How's my equitation on my new horsey?!?

Question

what do you think of his hunter-niss and what do you think of my eq?

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb199/ziggylover802/IMG_5247.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb199/ziggylover802/IMG_5249.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb199/ziggylover802/IMG_5250.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb199/ziggylover802/IMG_5251.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb199/ziggylover802/IMG_5252.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb199/ziggylover802/IMG_5253.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb199/ziggylover802/IMG_5263.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb199/ziggylover802/IMG_5265.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb199/ziggylover802/IMG_5269.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkLCOmfFTj8

Answer 1

In the first pic you are hunching your shoulders. Look up, not at the ground . close your fingers on the reins. stop leaning forward. keep your heels down and behind the girth

Answer 2

Nice pictures....

My favorite picture is #7....she seems to be nicely collected and moving strong..but you have more contact with her mouth too. Your toes stick out a little and should be pointing straight and not winged out.  You back is a little too dippy ..seems like you might feel your lower back after riding.  And your arms could be closer to your body.

In the video..I noticed that on most of the jumps you were left behind or was it that you didn't seem to be in two point over the entire jump...something just didn't seem fluid over the entire fence.

Overall you two seem to be a real nice fit and team together!!

*******EDIT****

Another thing I just remembered..in your posting trot..you are balancing and posting from your hands feet..and not from your thigh and calves..if you had more knee contact with the saddle your feet would also be pointing straight.  Try to keep  more pressure on your big toe which will help your knee fit against the flap more. Your heels are great though!!  And remember..thumbs up..wrists vertical...no bunny paws!!

Answer 3

cute horse.

in the first pic. i noticed your heels are great, but you need to slide your foot back about an inch so the stirrup is on the ball of your foot, yours is a little too far back (not bad but if you want to be closer to perfection)

another thing i noticed is you lean forward, almost like a 2-point in the pictures.. idk if you are doing this on purpose or if its how you ride... but you need to sit more straight (unless you were coming up to a jump or w/e)

but otherwise you look great together

like The Hobbit said...

you also need to get his nose in. i was gonna say that but forgot. unless your jumping (where it doesnt matter about headset)... you should really get a nice headset and bring his nose in

but overall.. looking good

Answer 4

It mostly looks good, and he's definitely VERY hunter-y. The only thing is, stop looking at the ground, keep your head up and looking where you're going. And you could maybe use a little more contact on the reigns

Answer 5

1. Close your fingers, you could break them in a serious matter.

2. Lift up your hands,

3. Dont lean froward so much.

4. Thumbs should be on top.

5. LOOK up when your riding.

6. YOur back has too much of an arch

Answer 6

Very good riding! Especially those heels! WOW!

I only noticed three things~

1. hands need to be closed tightly and thumbs UP!

2. You may want to lean back. ESPECIALLY in the canter, wherre leaning back is not the question, it is the answer!!! :)

3. Your legs look a little back, but that may just be because you are leaning foward!

Good luck to you and Kode Red!!!

Answer 7

You look fantastic and so happy with your new horse. He has scope and ability, do you have a wonderful instructor.

For a person like you that so enjoys your riding, you should go and have lessons with the top national and international coaches.

I see you are still getting used to his bigger stride. Give you a couple of months and you'll look very tight together.

Can I just give you one tip? Do you think you could ride with your thumbs up on top - these are soft hands, and your horse looks like he is going to need very soft hands to get total trust in you. And never look down - you are too classy to do this! And when you are going over the top of your jump make sure you are looking for the next one... ....sorry that's 3.

Please consider going to the top instructors because you both have the class to warrent the best of lessons.

Thanks for sharing these photos they are lovely, your horse looks very lucky to have such a special owner. :)

Answer 8

Equitation-

Pretty good!! Your position is nice, but I'd suggest leaning back just a wee bit.  Your are leaning a bit too forward in some of the pics, so I'd try and not lean so much. Your legs are great, heels down and legs back, which is awesome. Bend your elbows just a wee bit more, but they are pretty good. I'd like to see your hands off of your horse's neck some more. I feel that they are a bit low, so I'd raise 'em up a bit. Close your fingers a bit more. Also, in some of the pics you are looking down, so just be sure to always and forever be looking up or ahead of where you are going!!

Hunter-

Your horse is gorgeous. I'm guessing he's green, so he's not going to have super awesome head set right away. I suggest working on his head set more, and bump his nose down. You want his neck to be arced alot more, but he may be green, and I know how difficult headset is with green horses!! I suggest working the bit in his mouth a bit, and widen your hands when he does stretch down. Just work on that. Other than his headset, he was gorgeous!!! Just a few minor things to fix, but otherwise you guys are great!! Keep up the good work :]

Answer 9

Nice horse, the only thing I can see is that you have your fingers open and your reins to long. And at some points in the video you keep looking down. But you guys look perfect for each other. Good luck with him, and I love his show name.

Answer 10

You look like your leaning forward a lot. Also (as other people mentioned you don't have your thumbs up.Practice on keeping your shoulders back and looking up.

Answer 11

close your fingers  tighter reins ! hold your hands higher it looks like you aren't even controlling his front end  which makes him look more sloppy

Answer 12

close your fingers more!! and hold your hands higher and stiller- in the video i ca see they are moving around  lot which isnt good for the horses mouth.

Answer 13

i wont go into other things since other answers pretty much covered it..

but you will not win in a hunter/eq ring if you have a pelham and all your competition have D ring snaffles, its just not going to happen.  A hunter should ride in a snaffle ALWAYS, with no excuses, so even though pelhams are allowed they aren't desired.

BUT if you STILL wan to use the pelham you MUST ride with two reins.  You cannot enter a show with a pelham and the rein converter things, so if you want to use the pelham best get used to riding with two reins.

Answer 14

you really need to keep your thumbs turned up with your fingers closed. you should also work on keeping your shoulders back. there really is no reason that you have to use that bit. as a hunter, you will need good control of your horse, but with a bit like that, your horse might stop listening to you. i think he would make a good hunter if you change the bit and work on your equetation. : )

EDIT: as the first person said, you should probably lengthen your stirrup leathers.

Answer 15

#1: you need to get your horse working on the bit, he shouldnt be trotting around with his head out in the air. He should have a bend in his neck and a slight turn to the inside. Your horse should be bending around your leg. He needs to be using his body properly, flexing down, using his hind and neck muscles. Work him on a circle to work on bend and flexing. Although his nose should not be to his chest, thats a no no. Plus it looks a lot more attractive than a horse running around with his nose up in the air, you will actually be riding than looking like your just a passenger

#2: Open your knee, lift your knee off the saddle and turn your feet out with your ankles down, this stabilizes you and gives you increased balance. In some pictures it looks like you have your knees resting against the flap, your lower leg should be, not your knees. You need to have them open enough for someone to stick a hot dog in between your knee and saddle. weird i know but its a good analogy.

#3: Close your fingers and lift your hands. Your hands should NEVER rest on your horse, they are way too low, you should be able to grab your saddle pad or touch it. And close your fingers!! your reins will slip out of your hands if you dont, and thats a no no in hunters. But you do have a nice relaxed hand it looks like.

#4: Its fine if you have a connector strap on your bridle but thats mostly used for jumpers and eventers because we arent judged on the judges desires, in those disciplines judges dont care if ou have the connector strap alot of people use it, it donest mean you have a double bridle, its just when your horse requires that bit you use a connector strap instead of buying a new double bridle and riding with 2 reins. Its like riding with a double bridle when you dont want 2 reins. Alot of people use them (especially eventers), but you arent an eventer or jumper, soooo i would recommend changing bits to something else alittle simpler for hunters unless you change disciplines then you're fine with a connector.

#5: In your video in some shots it looks like your were posting a little too high out of the saddle, and maybe sitting a little rough. But that couldve have just been the shot, or your horse has a bit of a rough trot. JUst try to rise a little less and sit down a ittle more quieter. =] dont forget to look up!!!! you look down alot, you should be able to feel your horses diagonals and what not and not looking down at a jump, thats a no no, one day your horse will feel you looking down and refuse on you. You also look VERY stiff like you were placed in that position, there is no relaxation there. You look very tense. Maybe drop your leathers a bit, stop pinching with your knees, sit up a bit, pull your shoulders back a bit, and RELAAAAAAXXXXX.

#6: You do have a nice seat though, you look like a classic foxhunter ready to be on the fields all day. Which is how hunter classes derived and alot of judges desire that style. But like i said above, you need to relax a bit, dont look like you're just propped up there. Maybe some balance work would help ya (lose your stirrups for awhile).

Not too shabby tho, just a bit to work on.

Answer 16

Oooo That's a pretty horse you've got there. He he...

I'll try to answer this with the best of my judgment, but please keep in mind that I'm no expert and don't ride much English myself.

The main thing I noticed was that you sit very forward and looks like on your crotch instead of on your butt. I also noticed that you were leaning forward a bit much... It seems like when you're posting you start to lean even farther forward. I think if you picked your head up and looked forward at the horizon instead of focusing on your horse your body would follow and you'd be seated more on your bum and strait.

Generally, your legs should look like they are 'draped' around your horses body, and it looks like you're gripping so much with your knees that your lower legs and toes are tipping outward. Your back is hollowed out, and if you notice so is your horse's. Coincidence?? Not usually.

I think you're doing well, just keep it up. Take everything people tell you on here with a grain of salt.

Answer 17

He's nice, you look quite small on him right now though.  To me, much of these photos appear as though you are posing, not riding.  I see a lot of bracing and stiffness and sitting on, as opposed to working with, your horse.

Your back is very hollow and you are pinching with your knees, in an attempt (I expect) to keep your heel down and deep.  See how your legs aren't around your horse, but are rather sticking out?  That is a giveaway that you're pinching.  Also your hands are tilted downwards - that's a bad habit, so make an effort to cure yourself of it.  You're also leaning forward and looking down a lot.  The worst thing I see, though, is your hollow, stiff back.  Work on it and your legs will improve.

Answer 18

cute horse. what breed is he? he almost looks gaited. haha.

anyways, on to your eq. (get ready for me to be picky!)

first of all, close your fingers! they shouldn't be so loose on the reins. judges hate that. if you need an exercise to fix that, ride with a small rock in each hand and don't drop it. (: you can also raise your hand a bit and bring them together. they're below your half-pad and it looks sloppy. Your hands shouldn't rest on the horse in any way. they should be completely independent of his neck.

also, your leg looks a bit out in front of you. lengthening your stirrup could help this. to figure out where your leg should be, you can take your feet out of your irons, move your leg as far back as you can, then let it fall down naturally.

and this is REALLY picky, but I can't stand it when people use double-reined bridles and use one of those things that connects it so its only one rein. if you can't handle two reins, you shouldn't be using that powerful a bridle. the two reins are there for a reason. only using one defeats the entire purpose.

Answer 19

You both look like you've got alot of potential.

You first:  your hands are the first thing I need to point out, besides what another person said.  Your hands are flat.  Thumbs up!  You've got a nice back, but it looks like you lean in on the turns, and in the short piece at the beginning of the video, your hands are all over the place.  They need to work independent of your body.  This comes with better balance on your new horse and a stronger leg.  

Your horse:  well, he needs some training from someone more experienced than you.  Not sure why he's wearing this bit.  I absolutely hate them and have always trained my childrens/adult horses out of them and back into a snaffle.  He needs to move forward and reach for the bit.  Right now his back's inverted, his neck and head are too high for a hunter, and he's not pushing with his hind legs but rather pulling himself along with his front legs.  You're too short on him yet to be able to get your leg around him well enough to get him moving forward properly which is why I say someone else needs to work on his training as well.

You both look like you'll do well, once you've gotten used to each other and have more training.