critiqe my jumping

i know I have a roached back and my heels are horrible and I don't give a crest release becuase he can't have one it ruins his balance

That isn't just "not a crest release". That is no release at all, you are physically leaning on his mouth. I would start riding jumps with no reins at all. If he can't balance over it, maybe he needs more training to be able to do so, and you shouldn't be asking him to jump.

I agree with the above poster. If he can't balance over fences, then he needs to go back to basics.

To me (and please understand I'm not trying to be mean, just saying what I see), it looks like you have more of a balance problem, which could explain why he has a balance problem. By bracing and using his mouth for your own balance, you're solving one problem but creating a whole other issue.. which is that you're causing your horse pain and hindering his jump.

So here is my suggestion: Try free jumping your horse to see how his balance over fences is naturally without any interference. I'm guessing he'll do fine. At that point, you need to start your own balance exercises. Go back to trot poles, cross rails, and cavaletti, and work on these with no reins, no stirrups, etc. Really work on finding your center of balance, and make sure it in no way involves your horse's mouth. Once you have this, I guarantee the rest of your form will improve too.

Very cute horse. I'm not so sure balance is the word you are really looking for. There are a lot of horses that jump better when you keep a feel of their mouths when they jump, so I understand your reluctance to use a crest release, which can at times feel like you are throwing your horse away over the fence. But you have to give some release or else you will restrict his head and neck when he jumps and you will teach him to be a flat jumper. To encourage your horse to jump round you have to have a following hand, which can be accomplished with an automatic release. A good person to google images of and try to find videos of is Anne Kursinski. Her auto release is classic.

I do ride with no stirrups were doing cavaletti and small jumps without stirrups know yesterday we jumped a bounce with ine hand (there were four jumps) I don't free jump him becuase there osamt any time ro use the arena its always full. I do give a auto release over higher jumps but over liwer one he does better without it
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I refuse to believe that any horse worth it's salt does better without a release. It's not just that you aren't using an auto release - there is no release in this picture at all.

He does have a ewe neck
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Do you have any pictures of your auto-release? What does he do when you give him an auto-release that makes you think he does better without it.

I can't say I really understand what you mean by not using a release because it ruins his balance. Horses balance in the air by extending their necks. If you don't allow him his head, are you planning on holding him up at 10% of his weight? Simple physics alone make that impossible. If he's that unbalanced, why is he even jumping?

As for the release, that's not an auto release. That's no release at all. If you were using an auto release, your elbows would be extended much further forward than they are. Heck, just cantering between fences, your hands should be up about where the slack of your rein is hanging.

It looks like you're just standing straight up in the stirrups instead of folding at the hips. That pic would be greatly improved if you were closer to the tack with your hips back in line with your heels.

Sorry if this all sounds harsh, but you did ask for a critique.

You don't know my horse he is built very down hill if you don't keep contact he will lose inpulsion abd can't jump. I was so nervous that day that was our first show
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