Jumping Photos

Please clarify with me (I am no jumping guru :) ) Could his fronts look "loose" in the front because he is beginning the landing? It was a fast paced jumper course - I don't know if this impacts positioning of the horse at all? I would think his front feet have to come down some time??

As for the rider, she has started some jumping instruction, and will hopefully continue. She is hoping to refine her skills and fill in the holes from where she taught herself to jump :) I don't think she lacks confidence - but is possibly just less aware of her leg positioning during the jump - she has a habit of focusing more on the horse than herself (diagonals during flat classes is another issue for her :) )

That first picture could definitely be because of the speed of the class. He's hollow and does look likes he's charged through it. The other pictures look fine though. I wouldn't worry about it unless it happens over every jump. I have plenty of pictures of my jumper jumping very similarly to that because he was rushing, when normally he's very tight.

Nice square and even knees. Jumps flat over the smaller jumps. Scopier over the bigger jumps. The rider's legs are swinging back, but good heels. I like the horse over the bigger jumps.

Thanks. Jumping is really seeming to be his forte :) These photos are from his second season - he really seems to have that desire to jump. He seems to put way less effort into the smaller jumps, but is really taking to the increases in height with his jumps.

She has had to work a bit with him because she does both hunter and jumper with him, and as a result he sometimes tries to rush the jumps a bit - which may flatten him out.

The critiques of her legs swinging back seems to be pretty consistent; she will be glad to have something concrete to work on.

Hey there! It's me again. It's good to see some photos and not just videos ... it's a little easier to see form here.

In echoing other comments, she does need to tighten up that leg and get it up closer to the girth. Rule of thumb is that the stirrup leather should always be perpendicular to the ground. Lots of two-point work (no leaning on his neck to support her weight!), and two-point without hands (maybe on a lunge) will help strengthen her leg position. Once they get more comfortable with the gymnastics, and if you have a safe enclosed area, she can try going through a gymnastic with arms out to the side. (To do this: be sure to tie a knot in the ends of the reins so that they don't hand down; have her set the reins down over the ground line, put both arms out and hold them their, staying in two-point, through the gymnastic, pick reins back up at the final ground line). These are both great exercises for strengthening that leg position.

Even when jumping lower jumps, Dusty does need to round his back and tighten up the forelegs. This is a safety issue, so hopefully this was an isolated incident. Gymnastics with bounces are great for both of these.

It's ok to have the toe turned out a little when jumping, and in her case, doing so will help her to grip with her inner thigh and calf and not her knee. I always thought about gripping my horse along the inside seam of my jeans; that seems to click with some riders.

Also, he does need to lower his head and round his neck more to use it properly over fences. He isn't really using it at all in these photos. Alas, I'm not sure what exercises will help with this.

I would advise against jumping fences with as much height as in the third photo until that leg and base of support is stronger.

To end with a good note: the second photo is definitely the best of the bunch. I love her flat, relaxed back, and eyes up. She looks very confident.

Happy jumping!

Cute hose. love the face! the rider just needs to keep those elbows in!

good riding though!

Regardinghorses: Thank you for the detailed response, I will forward the info to her (actually she will probably jump on my computer and check for herself next time she comes to ride :) ). I got her a gynastics book for christmas and she has been reading that. She also pulled out her 101 jumping exercises for some practice. She has been doing a lot more flatwork and some low height jumping grid work this winter (often bareback because it is just easier with all that hair and such) - I actually think her form is best when she jumps bareback :) We will see how she looks after applying all of these great tips into her practice for a while :)

Hopefully the gymnastics helps dusty to round out more on the lower heights - the flat look seems to correlate with the higher speed jumping classes.

Magic: Thanks for the feedback :)

Awesome! It's great that you two are working to learn everything you can and do things the right way. They are a great pair and will just get better and better if they keep working the way they are.