How Important Is My Jumping Position?
It is everything! If you are to stay in proper balance and control over a jump and influence your horse to maintain his balance while in the air your position has to be exemplary.
I can just look at a picture of a horse in the process of going over a jump and know what the rider's position looks like by the way the horse is using his body.
If a horse drops his knees, picks them up too early or jumps with his chest before his knees it's because the rider weight is balanced upon his neck with seat in the air too forward out of the saddle.
This is caused by the rider's leg slipping back behind the rider's seat and not supporting their weight forcing their upper body to do the task balancing on their arms supported by the horse's neck.
If the horse when going over the jump drops his back end or drops a pole from behind it's because the rider has dropped their seat too soon onto the back of the horse.
Such a problem exists because the rider's leg is too far forward and cannot maintain its position directly under the rider's seat to support it while out of the saddle.
Often a rider does both with leg too far back and upper body too far forward on takeoff only to loose their leg too far forward on landing throwing their seat back to the saddle causing the horse to not only have difficulty with picking up its front legs on take off but then dropping the back and coming down too soon from behind when landing.
This happens when a rider's leg is simply too weak to be in control of where it needs to be kept throughout the ride.
If you ride a horse that is new to jumping and you exhibit an improperly balanced position over and over again your horse will begin to set up a habit of jumping not only in a way that's not efficient and looks unsightly but he could potentially hurt himself or you in the process not to mention the wear and tear on his body over time producing a vast array of soundness issues.
If you ride a seasoned veteran that has been trained properly and you have an insecure position you will get a bad fence from time to time but long term damage will be limited.
That being said, any bad rider position will eventually take its toll depending on how severe the balance problem of the rider is.
Most likely the old boy will simply start refusing sensing the rider's instability.
So how do you know what your position looks like? There are all kinds of ways to feel it but the easiest way to tell is to get a picture from a side view with you in the process of a jump.
If your photographer has a camera that can take several frames from take off to landing so you can view the entire process of jumping it is a tremendous benefit.
Your goal in viewing these pictures is to simply see your weight into your heal with the leg directly under your seat to balance your body in every frame.
Many years ago when we all had VCRs my daughter would spend countless hours analyzing videos frame by frame of herself jumping and to this day she has a better position than anyone I've ever seen.
Of course there are other points of good position that range from keeping your eyes and head up, to having your elbows in and directly under your shoulders to your shoulders back with a nice flat back but without the proper support of your body by your leg being strong enough to stay directly under your seat the rest of these points of proper position are hard to achieve.
When I start with a rider it's all about developing the leg because without the leg staying under the seat in any regard staying in balance is almost impossible.
How do I teach that? Drills! Drills, drills, drills.
Constant exercises that call attention to where a rider's leg is, forcing them to keep it into position to maintain their balance during the drills.
Much like you would practice scales on a piano or on a typewriter, keeping the leg correct must become instinctive to be effective.
It has to be second nature and something you don't have to think about so you may go on to tackle more challenging issues.
Without being able to maintain the proper leg position you have no balance.
It isn't possible.
Let me share with you some of the exercises I ask my students to practice.
See if your balanced is challenged when doing any of these? 1.
The "two point".
The "two point" should be successfully executed at the walk, trot and canter, (where it's known more as the "half seat").
It is when you raise your seat directly off of the saddle keeping it centered and not shifting it forward.
In doing so drop into your heals, stretch your leg down and close your hip angle letting your arms follow forward over your horse's neck.
Now you're in "jumping position".
You want your leg strong enough and underneath you correctly to the point that you can maintain this position without touching or leaning upon the horse's neck.
2.
"Down, down up".
This is when the rider repeats in rhythm a constant changing of their diagonal over and over again keeping their seat connected between the two strides when the rider is down in the saddle, the upper body tall and their leg not pushing forward in front of their girth.
3.
"Up, up, down".
This is just the opposite of above when the rider during the posting trot suspends their body into the air in just one extra stride maintaining a rhythm and doing it over and over again as the horse trots without falling back into the saddle.
To do this a rider has to keep their leg under their body to support them while out of the saddle.
4.
Gymnastics! When the rider can maintain their position and has been jumping successfully it's time to test their ability to jump without thinking, that's when I put them through a gymnastic line.
I keep the jumps in the beginning to small crossrails and build them gradually through a session starting first with ground poles and moving up to the jumps to eventually having the rider continue through the line in perfect form.
When you can successful master all the above have those pictures taken again and you'll see the difference in both you and in your horse jumping.
Make note of your progress and always work to improve by challenging yourself with more difficult maneuvers such as jumping on a curve or on up and down slopes.
The point is to be careful and have fun while building your skills.
Take your time and be patient with both you and your horse and remember although there are some riders perhaps more talented than others, the thing that's most important to improvement is your desire and choosing a willing partner.
Make it fun for your horse and you'll both end up on top of the world!
I can just look at a picture of a horse in the process of going over a jump and know what the rider's position looks like by the way the horse is using his body.
If a horse drops his knees, picks them up too early or jumps with his chest before his knees it's because the rider weight is balanced upon his neck with seat in the air too forward out of the saddle.
This is caused by the rider's leg slipping back behind the rider's seat and not supporting their weight forcing their upper body to do the task balancing on their arms supported by the horse's neck.
If the horse when going over the jump drops his back end or drops a pole from behind it's because the rider has dropped their seat too soon onto the back of the horse.
Such a problem exists because the rider's leg is too far forward and cannot maintain its position directly under the rider's seat to support it while out of the saddle.
Often a rider does both with leg too far back and upper body too far forward on takeoff only to loose their leg too far forward on landing throwing their seat back to the saddle causing the horse to not only have difficulty with picking up its front legs on take off but then dropping the back and coming down too soon from behind when landing.
This happens when a rider's leg is simply too weak to be in control of where it needs to be kept throughout the ride.
If you ride a horse that is new to jumping and you exhibit an improperly balanced position over and over again your horse will begin to set up a habit of jumping not only in a way that's not efficient and looks unsightly but he could potentially hurt himself or you in the process not to mention the wear and tear on his body over time producing a vast array of soundness issues.
If you ride a seasoned veteran that has been trained properly and you have an insecure position you will get a bad fence from time to time but long term damage will be limited.
That being said, any bad rider position will eventually take its toll depending on how severe the balance problem of the rider is.
Most likely the old boy will simply start refusing sensing the rider's instability.
So how do you know what your position looks like? There are all kinds of ways to feel it but the easiest way to tell is to get a picture from a side view with you in the process of a jump.
If your photographer has a camera that can take several frames from take off to landing so you can view the entire process of jumping it is a tremendous benefit.
Your goal in viewing these pictures is to simply see your weight into your heal with the leg directly under your seat to balance your body in every frame.
Many years ago when we all had VCRs my daughter would spend countless hours analyzing videos frame by frame of herself jumping and to this day she has a better position than anyone I've ever seen.
Of course there are other points of good position that range from keeping your eyes and head up, to having your elbows in and directly under your shoulders to your shoulders back with a nice flat back but without the proper support of your body by your leg being strong enough to stay directly under your seat the rest of these points of proper position are hard to achieve.
When I start with a rider it's all about developing the leg because without the leg staying under the seat in any regard staying in balance is almost impossible.
How do I teach that? Drills! Drills, drills, drills.
Constant exercises that call attention to where a rider's leg is, forcing them to keep it into position to maintain their balance during the drills.
Much like you would practice scales on a piano or on a typewriter, keeping the leg correct must become instinctive to be effective.
It has to be second nature and something you don't have to think about so you may go on to tackle more challenging issues.
Without being able to maintain the proper leg position you have no balance.
It isn't possible.
Let me share with you some of the exercises I ask my students to practice.
See if your balanced is challenged when doing any of these? 1.
The "two point".
The "two point" should be successfully executed at the walk, trot and canter, (where it's known more as the "half seat").
It is when you raise your seat directly off of the saddle keeping it centered and not shifting it forward.
In doing so drop into your heals, stretch your leg down and close your hip angle letting your arms follow forward over your horse's neck.
Now you're in "jumping position".
You want your leg strong enough and underneath you correctly to the point that you can maintain this position without touching or leaning upon the horse's neck.
2.
"Down, down up".
This is when the rider repeats in rhythm a constant changing of their diagonal over and over again keeping their seat connected between the two strides when the rider is down in the saddle, the upper body tall and their leg not pushing forward in front of their girth.
3.
"Up, up, down".
This is just the opposite of above when the rider during the posting trot suspends their body into the air in just one extra stride maintaining a rhythm and doing it over and over again as the horse trots without falling back into the saddle.
To do this a rider has to keep their leg under their body to support them while out of the saddle.
4.
Gymnastics! When the rider can maintain their position and has been jumping successfully it's time to test their ability to jump without thinking, that's when I put them through a gymnastic line.
I keep the jumps in the beginning to small crossrails and build them gradually through a session starting first with ground poles and moving up to the jumps to eventually having the rider continue through the line in perfect form.
When you can successful master all the above have those pictures taken again and you'll see the difference in both you and in your horse jumping.
Make note of your progress and always work to improve by challenging yourself with more difficult maneuvers such as jumping on a curve or on up and down slopes.
The point is to be careful and have fun while building your skills.
Take your time and be patient with both you and your horse and remember although there are some riders perhaps more talented than others, the thing that's most important to improvement is your desire and choosing a willing partner.
Make it fun for your horse and you'll both end up on top of the world!
