The biggest problems I see in the over fences position of riders is folding and looking down. As soon as a rider looks down the eyes and shoulders drop and the lower leg comes back and puts the rider off balance.
Three things to remember when heading to the fence. I call it my Tall, Taller, Tallest exercise. If you have listened to my videos or when I am coaching you will remember me saying, the last 3 strides before the fence belongs to the horse. In those 3 strides I want you to say to yourself, Tall, Taller and Tallest. Now if you are thinking of that what will happen is you will start stretching up and the more you thinking of this the less you will think of folding over the jump. Envision your upper body staying in the same position as it in your rising trot. That’s the first thing.
Now the second thing is focus on a tangent point (a point of focus), it could be a a dot on the wall, a tree ahead of you whatever it is make sure it is in a position that you need to look up for and as you head to the jump STARE at it as you approach, go over and land the jump.
The third thing is to think about making your point of balance lower how you need to drop your heels and bring yourself as close to the horses’ back as you can with your seat without actually sitting on your saddle. What I do is I think about wrapping myself around the horse with my lower body as I approach the jump. Something else that works for many of my student is just thinking there is a large weight hanging off their heels so that they stay down and create a great base of support.
Now try these three things when heading to your next fence and let me know how it works for you. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.
