What are some riding exercises to help with my jumping fold?

Question

My timing is off and i keep getting left behind so on landing i land on my horses back. I only have 3 weeks to fix this because my C-3 is coming up. I need exersices to help me fold at the hips better and improve my timing.

Answer 1

I would do more work concentrating on your two-point position....walking, trotting, cantering...over cavalettis.  

Work on improving and building up strength in your core/abdominal muscles. Also, remember to give your horse his head when going over fences and balance with your torso and legs and not your hands.  Grab onto a piece of mane or use a martingale or neck strap if allowed.  Move in rythym with your horse.  Your arms and his neck should be extended at the same time..

I would also suggest a coach or ground person to work with while training over fences..because you need to practice while jumping in order to work on the problem too!!

Hope this helps...and Good Luck!!

Answer 2

1 stride before the jump, plant your forearms on your horses neck and this should place your body in the correct position without makeing you so left behind. Also, try not to stare down at the jump, look at the great view in front of you, those help me. While your at it, sink your heals down and dont let them go too far forward or backwards. Once you start to get the hang of it, you can gradually do this just over the jump, not one stride before the jump.

Hope this helps!! Good Luck!

Answer 3

um well i used to be out of time with my horse until my riding instructor at pc told me to 1. count out 4 strides before the jump then you shall know that on the 4th u bend 2. to go over the jump with your eyes closed to get the rythem of the horse and you will know how to go with the horse and 3. just bend at the waist, dnt actually rise out of the seat, this sometimes throws the horses weight to become un-eaven.

hope this helps you, it certainly did for me

(try jumping little first if your gonna do step 2)

Answer 4

some things to try when jumping is to count the number of strides left before the jump. this way you know exaclty when your horse is going to gather him or herself up before the jump. also, another idea when jumping but probably shouldn't be tried unless your trainer says ok, would be to get in your two-point and close your eyes a stride out from the fence so you can't land on your horses back.

you might also want to try jumping without stirrups. this forces you to sit in the saddle deeply, and when the jump comes you will natrually fold with your horse, rather than trying to anticipate when your horse jumps.

101 jumping exercies for horse and rider is a good book that might help you with your timing problem. here is a link to the amazon page:

http://www.amazon.com/101-Jumping-Exerci...

hope i helped :)

Answer 5

Trotting in two point is a great exercise to strengthen your position. Also do some work without stirrups. I did my C-3 (im assuming your talking about Pony Club) last spring..it's a national rating so the examiners are tough. Your going to really have to work hard to get the "independent seat" that their looking for. Working without stirrups will help.

But at least your not jumping ahead, that's worse. Perhaps your getting left behind because your horse jumps "hard"? If so, try grabbing some mane. You might want to check your stirrup length too. Just relax and stay with your horse, LET his jump fold your body.

Answer 6

Timing is something that you pick up with experience; you get an "eye" for it.  A good practice for this is trotting poles, or cavalettis.  Have your trainer set them so many strides apart for the trot or canter, and just learn to count.  Figure out what it looks like when your horse is 3 strides out from a pole or jump while youre riding.  If the poles are set 5 canter strides apart, count out loud "one, two" and then "three, two, one, jump". You just need to start visuallizing where you are in relation to the fences.  Get to the point where you know when there are 3 strides left before a fence, and just count to yourself, every time if you have to.  Also, strengthen your jumping position, even have your trainer set up some smaller fences to jump w/o stirrups (but not too much as you'll end up tired and landing on your horses back again).  But practice your 2-point in general, changing gaits and not sitting, it will help you learn to better stay with your horses movements as well as strengthen you.  And as far as your hip fold, loosen your hips some and allow the horse to jump up into you and carry you over the fence, don't slam down on him, get a better feel for his jump and just relax a little, while still keeping good form with your eyes up and heels down and back flat.  You'll do fine, good luck!

Answer 7

One of the best excersizes to do is try practising your position on a pole. Just try to balance yourself in the jumping position whilest standing on a pole on the floor and it really helps with the folding and builds balance and strength in the position.

Another good thing to do is, as the others previously have said, start counting the strides that the horse takes into a fence so that you know exactly when to fold forwards with the horse. you could also hold onto a neck strap to keep your hands in the correct position and to help you keep balanced.

A bounce is also a good excerisize to help you get into the jumping position in time, as the horse doesn't take a stride between fences so its literally jump, jump, jump and its much easier to get into the position.

hope it hleps