Critique From Yesterday's Lesson

Well, there are some good moments, and many bad moments! Critique them all, please! My riding in some of the bad moments did contribute to the messiness of them, I'm not going to place all of the blame on my baby boy :). Yesterday's lesson was hard on him- he doesn't usually have to do poles, so he really had to pick up his feet. Also, because he's usually on the forehand after the last jump, it was hard for him with the pole afterwards :). It's good for him, though, to have to work this hard! He's been looking a little chunky recently .
Thanks in advance!

I didn't watch the whole thing because my computer is being SLOOOOOOW but from the parts that did work: I did notice that you're sitting down too early over some of the jumps. That might be interfering with him and causing him to pull them with his back legs.

Also make sure you have your leg on the whole way through the combos to support him and to keep him from getting so sticky.

I commend you on your ability to stay on at the end!

First of all i'd like to say good work, I know how hard it can be to get the hang of poles, I'm in the process of teaching my boy how to actually do them - he jumps them like a spread!
A lot of the time your hands are down quite low, if you pick them up a little, you'll be able to pick him up more. This is also contributing to you getting inot a bit of a chair seat over the jumps which in turn is confusing him as to whether you really want him to go over the jumps or not.
That's all I can think of for now, and GREAT job on staying on when he stopped - are you sticky taped to that saddle or something??? Lol

He has a great speed at the canter, but you need to sit a little deeper in your seat during it. I prefer to have my horse rounded most of the time, not necassarily fully collected, but rounded. It helps them use their butt more so when they go over things they push with their back end instead of straining their front. At 00:50 he gets pretty racey, and having a longer gait helps them go over even the small jumps cleanly. Your leg and arm position is great! :)

What really stuck out at me is how much he is rushing towards the jumps, poles, cavaletti's, whatever he's being aimed at. If you can get him to slow down and round up a bit, he'll have an easier time getting through those combos.

Thank you guys so much! I'll definitely work on staying in my two-point over the jumps. I think part of it may be that my legs are really weak right now- would two-point on the flat help me with that at all? I'll also sit down more in my canter- I'm riding Tuesday so I'll definitely work on all of these things :).

haha thanks :). I actually remember thinking, "Should I just let myself drop or try and get back up" as I stared at the pole .

Just bumping this up :)

Haha great job staying on at the end !! Sorry that part just made me laugh =]

You guys look pretty good over all ! The biggest critique I have would be to make sure to keep your leg under you so you arent in a chair seat. Also when you are jumping, don't sit back on your seat bones so much. If you have a little more weight on your pubis you wont have to fling your body forward so much before the jump and end up sitting in the tack to early on landing. =]

Not comments on your riding other than nice save on that last refusal. That was awesome.