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Forum Jump
Posts: 1422
Nov 10 09 9:20 AM
shiggins wrote: What you do with your body over a fence is very different depending on fence height and rider experience. For beginner jumpers, they arent expected to have the timing required to have good position over fences, so they are asked to go into 2pt a few strides before and stay in it a few strides after. This way they get to get used to the horse jumping without a) screwing themselves up by trying to move themselves over the fence and b) messing with the horse because they have no finesse for actual jumping position. Gradually, still over little baby fences, the trainer will get the rider to come into the fence sitting up more, and stress that they should stay sitting up and wait for the horse's neck to come up and meet their body. The riders hands should push forward, but not overly so, throwing the reins at the horse to make tons of slack does no one any favours. Just push hands forward on the crest, but still following the horse's mouth, and at the same time being mindful of keeping their center of balance over the saddle and their heel. Its actually harder over smaller fences, because the horse doesnt really jump enough to close your hip angle, and many riders try to overcompensate by throwing their bodies forward and pushing their ass up, because thats what they seem to get from pictures. I like to think of it as my hands and hips going in different directions. Hands follow the horse's mouth forward, hips stay back over the seat of the saddle, and legs stay close to the girth, my weight and balance still staying over my heel.
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