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Critique Us (mostly flat)

2K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  levihorse84 
#1 ·
Hello!

I think I could make my stirrups a hole shorter. My heels can be down at a walk, but at the trot the become almost level. I think I could be sitting up straighter.

At the canter, I have NO idea why I still do, but I put my hands down. They don't touch her neck, but they go down
I think it's habit from when I need to give her her head completely or she would trip and pace instead of cantering.

Over the jumps, My lower leg is still sliding back. The first jump was terrible, I know. I have no idea why, but my right leg had no contact at all.
The second one, I don't think the downed rail, was my fault. I watched a few times and I'm pretty sure I didn't land on her back too soon. Did I?
The third jump was much better, I think. Though in all of them, I'm still having trouble keeping my lower leg near the girth.

Also, what do you think of her? Getting her to collect i SO freaking hard, and I know I should, but I never work on it anymore.

Sorry about the videos, you have to watch it in the highest quality to see anything. Also my younger sister was a little bouncy with the camera..





Thank you very much!!
 
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#4 ·
I would like to see your butt come under you a little more and your shoulders pulled back at the trot. Try to keep your shoulders back, bum under you and bring your pelvis toward the pommel with each up motion. Sit into your canter transition a little bit more and get your butt in the saddle. Getting your butt in the saddle will make it easier to collect, it needs to come from your seat more than your leg.

I really don't like your approach to the first fence. It would help you a great deal to have a good canter coming up to the fence rather than rushing the transition and make sure you have her paying attention to you and the jump as you approach.

She looks like she's pulling you through the downward transition. Sit up, bring your shoulders back and maybe try something like this: as you approach the downward transition, lift your hands a little bit to keep her from rooting and pulling you forward. Coming to the second fence it looks to me as if you're tipping forward before the fence, again, keep your shoulders back and get your hands up off her neck to let her use herself properly over the fence.

The problem with your third fence was that you weren't pushing her FORWARD. Again, you had your hands a bit too low and it does look to me like you sat down a little too early, but your biggest problem was having her behind your leg to the fence. Your second video still shows a rushed / flustered fence, I'd really get on her about paying attention to you and bending around your inside leg. She's looking to the outside a LOT something I find unacceptable when I ride.
 
#5 ·
The turn to that jumpbwas very tight
The upper right corner to half way down the ring is unusable, she gets all discombobulated.
Today she was very "airy" hard to give it a word. She was very hard to keep attentive.
Thank you very much for the critique!!
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#6 ·
your mare is adorable.

I saw what you were talking about ; having your hands too low, but it wasnt' just at the canter. That and your leg sliding back during the jump are both related to not being really DOWN into your stirrup with a solid lower leg and being well balanced over that stirrup. They are all part of having a stiff body and thus an unstable seat.

If you watch yourself you will see that your body literally appears to be frozen. the whole body moves ON the horse, but not in relation to the horse. I mean, you are not flexing to absorb the motion, and flexing is what makes you become stable, relative to the hrose. SO< in order to be a quiet rider, very stable, you actually have to move your body MORE.

YOu have to be flexing in your knee, some in your ankle and more in your hip. Your elbow has to open and close with every posting stride (this, by the way, is why your putting your hands down on her neck and why you fell forward onto it when she transitioned downward)

try tying a thick string to one or both of the D rings on teh front of the saddle. Put it in your hands with the reins so that it is tight when your hands are at the correct height. Now, post and don't let the string go slack but don't pull it out of your hand either. So, your hand will stay put, but your elbow is gonna have to move.

REally sink your whole weight down into the stirrup. Think of going PAST the stirrup with your whole leg, think of connecting your heel to the horse's back feet, just as a mental image.

look up and go. See if those two things don't help a bit.

Good luck and it sure looks like you guys are having fun!
 
#8 ·
So you can't really see all of me, but I think my leg improved a tiny bit.

New jump 20" (2) - YouTube


Oh and tiny, I tried to move with her, but even with light contact (constant) I feel no increasing pressure or loosing any pressure. Like she's not moving her head at all.
I don't understand what to do. At all. Should I sit and roll with her canter more? I used to do that all the time, but at a show, a judge said to me "half seat, don't hug your butt to your saddle"
i still do it sometimes anyway, but i had been working on my half seat more often -__- ugh.
 
#11 ·
CK, she also landed oddly after that jump. The turn to it, we took it a little too tight.
i'm not sure if it was this video or the other, but there were two horses that moved infront of the jump and i had to go between so it was an awkward jump, slow down really fast turn and go.
So, yeah, I do see her legs looking all funky there! haha
 
#16 ·
I may be a little nit-picky but let's just see how this goes....
The absolute first thing I noticed was your trot. IMO I feel that you arms are a tad bit too straight. If you just brought your elbows back a tinge, to where they are right at your hips they would look great!

Next thing, I agree with the above that your leaning foward at the canter too much. Sit back a little and get your butt in the saddle it will help with you collection. Also, I see what you mean about your hands being too low at the canter, so again, get your elbows right by your hips and raise your hands up a little, this will help ensure that your hands don't sink into the horse's mane :) Remember there should be a straight line from your shoulder hip(where you elbow should be) and heel.

I agree with Alexis that your first jump approach wasn't great. It was way too sharp of a turn, I think that's why your horse lacked impulsion to the jump. With such a sharp turn he/she had to break down to a trot to make the turn. (This is rather irrelevant but flexibility could be another reason he/she broke down to a trot. With the sharp turn he/she might not have very good bend in his/her neck to make the turn. Ground exercises can help with this, plus suppling exercises,serpentines,figure 8's,front and hind end yielding. Lots of exercises can help with flexibility:))

The second jump was much better. I won't add too much with this one. Same thing as before with the canter, hands, and arms. Also, I think it was better because right before the jump it looked as if she was almost going to break down to a trot, but I think you pushed her foward just enough to keep the canter and for the horse to make the jump.

With the third fence, I don't really think the approach was bad, it was fine. I just think that you didn't really push her/him enough, again, not enough impulsion, thus why she/he trotted down. I think another reason he/she might have trotted down(besides the flexibility) is that with each jump, your strides were very short and choppy. Thus why she either had to trot down or do many little canter strides to make the jump. I think if you judged your distances better she would have taken off for the jumps at a better place.:)

I do like your heel. It isn't flopping around or wiggling a lot(which is one of my biggest pet peeves so trust me if you were, I would tell you). Your lower leg is pretty stable.

Hope this helped. If any other questions please ask and I will happily answer. Happy Riding!!
 
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