My Top Tips: Part 3

Please enjoy tips 21-30. I'm a big fan of number 23!

21. Good technique isn’t just about what the horse does over the jump.

22. When jumping a combination, don’t ride into it with too much pace because your horse will learn to jump flat and run on the landing. Give him time to adjust his weight onto his hocks.

23. Canter, rhythm, line. Get it right every time.

24. The better the approach the better the chance of the horse jumping clear.

25. Ask your horse to develop and improve. Don’t be frightened to test your horse.

26. When you land, ride straight on and stop. Your horse should not turn left or right until you tell him to. By doing this in your schooling sessions, you will find that your horse will learn not to lean on you after landing because he knows he is going straight on and then stopping. As a result he will begin to soften automatically on the landing.

27. As the height of the spread at the end of the grid goes up, don’t ride it any differently. Teach your horse to think for himself and to work out what he has to do.

28. Use a grid to improve your technique – your horse will learn that he can’t rely on power and forward momentum to succeed but has to use his power to generate an upward force. Helping him learn that technique will score dividends for you in the show ring.

29. Change the rein regularly or you will develop a one sided horse!

30. Make sure you don’t sit up and sit down into the saddle too hard.

Tim Stockdale

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Comment by sarah jayne williams on December 9, 2009 at 1:24am: I see so many people especially youngsters looking down aas they go over the jump and looking back over their shoulders before they even have landed. I was always taught that looking down unbalances the horse and your head looking down to the side puts the equivalent of ten stone of unbalance on him. When looking back before the poor horse has even landed surely isnt good for the whole thing the horses balance and the landing etc. I see more jumps knocked over and horses landing badly from people doing this what do you think. Some of the girls I have taught have even said they have seen the show jumpers doing it so they thought it was right .
I was always taught to be balanced look straight forward and if you needed the horse to turn immediatley or change the landing leg to look at the next jump not the floor or the jump.
Could you explain this on one of your blogs, maybe the girls will believe me coming from a pro.
You are all the girls on my yards idol by the way, we think you are amazing!