The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Welsh Sport Horse Jumping Critique!

9K views 50 replies 25 participants last post by  blue eyed pony 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
This is my horse Seirian, he is a 12 year old Welsh Cob x Thoroughbred, we are currently competing at Training level in eventing and have done up to 3'6" jumpers. I would love critique on him and myself please! :)



















Sorry for how many photos there are lol! As you can see he barely clears the jumps ;)
 
See less See more
8
#4 ·
Wow. He is absolutely stunning. Beautiful form. You two are definitely a great pair.

hes just...wow. gorgeous!
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#6 ·
You are an excellent rider and your horse is very talented. He looks like he would jump anything for you that you decide to put in his path. The two of you could really advance.
I hate to write this but I would suggest...gulp...that you lose about 12-15 pounds. Take a full year to do this, so it's healthy. Your weight is fine for lower amateur, but I could see this as the only impediment to competing in upper levels. The people you will compete with at the higher levels are lean, mean, fighting machines, and the judges may mark you down in Dressage.
 
#8 ·
I hate to write this but I would suggest...gulp...that you lose about 12-15 pounds. Take a full year to do this, so it's healthy. Your weight is fine for lower amateur, but I could see this as the only impediment to competing in upper levels. The people you will compete with at the higher levels are lean, mean, fighting machines, and the judges may mark you down in Dressage.
Are you her doctor or parent? Because I do not think you should be advising a young girl to lose 12-15 pounds unless you know her medical history.
 
#18 ·
I've never really been encouraged to do an automatic release, no one has told me not to or anything I just haven't had a coach that has really focused on my release. I think it would be a good idea for me to start practicing an automatic release as I move up the levels though, thank you!
 
#19 ·
Well... for what it's worth I could tell it was the same rider in all the photos (at least the ones showing your face! I'll trust you on the two flat photos you posted second!).

Your horse is beautiful, and he looks like he is a very talented eventer! You also look beautiful, and you are a talented rider. The one thing I notice is that you don't have a lot of consistency--in some photos, you have a really nice, secure position. In some others, you're jumping ahead way out of the saddle or you lost your base of support and your leg is swinging back. I struggle with this problem too though, so I definitely understand! I think with time and practice you'll get better. Strengthening your legs, both in and out of the saddle, will also help with this.

If I were you (and I really wish I had your position in some of these photos!), I would really work on keeping your leg from swinging behind. It will really help you advance and keep you secure, which is particularly important in cross country. Even though you don't have an automatic release, it almost looks like you have the beginning of it in some of these photos. Once you feel more secure in the saddle and are more consistently jumping with your leg beneath you, I think you're absolutely at a level where you should begin practicing that. In the meantime, make sure you're giving enough of a crest release. A few of these look like you're pulling on your horse's mouth a little bit. Again, this is just a consistency thing.

Best of luck to you! For what it's worth, I don't think you need to lose weight. Don't worry about that one bit! Just enjoy your horse, always continue to work on your riding (we are never too good to improve!), and have fun doing it.
 
#20 ·
I've been thinking about buying another horse and I've been looking to possibly import what i want, as i can't find it here in the states. I'd like to get a Welsh Cob with possibly a TB or Warmblood cross. Did you buy him here in the states??
 
#21 ·
I actually bought him when I was still living up in Canada, there is a woman in Langley, British Columbia who owned my horse's sire, Brynarian Brenin ap Maldwyn, who passed away a few years ago. However, she still has the semen so she is still breeding to TB mares, producing these wonderful crosses. My horse wasn't actually bred by her, he was just out of her stallion, he was actually bred by someone in Alberta but ended up back in BC. Many of this stallion's offspring are upper level eventers or jumpers. They are super athletic and very talented! And pretty cute ;) Her website is: Bryn Carregwen Welsh Sport Horses if you'd like to check it out! She has quite a few for sale.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Oxer
#31 ·
I opened this thread and saw the pics of the OP and thought, 'oh how lovely!' Then I read a post suggesting her to lose weight. RIDICULOUS:evil:
 
#34 ·
Aaaaaaaaaaaand since we are quoting George Morris *for the good of the OP* ... here's one of my favorites -- just for the OP:

"Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you." ~George Morris
 
#35 ·
Oh gosh this is not even CLOSE to IRL cattiness at an FEI2* or 3* level.
Hope you are prepared OP!! You seem to be able to brush it off well. Piece of advice if you are looking to go higher in sport - get a good relationship with a sport psychologist going NOW. Not when you are considering leaving the sport. Develop a really great support system - you will need it!!


Anyways - about the jumping the only thing is maybe angle your stirrup a bit more so you can still have enough foot in the stirrup - but just to flex your ankle down a bit more.

In the dressage - I really would like to see more pictures before judging, but I really don't like how your saddle fits you - the balance is really too far forward, and the panels are forcing you off the horse's back. I much prefer the fit of your CC and would suggest you ride the dressage phase in that saddle until you can find a well fitting dressage saddle.
Also imagine that you are setting up for a jump in the dressage - hands together and down, seat pushing to the base of the fence and legs pressing down without gripping with the knee. I'd really like to see a video before getting very specific but IMO that looks to be your weakest phase.

Good luck!!
 
#36 ·
I'm just gonna laugh off the catty stabs. Again, I am REALLY impressed with this rider and she can wear her feelings on her sleeve or not. We all post on this part of the forum for pats on the back. Sometimes I read some very good advice, as Anabel has posted, and the OP will be grateful. Most often people don't want any constructive criticism, just ooh's and ahh's.
You all have beat my comments up, and I continue to find good things to post about the OP. I love how she is jumping x-country with her stirrups home to stick the saddle, in case I didn't mention that one.
I was speaking as a coach might. If you were aspiring to compete at high levels, which IMHO the OP could do with THIS horse, and there was something that was preventing you from the ribbons, you might want to know this. Do you all never watch those up-close-and-personal Olympic athlete stories every 4 years? I DO. There is always great sacrifice for the payoff, and often these athletes push beyond what each thinks he or she is capable of doing.
"Talent" is a term originally meaning a coin used in trade. Having "talents" indicated wealth through hard work. I used the word, "talent" to mean that the OP has worked very hard in her sport.
Laura Kraut
About Laura Kraut - Laura Kraut Official website
is a very good example of hard work, and I'm sure that the OP would agree. She still rides and has competed for over 40 years, and is a good example of "talent."
If you remember a member of the US 1994 figure skating team, Tonya Harding, was a talented skater, on the Olympic Team and she won the US championship just prior to it . Although she finished I believe in the top 4, this woman never made anything of herself.
Much of sport is a mind game. I hope that the OP will not suffer the "Over 18yo burn out."
 
#40 ·
I love how she is jumping x-country with her stirrups home to stick the saddle,
Can you please explain why having the irons "home" is a good thing, and how it helps stick to the saddle? Because if anything I'd prefer that the OP back her toe out a bit to have the iron across the ball of her foot, I find her iron (in the first pic) to be a bit too far back and that's (in part) causing her ankle to be unable to flex down.
 
#39 ·
Corporal, you have made this post about yourself enough times. But please, do not now turn this in to 'you're all picking on me:('

My mother taught me that if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

The ONLY part of your crit people have been, and quite rightly so, unamused about is where you, an adult, have told a young adult over the internet that they need to lose weight. This is, as far as my understanding, the horse riding critique section. I don't recall the last time anyone asked for weightloss tips, acne or greasy hair tips.

I generally respect your posts, but you need to learn to eat humble pie and apologise.

Anebel, I wouldn't mind so much in real life. But this is an adult sat behind a computer screen, who is now pulling every card out. Riding world IS tough. You have to have the toughest skin. And belief in you and your horse. But telling someone to lose 10-15ilbs when clearly they are NOT overweight is utterly ridiculous.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#45 ·
I'd too like to see more release in your hands. You can either have a longer rein, or move your hands up, your choice, but at the point of over the jump, your rein is too short in the horses mouth.

The photos clearly go back and forth in age, I didn't pay enough attention, in some you were over jumping a bit and getting ahead of the pommel. I don't recall if they were the earlier or later photos. Just go with the flow more, you are not jumping for the horse, although that tends to be the hunter way, I don't believe it to be correct.

I think you look great, you are a talented LITTLE rider. :) And it's clear that you are having a bunch of fun with your horse.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top