My biggest struggle right now is related to consistently being able to release over fences enough to allow Tillie to stretch. I have a hard time with this because her neck is fairly short, so I need short enough reins to have a good feel for her and keep her in the contact for flatting between the fences.
Out of all the photos above, the first one is the ONLY one where my hands are not planted at her wither. I also notice in all of them, even the higher heights my hip angle doesnt really change all that much. I stay really upright in my upper body, which is always a BAD thing...but it certainly isnt allowing me to get those longer /lower arms.
P suggested to lower my hands on each side of her neck and that would help, but clearly I am stuck in this position and no fence or change of anything causes me to adjust.
I do not want to lay on my horses neck like Ive seen all too many times...but I do think I have a stiffness somewhere or this safe place of balance (not unlike Tillie when we dressage) that I havent quite been able to branch out of and trust.
So I guess I need to figure out how to do this...and how to not get too quick with my upper body on the approach but get more comfortable once we do take off and land.
Is there a steady horse you could play on for a couple of lessons? My confidence shot up when I was jumping a horse that as long as I pointed him at the jump and didn't pull back he was going to jump and since he was a total packer I wasn't worried that I was going to screw him up. That way you can get the feeling without worrying about pissing Tillie off.
ReplyDeleteI could try that! I have a post coming in the next few days about playing with it last night on Tillie :)
DeleteI always try to work on hand position in low grids, as long as you know your horse is willing and forward, and nothing is overly complicated you can play around with moving your arms through it.
ReplyDeleteI love grids for that reason! I just need someone on the ground to yell at me to get through to me as I come through.
DeleteI think smaller grids might help - could even practice over a jump with placement poles too.
ReplyDeleteMy trainer told me to "stay over" and sit up slower after the fence to help me when I do this. You have to fold at your hip to begin with, but I hold my jumping position about a second or two longer now which helps me from asking him to come down too quickly in a jump.
ReplyDeleteooooooh i have an idea that we should all do together when we have ground crew: small grid work through a jump chute with no stirrups and no reins :D
ReplyDelete