I've been doing so far and according to a few instructors now, although I don't fold over the jump, I'm actually very in balance with him most of the time and even when I do come out of my seat a bit I don't feel insecure!

So, for our first XC competition at the end of the month my only aim is to jump as many jumps as I can (it's pick a fence) and stay on the pony no matter what! :D
 
Oh dear, that sounds very familiar, that could be me, apart from the bit about being in balance! I am just working on cantering and poles before I go back to jumping. It was all so much easier when I was a child. Hope your XC comp goes well and your bum stays well and truly in the saddle.
 
I used to have exactly the same problems as you and agree.....it's way too much to think about!! Since you're not jumping anything huge (well I think 2'6 is a decent size!!!) I think you don't need to worry too much about your position.

I found that the main reason I was standing up straight and not giving with my hands was because I was tense through my back and shoulders. I overcame this by simply not worrying about folding!!! I concentrated on just sitting up straight with my weight in my heels in a nice bouncy canter and waiting for the jump to come to me. I found by looking up and relaxing, my jumping position cured itself. If I try and think about my position, I generally get in a tizzle and it all goes tits up!
 
i honestly think you are trying to hard! your plan now is a great one - and with those things in place; stable lower leg and quality canter, the rest will just happen! honestly! I promise! over little fences you really hardly need to fold and as long as you are in balance (which you are) he will take your hands forward. Ernest Dillon sorted me out over that one;)

its all one fluid motion - just enjoy it and keep doing it without pushing the heights and it will come!

ETA - i keep edition as i keep thinking of something else to say. as im not sure im getting ti across, lol - honestly, Id just canter over some raised poles and 2ftish things and woman - DO NOT THINK ABOUT POSITION AT ALL!! just look up and keep impulsion and the rest will happen on its own.
 
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It's the horses, not you! Well, that's what i tell myself with Pink.

Had a nose through your last posts and he jumps the same as Pink - lands with his fronts before the hinds even leave the ground, unless the jumps are a decent height and they're really powering. Then the jump feels normal and jumping position comes naturally.

I am a competant jumper, used to compete ponies and will happily jump round a 3'6 course. But I struggle to jump Pink round a simple course without crashing about on her back and coming near to falling off.:o

I assumed I was just being rubbish but I had a friend (who jumps foxhunter with her mare) come and ride her and apparently it's not just me ;)

All you can do is learnt to balance as much as possible on him and try to improve his impulsion, plus whack the jumps up a bit. And go and ride a different horse with a decent jump occasionally to remind yourself that you can in fact jump just fine!
 
Sorry if you've already done this and I've not read it, practice you're jumping position in walk, trot and canter whilst a RI watching. Then you can get the feel of the position you're meant to be in. Do some trot and canter poles and fold when you're going over them. Put up a 'show jumping course' of poles Then make sure you get all the things right before and after the jump. Then put them up to very small cross poles. Do exactly the same and fold like you previously had done, it should feel no different going over a small cross pole :) Then put them up to bigger cross poles(once you are going over the small cross poles perfectly) and so on, and so on.
Hope this helps :D
 
Sounds like a good plan. To be honest so long as you're not being restrictive with your hands there's no need to fold dramatically over the height you're jumping (had a look back at your xc pics)

Once the jumps get bigger, you'll spend more time in the air, he'll make more of a jump and you'll probably find the fold comes naturally.

Finally, your stirrups look far too long for jumping so you'll be out of balance if you try to fold, try popping them up bit by bit to get used to it and do some fast canters with your bum out of the saddle like a jockey (although not quite that short!) to strengthen up your legs and get you bum/hips used to sliding back.
 
Kallibear - you hit the nail on the head - he is very downhill when jumping and really doesn't put the power in unless the jump is bigger - I do feel my position is better over larger jumps - just need to work on getting more impulsion from him to jump them!

MegaBeast - I'm not really sure what to do about my stirrups - when I rode at the length in the pictures I felt secure - when I popped them up for my lesson my RI put them down as she said I looked too perched and was sort of squished looked which was causing me to stand up as I couldn't get my weight down.

I'm going to have a play about and see what suits me - unfortunatly however i seemed to have knackered my knee riding short at the weekend - it's swollen and I can't weight bear so will probably not be able to ride for a few days :(
 
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