Yay! I'm beggining to finally SEE my distances

It feels like I've really moved up in my riding. Now If I just trust myself I instinctively know exactly where to adjust, whether to stay still, whether I need to open the stride, at least 8 feet before the jump. Or if it's a bit too late, whether it would be more risky to get really long or painfully deep, The only time I screw up is when I overthink things, or if my trainer reminds me to do something I'm already planning on doing, which results in my doing what she said only more exaggerated, which usually screws with my distance too lol. Leaning back also helps me get a better view.

At what point did you begin to really get the hang of your distances? Was it a result of a particular method(like counting strides etc), or did it just come to you?

Leaning back? There are times in my course when I will sit up. Not lean back. I tend to ride in half seat when i'm riding a jumper course, however there are times within a course that call for me to sit deep and get him/her to settle a little. I'm not much one for adding strides... so if I see seven, I will sometimes try to make it a six stride line. Especially if it's a nice straight line from fence to fence. For me, counting strides was the only way for to "see" my distances. It also is a huge help to ride different horses. My guy is a 17.3 warmblood, but I will sometimes hop on the lesson pony and course on him. Strides between my warmblood and the lesson pony, are VERY different! But once you have your distances down, then you can adjust accordingly.

Eight feet before the jump ?! What ?

I like to see at least 3 strides out. I used to ride with a trainer that would make me start counting six strides out from every jump. If you count strides, especially as many as six strides out, you have time to change and/or fix your canter and jump. The biggest thing people forget about jumping is a jump is just a big canter stride, so if you have a good canter you will have a good jump.

I've always kind of "felt" my distances, without much extra work. I started jumping when I was 5 (I'm 14 now) and for as long as I can remember, jumping just kind of came naturally to me. I really sharpened up my ability to judge distances by counting down strides. I had my trainer do the "3...2...1...jump" thing a few times for me and it just clicked. Now I can tell when I'm 20 or 30 feet out from the jump whether it'll be long or short, or if I should push her out or pull her back really easily.

As Oxer said, you shouldn't lean back. I think you mean you sit deep in the saddle, which is perfectly okay. Just as long as you don't keep your weight behind the vertical, because then both you and the horse will get off balanced. I also ride in half seat, which I find it a lot easier than riding with your butt in the saddle, especially because I ride horses with very bouncy canters, and I don't want to slam on their backs. Great job getting your distances though. It'll only get better

I always find, sitting up tall and waiting for the jump to come to me helps me to see a distance better. Riding more forward in a half seat just makes me anticipate the jump more, and since I ride a green horse, it results in a refusal. I have trouble agreeing with my horse on a distance. So we either get a funny chip in or a long spot. But when I do sit up and wait, I get a better feel for the horse and we get a good spot.

Yes this is completely me! Leaning at seems to hinder my judgement. I know people say you should start with a big step but I feel more comfortable staying small until I see something. It's easier for me to open up then condense the step at the last minute.