From: Deb
Hi Jessica!
Congratulations on all the donations you've received! I will definately be sending one (next payday). Your advice is priceless!
My problem is with my position over jumps. I have a big (16HH) powerful Arabian gelding who is a fantastic jumper. He's very careful and loves to jump. My problem is that his jump is so powerful and he has such a round bascule that I often get popped out of the saddle! If we get to a perfect takeoff spot it's not so bad, but when approaching a single fence from several strides away we often end up taking off too far away and then he makes a huge effort to clear the fence and manages to never knock one down! My feet lift right out of the stirrups and I have to slip the reins to avoid bumping his mouth. Then, of course, everything falls apart and I have to pull up and try again. He doesn't rush or anything like that. When we go trailriding he insists on jumping the ditches along the road instead of walking down, then up the other side! It's amazing to see him clear these, but, again, I get shaken loose! Ugh! Please help! He has a round barrel and I don't have the nice long legs I wish I had, so maybe that contributes to my troubles. The biggest I've jumped is 2'6", but he's free-jumped 4'6" with ease. He even jumped the arena fence once, then came running back to get a treat! Please help, he's so wonderful and the love of my life and I feel terrible when I don't give him a good ride.
Yours very sincerely,
Debbie:)
Hi Debbie -- thank you, and my community network thanks you too. ;-)
It sounds to me as though you need to do some gridwork with this horse, so that you can practice your jumping position without worrying about takeoff spots. It's not easy to jump a horse with a big bascule, and because of that you'll need to do a lot of work on your seat and stability.
Spend as much time as you can in two-point -- during your warmup, at walk and trot, at canter. There's nothing like it for strengthening your leg and stabilizing your position!
Be sure that your stirrups are at a good length -- when you sit in your saddle with your legs dangling and your feet OUT of the stirrups, the tread should be level with your ankle bone, or just a fraction of an inch higher. If your stirrups are too long, you'll be standing on your toes and straightening your knees, which will ruin your security; if your stirrups are too short, there will be too much pressure on your knees, and your body will keep popping up over the saddle like a jack-in-the-box.
If you let the horse lift you out of the saddle as he takes off, but you keep your balance over your legs and allow your weight to settle into your heels, you won't get jumped out of the saddle or lose your stirrups. But to achieve this balance, you'll need to spend a lot of time in two-point on the flat, and a lot of time jumping down small grids, with your legs relaxed and your weight in your heels.
It sounds to me as though you aren't really ready for the size and "bounce" of his jumping effort, and when he takes off you are grabbing the saddle with your knees. This is a guaranteed way to lose your stirrups -- your tight knees become pivot points, the lower legs lift and swing, and the feet lift right out of the stirrups. As a result, you become top-heavy and unstable just when you should be sinking down around your horse, with your seat just out of the saddle and your bottom sliding back toward the cantle.
The cure, as I said, is two-point and gridwork. You know what to do about the work in two-point. Now for the grids (remember, wear your helmet, and don't jump alone).
Have a friend, or perhaps your instructor, set two small crossrails about ten feet apart (narrow it to nine feet if your horse has any trouble bouncing through). Trot to the first one: your horse will jump in, then jump out. Then have your ground-person add additional cross-rails, one at a time, until you have five or six of them in a row, set at a comfortable distance for your horse to bounce through. Then ride through them, put your horse on his honour,don't worry about him, and just focus on yourself. Keep your eyes up, your back straight, and your body balanced over your legs, and keep those legs long and soft and relaxed, so that your weight drops a bit more into your heels with each successive jump. When you have a habit of gripping with the knees, the only way to change it is to learn to jump while RELAXING the knees, and then do it again and again until you've built a new, stronger habit of jumping correctly.
One more thing -- on the road, ask him to walk into and out of the ditches unless you ASK him to jump. It's nice that he is an eager jumper, but he needs to wait for you, and it's not safe to have him making that decision on his own. Get him into the habit of listening to you NOW, and then when the day comes that he wants to jump the ditch and you REALLY don't want him to, because you see something dangerous (a car coming? broken glass where he's going to land?), he'll listen because he'll be in the habit of listening. Teaching him to jump when you ask, and not when the impulse strikes him, could someday save both your lives.
Don't worry about giving him a good ride. He's obviously enjoying himself, and you. ;-) Practice, work on your leg flexibility and relaxation, and you'll be much better able to ride over those jumps. The more time you spend doing correct flatwork, the easier those jumps will be, so don't cut flatwork in favour of work over jumps. And when you do begin jumping, don't be in a hurry to raise the jumps -- perfect your skills, and his, over the small ones. There will be plenty of bigger jumps later on, when you're both ready to enjoy them in synch. ;-)
Jessica
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