Critique my form, please?

This is my 14.2HH Quarter Horse gelding. He's been trained western but we started jumping 3 years ago. I have an upcoming schooling show this week. Can you please critique both my and my horses's position and form? Thanks in advance!

Photo URLs:

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...16630758_n.jpg

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...00193330_n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...91210778_n.jpg

I'm not huge into jumping, but it looks like you are trying to lean forward instead of letting the horse jump into you and pivot at your knee. Your form shouldn't change, the horse should just jump up into your hands.

Also looks a little like you're pushing yourself up out of the saddle in the first picture.

Leg is slipping backwards, not as bad in the first as much as the second and third.

Hopefully someone more experienced with this can offer better advice. :)

Your number one flaw: you need a horse.

Your pony has a nice jump and you have a good position but it's getting all outa wack because of your size and your ponys. That may not be helpful for you but if I were you I would really consider a horse. I think you would do very well

It seems like you're leaning on your horses neck over the jump and getting way ahead of him. Instead, try pushing your weight into your heels and barely touch the horses neck when you release. Although the pony is a bit small, you'd have the same problem on a horse.

Also, try to be off the horses back, but still centered in the saddle. Don't throw your whole body foreword and go with him, not ahead of him...sorry if that doesn't make sense, I'm bad at explaining. :)

I think you and your pony look great together!! I think that he is not to small for you or anything like that!

You need to put your weight into your heels it helps with alot of things. Next you also need to roll your shoulders back open up more in the upper body, but don't arch you back when doing that. In the last picture you needed to close your hip. I really like that you are looking up in most of them. Your pony has a nice jump.

Have fun at your show!!!!

I'm not a professional, but...
The first thing I notice is that you are putting too much weight into your release. You are also jumping ahead of your horse, so that your bum is in front of the saddle. It all looks pretty insecure to me, because if you were in that position and the pony's head went down for any reason or if you had a refusal, you might come off over his head.
You should take the weight off your release so that you are not leaning on the pony's neck, and put that weight into your heel where you can be more secure.
You should also try getting your bum back so that it's over the saddle, not in front of the saddle.
Hope this helps and good luck!

Im not a huge jumper but I noticed your trying to "jump for him" push your bum a little more into the saddle and sink into your heels and that should give you a more secure position as well.

Think of touching your belt-buckle to the pommel.

Or, if you prefer, you can think of it as 'kissing' your horses neck. That's the classic hunt-eq way to say it. You want to snap over the jumps, and in order to do that you really need your horse to help you lift out of the saddle.

You want to think about touching your bottom to the saddle a stride before the jump and letting the horse lift you out of the saddle so you can snap over it. It's not easy at first, I promise, and you'll probably get left behind a lot when you first try it. But it gets easier :)

Doing this will also help bring your legs a little further forward, and help you shove your heels into the ground. My instructor used to tell me that she should have to clean the bottom of my shoes before I go into the show ring because my heels should be down so far. A good way to work on your heels is to stand on the edge of a stair/step and hold onto the railing while crouched into jumping position. Your heels should be dangling off the end of the step. It hurts your thighs at first, but you'll see dramatic improvement in your heels.

Okay, thank you everyone! :) if I shorten or lengthen my stirrups, would my leg positioning be better?
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