What do you think of my 4yo? Dare I ask CC? *vids

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I got upset last time I posted vids but hey I must be a gluten for punishment! I do want to improve though and find the CC helpful even if hard to take!

So this is my 4yo. She was broken professionally in the spring but had a couple of accidents which have set her back, she’s not done much basically. She’s such a love bless her she’s not put a foot wrong but is so willing.

This is her first time indoors and maybe 6th/7th time jumping with me (she was just popping a cross when broken).

What do you think? How can I ride her better? Feel like I’m riding her quietly but am I a bit flappy / pully?

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This is my other 6yo mare in her last event. Nailed the DR and SJ but two silly run outs (bad riding as you were all pointing out last time I posted!) but she jumped the big (I thought) corner brilliantly!

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She looks very sweet but it's very hard to judge much and comment usefully from the short clips. With this sort of horse I would try very hard not to take the long stride option as she's quite keen and open in her jump. I would try to get her to look and pop, maybe stick in trot for now and just allow a quiet canter in the distances. Definitely avoid coming round the corner and firing her on a stride like you did once or twice!
 
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Yes I have a rubbish photographer! I meant to say that in OP!

I agree though, I need to just sit quietly and let her sort herself out don’t I. I don’t seem to be able to help myself! Her canter is generally a bit wild at the moment. When she was broken and in the summer she was lacking condition so was less forward but she’s really quite jolly now and enjoying her work but I need to work on getting her to relax.
 
Starbucks said:
Yes I have a rubbish photographer! I meant to say that in OP!

I agree though, I need to just sit quietly and let her sort herself out don’t I. I don’t seem to be able to help myself! Her canter is generally a bit wild at the moment. When she was broken and in the summer she was lacking condition so was less forward but she’s really quite jolly now and enjoying her work but I need to work on getting her to relax.
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My 5yr old was very similar and you pay for it in the long run if you don't install the basics. They can run and jump off adrenaline and use their ability so you need to teach her the opposite to make her more adjustable
 
I am not an expert, but feel that you should establish a much more steady regular canter. It looks rather like you are firing her at the fences, where she should be taking them all in a regular rythem.

But don't be disheartened, she is taking you into the fences, which is exactly what you want - but you do need to get the canter properly established. You don't want her to learn to throw herself at the fences especially once they get higher.
 
TheMule said:
My 5yr old was very similar and you pay for it in the long run if you don't install the basics. They can run and jump off adrenaline and use their ability so you need to teach her the opposite to make her more adjustable
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Thanks. My other mare is similar as well. She’s improved over bigger fences though. I think I need to make sure I have plenty of ‘supervised’ jumping to keep me on track. My trainer is quite a kind man though and maybe not critical enough sometimes!
 
EllenJay said:
I am not an expert, but feel that you should establish a much more steady regular canter. It looks rather like you are firing her at the fences, where she should be taking them all in a regular rythem.

But don't be disheartened, she is taking you into the fences, which is exactly what you want - but you do need to get the canter properly established. You don't want her to learn to throw herself at the fences especially once they get higher.
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Thanks. Canter is not that great at the mo. Do you think just stick with Trot until she gets more established? I like to get them jumping (hacking, XC) early though as that’s what we (I) enjoy and don’t want to hammer round the school all day. I’m from a hunting background where we never even used a school, you see.
 
I understand that 😀. Personally I would lower the fences so she can jump from a steady canter/trot and ride away in canter, and once you have reestablished a steady balanced canter, represent. Grid work would also be beneficial, where you can approach in a nice steady pace and let her learn to sort herself out, without the rushing
 
EllenJay said:
I understand that 😀. Personally I would lower the fences so she can jump from a steady canter/trot and ride away in canter, and once you have reestablished a steady balanced canter, represent. Grid work would also be beneficial, where you can approach in a nice steady pace and let her learn to sort herself out, without the rushing
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Thanks. She jumps the first fence in the first vid out of trot which was about 90cm and bigger than the rest! I’m reluctant to keep them too small because she’s bold and loses interest quickly, going more flat.

Won’t go higher but I think keeping things interesting/challenging for us while still trotting/stride of canter is maybe best?
 
I wouldn't be lowering the jumps, she's clearly got enough scope and if they're too low they're even easier to rush and she'll go flat.
The clips look good, I'd just be slowing things down a bit mainly trotting and concentrating on her technique. Perhaps do a bit of grid work. It just looks a little rushed to me. She's eager enough so you could sit a little quieter.
Hope that's of some use. She looks a lovely mare.
 
as others have said i would slow down on the approach to fences and i would stay in trot for the fence allow canter after the fence which is prob what she will do but then make sure she is balanced again before the next one...one thing you said was interesting "my other mare is similar too" , it may be how you ride to the fences if they are approaching in the same way so maybe take a look at how you are approaching the fences with both of them to see if you can change what you do. this horse looks like a lovely type and has a good jump ...
 
Bellaboo18 said:
Agree with splashgirl, jump then take the time to rebalance before the next. I wouldn't rush in to doing a course.
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Agree - she has plenty of jump and you don’t want it too small but I wouldn’t be rushing her around courses yet. Establish her canter on the flat and in the interim use grids / structured exercises for the jumping. Really think about teaching her to adjust off your body position (rather than off the hand), keep straight in and out of the fence, and work the corners.
 
Great. Thanks guys. She’s quite buzzy and id like to get her used to a show environment. Do you think it would do any harm to pop her round a low key 60/70 arena eventing (in trot)? We’ve had a practice at steps/water etc.

My mum only got the hang of the camera for the last 15 mins of our session but she generally jumps big/green to start with. Vids are when she was more tired/bored. Doesn’t take much with a baby does it!
 
Happy to bow to more experienced comments - the only reason why I suggested smaller fences was more from the riders point of view. I wanted to get OP to ride the horse "to" the fence rather than "at" it. When you reduce the pressure it enables you to concentrate on technique, which will enable the steady approach and controlled exit.
 
Looks very sweet! I'd also just try to avoid pushing for that stride, imo they need to learn what to do if they are wrong and she has plenty of scope and seems forward enough that it won't phase her confidence at all. Placing poles and grids would be ideal for her, even pole work just to get her to learn about her feet! :)


I don't think there is any harm in doing a few small courses around 80cm style as you will have big wide corners you can come back to a trot in and use to rebalance. They can also back off a bit in a course/new arena so you might be able to use it to your advantage and let her wait for your signal :)
 
EllenJay said:
Happy to bow to more experienced comments - the only reason why I suggested smaller fences was more from the riders point of view. I wanted to get OP to ride the horse "to" the fence rather than "at" it. When you reduce the pressure it enables you to concentrate on technique, which will enable the steady approach and controlled exit.
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Yes totally understand your point. Because she’s quite bold though she’ll pop a small cross pole nicely once but then just canter over it /knock it down the more you do so she needs a bit of something to look at.
 
I would go against the grain here and get your canter more settled. She needs to learn to jump out of a regular, easy rhythm in canter. She is not sufficiently balanced in trot or canter yet to be able to do both in a comparatively small space of an arena AND jump as well. For her, I would work on turns and circles over poles on the ground, in canter. Then you can build a course with those same poles, so that nothing is different for her, except that the poles are raised off the ground.

For the rider, you need to learn to do much much less. If I was your trainer, I would shorten your stirrups, so that you can stay in a better balance with her, in a light seat, and encourage you to take the pressure of your leg off the horse in front of the fence. Your legs and seat get very excited in front of the fence! She has to learn to jump for herself, not because you are doing all the work for her. You need a much slower, quieter canter, that she can pop from. You are approaching these tiny jumps as though they are a decent hedge straight from the meet!

If she canters over the fence, or knocks it down, don't over-ride it the next time. Sit still and keep the approach quiet - let her work out for herself that hitting the poles is a less attractive proposition than making more of an effort and clearing them.

She looks lovely btw - a really nice young horse with real potential!
 
spacefaer said:
I would go against the grain here and get your canter more settled. She needs to learn to jump out of a regular, easy rhythm in canter. She is not sufficiently balanced in trot or canter yet to be able to do both in a comparatively small space of an arena AND jump as well. For her, I would work on turns and circles over poles on the ground, in canter. Then you can build a course with those same poles, so that nothing is different for her, except that the poles are raised off the ground.

For the rider, you need to learn to do much much less. If I was your trainer, I would shorten your stirrups, so that you can stay in a better balance with her, in a light seat, and encourage you to take the pressure of your leg off the horse in front of the fence. Your legs and seat get very excited in front of the fence! She has to learn to jump for herself, not because you are doing all the work for her. You need a much slower, quieter canter, that she can pop from. You are approaching these tiny jumps as though they are a decent hedge straight from the meet!

If she canters over the fence, or knocks it down, don't over-ride it the next time. Sit still and keep the approach quiet - let her work out for herself that hitting the poles is a less attractive proposition than making more of an effort and clearing them.

She looks lovely btw - a really nice young horse with real potential!
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See I do normally ride shorter but the person i originally had lessons with (think big name) advised me to keep my stirrups a big longer on a baby, I think for safety, as well as always having a neck strap!

I’m fairly confident she won’t chuck me off now so can probably crank them up!
 
Oh and we’ve been doing lots of pole work, small jumps on a circle etc with my trainer in my last lesson.

She locked into the hedge to jump out of the arena at one point so we went back to trot!

At least she’s showing she’s up for it!
 
I will go against the grain also, and say I would keep it lower. If she loses interest and goes flat after one X pole then that is what needs working on as she is not listening to you to stay focused and round. So, work on the canter and small X poles until the canter stays round to, over and away from a X pole. I would work on obedience rather than excitement to the fence.

Once she will canter, in a rhythm, with straightness and obedience, round the course then I would go bigger.
 
Just going back to some comments about getting her to jump from trot, I never teach horses to jump from trot, don't agree with it and don't understand why it's recommended.

It's awkward for the rider, it's not as natural or easy for the horse to bring both its hind legs together to take off from when both hind legs aren't already going forwards, and it's not something you ever want them to do in the future (except perhaps in a trappy hunting situation, where they'll do it naturally if they already jump from canter.)

If the horse is having trouble judging the approach to a fence I would teach it with a placing pole. If you teach it using the shorter trot stride, then it has to relearn the placing with a longer canter stride when you change to canter.

If a horse isn't ready to jump from canter, I would wait to teach it to jump until it is.
 
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I agree with ycbm. I don't think jumping from a trot is comfortable for the rider, therefore makes it uncomfortable for the horse. Try her with a small grid using placing poles. You can always put placing poles in-between the jumps forming your grid. These will make her sit up and think therefore helping her to steady and work out where her legs are. I think maybe if you work on establishing her canter on the flat and over poles on the ground then present her at the fences again! Enjoy her, theres no rush to get her racing round a course!
Shes lovely by the way x
 
I don't think the fences need to be lowered. She's a really nice horse!

I don't get why the pro told you to keep your stirrups long though. Your lower leg looks unstable with them at that length which will affect everything else - WAY easier to keep a solid leg when they are short.
 
ycbm said:
Just going back to some comments about getting her to jump from trot, I never teach horses to jump from trot, don't agree with it and don't understand why it's recommended.

It's awkward for the rider, it's not as natural or easy for the horse to bring both its hind legs together to take off from when both hind legs aren't already going forwards, and it's not something you ever want them to do in the future (except perhaps in a trappy hunting situation, where they'll do it naturally if they already jump from canter.)

If a horse isn't ready to jump from canter, I would wait to teach it to jump until it is.
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Jumping in to say this is really interesting! I've always had second thoughts about jumping from a trot, it seems like a much less natural movement. It's less predictable and when I was taught to jump I found it so much easier out of a canter stride so it makes sense trot would be more likely to perhaps lead to a negative experience?

ETA: lovely mare OP! Not sure I can be much help with the advice I'm afraid but she is pretty!
 
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