Do you look to your next jump BEFORE you land your current jump?

[beau159]

Maybe this is a newbie/beginner question, but I truly have no idea being new to the English world myself.

I was watching this video and of course, many of the jumps involve a very tight quick turn to the next one. I noticed that many of the riders at looking to their next jump, while they are in the air and in the middle of their current jump.

I’m assuming these are top riders and so I assume this is the way to do it?

Most of where my question stems from is I see the rider’s body being twisted while the horse is landing on the ground and I wonder how effective that is? To give an example, specifically at 6:13 into the video (when they do a slow motion replay), the rider’s upper body is twisting to the right. Does that throw the horse off balance? side note, I don’t have audio for the video so I don’t know what the announcers are saying

This video looks like a ton of fun and quite literally reminds me of barrel racing. :yes: There are some pretty wicked turns and quick feet in these jumping horses, all while being timed. I know that during my barrel racing runs, I do not look to my next barrel until I have almost finished the current barrel I am on. You don’t want to look to the next barrel too soon.

So curious about when is the opportune time to look to your next jump?

[OveroHunter]

I rode jumpers in high school and I was taught to be looking for my next jump while in air over the current jump…

Then I switched to hunters and my college trainer worked for a longgggggggggg time with me to break this habit. I’d be on my second jump out of the line and looking for my next jump when what I really needed to be concentrating on was riding straight to the corner and possibly getting a change.

So long story short, I think it depends on which class you entered.

[SillyHorse]

In keeping with what OveroHunter said, you want to identify and look at you next element. If it’s the corner, that’s where you look; if it’s a fence, that’s where you look. And yes, in the air.

[RugBug]

It really depends on what type of course you are doing,…and where you are in that course. If you have a big turn across the short side of a ring before your next jump, you don’t need to look in the air over the current one. IF you are doing an inside turn/rollback, you do need to look, even if the class is a hunter (handy, usually) class. The degree and timing of when to look is really dictated by the course.

FWIW: the average hunter class really doesn’t require looking while going over the current jump. You should usually look straight ahead and complete your line and the beginning of your corner. No need to look until halfway through the corner for most cases.

[mroades]

It depends…

[Alterrain]

That was a high $$$ jump off with a lot in it, at a major International venue. So yeah, they’re looking ahead at the next jump. Late eyes can cost you a split second, which in a situation like this could be the difference between 1st and 2nd. (or, between 9th and no check)

As a side note, anyone read the comments? They are HILARIOUS

[AmmyByNature]

In the jumpers, yes - usually. Sometimes even earlier than that if necessary. Once I’ve “locked on” to the fence in front of me I may start looking even before we’re in the air.

Does this photo work? I’ve always been proud of my eyes in this photo. (Yes, it’s 16 years old…)

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/426585_10101059856426107_383795715_n.jpg?oh=b1cedda2500d5f736acaa7143aa4a27c&oe=57379ACB

In the hunters most of the time you’ll look to your corner, then to the fence out of the corner, then to your next corner.

But it all depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. I had a hunter with a sticky change one direction and it helped him land properly if I looked to the inside over the last fence in a line. Just that tiny bit of balance shift was usually enough for him to land it.

[yellowbritches]

I ride mostly in the jumpers now (I like to pop into an adult eq class when I can). I definitely look for my next jump if we need to make a tight, efficient turn. I have to be careful with MY horse, though, as he is small and sensitive, and HATES when I put too much body English into trying to make the turn happen in the air. I will look, but I won’t try to influence his feet until they are on the ground. He is very rideable, though, so I can make pretty tight turns (when I’m brave enough) as long as I’ve got it together in my end. He’s also dead honest and can ride a very accurate line (we jumped lots of skinnies and angles in our past lives as Eventers), so I have the added benefit of being able to slice across a lot of jumps that some of my competitors can’t. Lots of ways to make better turns and save time. All of the above are preferable to me than running like an idiot (a common scene at the lower levels of jumpers).