This week in Jumping lessons

So last week in jumping lessons we worked on setting our horses up for success and then leaving them alone and staying out of there way. This meant getting a good pace in the corners, making a straight approach, and then settling into your jumping position well ahead of the jump, and trying to give them complete freedom with their head and neck so they felt they could use their neck for balance, and that they could decide to stretch out, or compress, to find the best distance, without worrying about interference from their rider.

Some of the horse's took advantage, and some riders just couldn't trust their horse enough, but for the most part, we saw that the horse's made the right decision and they improved once they were no longer worried about the rider shifting their balance right at the jump, or not giving them enough freedom with their head and neck to be able to make the best decision.

Being  to able to get into the jumping position earlier helped keep rider's from being left being, and also helped discourage them from jumping ahead. Horses hate having their rider suddenly jumping onto their shoulders just as they are trying to lift off over the fence.

Previously we worked on counting to the jumps. Counting either 3-2-1, OR counting 1-2-1-2 helps rider's feel the horse's rhythm and be aware of their proximity to the jump. We also saw how being crooked really made it hard to see that distance...for both the horse and the rider, which helped highlight WHY we need to both approach the jump straight AND have the horse physically straight to help set up the best chances for a good distance.

So, this week we are going to combine the two. We are going to work on getting the horse straight, and having a good canter, and then leaving them alone to work out the jump for themselves...BUT, we are going to count 1-2-1-2 to the jump so you can tell when the horse is making a mistake and changing their rhythm, which requires intervention/correction from the rider as the horse should maintain a tick-tock rhythm to the jumps, and just lengthen and shorten from within that rhythm.

We will work on when and how to correct a change in rhythm, but first you need to know how to pick up on the change, to that end, there will be a bit of a surprise awaiting riders that may present some challenges for some horses...it should be fun!