striding help?

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katie_and_toto

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Hello everyone, not been on in a while! :)
basically, i'm having real issues with striding into fences recently :( me and toto were always absolutely fine with strides, i'd just let him work it out and not interfere and try to put him on a stride, as this is what he prefers and jumps better when left alone. But i had a fall out hacking off him a few months ago and since then i just cant seem to get it right when jumping :( its odd as the fall was totally unrelated to jumping but i guess its just dented my confidence a little :( now i seem to be trying really hard to put him onto a good stride and am really looking for the stride, meaning that i'm really interfering with the rhythm and striding, and i keep holding him back or kicking on but i never had to before. today was worse than ever, we got too close to practically every single jump, what a nightmare :( i've tried placing poles, which work until they're taken out :/ and gridworks the same, can get good strides but as soon as we try a course it all goes to pot again :( its the same with poles on the floor or bigger jumps, i just cant see a stride anymore :/ any tips please?!
 
I used to have trouble as I was over thinking it. Ive basically learnt to get my shoulders bolt upright and under no circumstances push him, if i cant see a clear stride - it just messes him up. Dont drop the reins before the jump (gets them too deep) and buckets of leg.
Hope this helps - Ive learnt from my many mistakes!
 
well, first of all, i think you need to change your thinking, you finished with "i just can't see a stride any more" when actually all you need to get back to is what you were doing previously - NOT seeing a stride at all, just riding a good approach. huge difference imho!
so, keep the fences small enough that it doesn't matter where you get to. teensy weensy to begin with if necessary.
concentrate on getting a really really great canter. have someone good on the ground to help if you can. don't even think about heading to a fence until the canter is GREAT. straight, balanced, energetic, contained, bouncy and positive. then come to the fence with that canter (be ready to circle away if you lose it), i like to think of 'ride within the stride' i.e. use your legs on every stride to keep it the same (this prevents you from firing the horse!), count your way in (not counting down because then you can 'miss', just start from a high number and count strides to ensure rhythm.) or, play "Nelly The Elephant" in your head, that has the perfect beat for a good sj canter!
hope that helps.
 
Oh my god, I sooo totally relate to your post. I have exactly the same problems and it is kiling my jumping completely. I have no tips to offer since I am totally rubbish but will watch for replies with interest.

I seem to always get there wrong and my lovely youngster is losing confidence and so am I. It really gets you down doesn't it? I've got to the point of not jumping at the mo since I am so scared of totally ruining him.
 
I used to do the same had a BSJA mare that i literally had to sit and point then gradually i became obsessed with having to get the right stride, so i started to interfere and holding her back or kicking her on and she started stopping, because she absolutely hated interference!!

I started having lessons with Tim Stockdale and he gave me a great tip count every stride, not just into the fence but EVERY stride!! but in a 2 beat rythm so 1,2,1,2 all the way into the fence and pretty much every time, you will meet the fence on a perfect stride.
Really helps told a few people that were having problems at my yard a friend wouldnt canter in to a fence as she was worried about striding, told her this and now she's fine!!
 
One of my instructors put my stirrups up to xc length so I was very balanced, got me into 2 point position and told me to go round and not do anything - even to hold the mane if I felt I was going to take a pull. It helps to remind you that the horse will sort itself out if you don't fiddle. I wouldn't recommend this if your horse might stop or run out though :P I only did this once or twice and then I went back to my normal riding, but I found that I wasn't always holding for a stride that wasn't there/I felt the rhythm and could almost always see some kind of a stride.

Another way I got myself out of the habit was I looked over the jump as though I was going down a grid - I wasn't staring at the top pole looking for a stride, so I couldn't do anything but keep a rhythm.

Eventually it will come back/you'll be able to see something, you've just got to practice as much as possible. Canter poles/even just one pole in the school help to get your eye in. You can't jump everyday but you can canter over a pole on most.
 
You're not alone! I have exactly the same problem! I have been riding for years and jumping on and off for most of them (not at any great level). I had a good wizzy 14.2 jumping pony as a teenager and never even thought about seeing a stride, just point and go. I then had a few more difficult characters but was still not a problem I worried about. Then had a fabulous school master, who was an advanced eventer and grade B Sj, he was tapped in the head but wonderful. Again I only really had to worry about stopping with him and he would jump anything off any stride.

After I lost him, I didn't have my own horse for a couple of years and was working in racing yards, so no jumping and stirrups up round my ears. Fell in love with and bought an unbroken 3 year old who I broke in with some help (he was very cheeky and kept bucking me off!) and started to slowly bring on. When it got to the point where we started jumping I was so worried that I was going to put him wrong and put him off, I started thinking far too much about it. It didn't help that he was very lazy to start with and wasn't always easy to get into a good forward canter to get a good stride. Any how eventually after about a year or so it all came together and we started having fun and I was lucky that he was very genuine and I learnt to trust him and knew he wouldn't stop. Just as we had started eventing and things were good I lost him at the age of 8 so very devastating.

Have since had a couple of years without having my own horse and sensibly (ha ha) bought another unbroken youngster back in September last year. Partly because it was all I could afford and partly because I like what I saw and thought he had potential.

Apologies for the ramble, to cut a long story short I have started jumping him and he seems to love it and apart from being a bit spooky and jumping over the top of the wings and launching me into space on several occasions seems to think it is quite good fun. I get the most ridiculous nerves when I even think about jumping and it drives me mad because I really want to do it and i'm not a nervous rider, but I almost feel like being sick. I don't understand why becasue I never used to be like it. I try to get a nice bouncy canter, sit up, look for a good line, turn to the fence and then just freeze, I just sit there like a lemon and let the horse sort it out when I should be keeping lots of leg on and riding forwards on a baby to give him confidence.

Saying that, my friend put up a little course for me the other day, only about 2ft high but with some scary fillers and for once I just didn't think about seeing a stride I just kept telling myself leg, leg, leg all the way into the fence and we met (almost) everything well and it felt so good! Ted seemed so pleased with himself and I felt happy too, I think it helps that he is more forward going than my last youngster so it is slightly easier. I think alot of it is how much you know and trust your horse too, like with Ted, I am beginning to trust him more but he has been rather unpredictable and I still have to keep him straight and not let him duck out of anything that is a bit spooky.

God, how much have i just rambled on! I am going to try the 1,2,1,2 thing and think what Kerilli said is spot on. I also find that jumping off a circle or turning into fence without leaving too much room helps me to get a good stride, the less room I have before the fence the better it seems to be! I think its all down to confidence in yourself and your horse at the end of the day and not over annalysing - 'just get on with it' as I am often told!

Good luck and hope things improve for you! Ted has swollen hind where he has belted himself with the other one so no practicing for me for a week or two! :D
 
Right, I am off to the stables in 15 mins and am going to try the lot, poles, counting, not looking at the fence and getting a nice, bouncy canter.

If it doesn't work anyone fancy a trip out here to give me a hand? I've got plenty of room and a fully stocked drinks cabinet. I can cook a bit too.

Sorry to hijack your thread so shamelessly. Hope you don't mind. x
 
katie_and_toto said:
now i seem to be trying really hard to put him onto a good stride and am really looking for the stride, meaning that i'm really interfering with the rhythm and striding, and i keep holding him back or kicking on but i never had to before. today was worse than ever, we got too close to practically every single jump, what a nightmare QUOTE]


I keep looking for a stride into the fences and if I can't count down a perfect four strides I get really upset with myself. Its most bizarre but I HAVE TO see four strides every time otherwise I start to panic and either hold back ridiculously or kick on wildly. I'm okay with related distances between fences, but with just single fences at home practicing it gives me the colly wobbles! With the height that we jump up to 1.05/1.10m its not really an issue as a mistake at that height isn't really going to be causing a major problem as its low enough to scrabble through (my horse is very clever at getting out of tight spots and I tend to react quick enough to get us out of trouble as well) but it worries me jumping XC fences at 2ft 9" as its another ball game. Take off too far from a potato feeder or a corner and you will know about it!

I am now trying to just calm my mind and pretend I am not even attempting to jump the fence at home when schooling but then I try too hard and don't keep my leg on which means my horse just ends up trotting if I'm not careful. Can't win
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