Agreed. Unless you’re jumping something huge, the “release” is just following the horse’s neck down as they make their (marginal) effort. It’s not about moving your hands up the neck at the last minute, assuming your reins are the correct length.
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Here, look at the distance between the rider’s hands and the breastcollar. Overall it doesn’t change.
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If you are a visual learner I really recommend “Form Over Fences” by Jane Marshall Dillon. This marvelous and useful book is not longer in print but it is available on Amazon Books, with their cheapest copy around $10.00 US.
Jane Marshall Dillon taught her young riders with the goal that when they were good enough after the process of grabbing the mane, then resting the hands on the sides of the horse’s neck, to becoming good enough to do a full automatic release (she does not call it the automatic release, it is keeping a LIGHT contact with the horse’s mouth over the jump.) She expected all of her advanced riders to be able to do the automatic release, and every one of her steps in learning to jump a horse had this eventual goal in mind.
This book has over 100 pages of pictures of her students jumping, from the beginning to advanced, with good examples, sort of good examples, minor errors to really awful jumping with paragraphs critiquing each picture.
Since Jane Marshall Dillon taught a rather pure Forward Seat (ala Vladimir Littauer) do not expect to find dressage methods in this book, just good jumping at the right time with the rider acting just enough to allow the horse to jump using his body without being afraid of the rider’s hands.
As far as I know this is the ONLY book to have this type of indepth discussions of the horse and rider going over a jump that also has the pictures showing the perfect, good, barely good and awful rides over jumps.
I no longer jump, but I gave a copy to my riding teacher telling her if my MS ever allowed me to jump again that this book showed exactly how I wanted to jump a horse.
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Thanks! Is this the auto release?
For a dressage rider doing some jumping, it could be interesting for you to look at some German riders. In Germany, dressage and jumping go hand in hand, sometimes a jumping round looks like dressage with jumps 
It’s definitely a different feel, but these riders also are super light in their hand over the fences.
Here a random example of green horse class:
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Absolutely this!! Auto release?! Ignore that. Something to work up to. Same as what CBoylen said, your jumps are small enough so you can practice. No need to move.
And OP I used to do the same. It’s fixable. When I got comfortable with the auto release (much later and jumper much higher) that is all I’d use unless I had to grab mane! Now I just grab mane!
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No, it’s a crest release, but without extraneous movement. They’re basically pressing their hands into the crest of the horse’s neck smoothly as the horse leaves the ground at the jump, without making a big change in their body position in the air. In other words, letting the horse jump up to them.
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If you are thinking release and trying to manufacture one over small fences, you are terminally overthinking.
Stop thinking of a release as a separate movement and let the horse fold you as it goes over…of course, with small fences, theres really no jump to do that so just hold your position from 3 strides out and keep your hand still while the horse takes care of the rest. Sounds easy but we all tend to want to do something even when its not only unneeded but interferes with the horse. Its hard to change thinking on that. Some trainers don’t teach it well either, or just don’t know.
Ask your trainer about the neck strap mentioned upthread or grabbing mane and holding that until after landing.
We see the release but it comes from a strong position in the tack, not from moving hands, arms or shoulders.
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So reading this thread reminding me that when I was taking jumping lessons, I was trying to “carry my hands” (maybe that’s considered an automatic release?) Way before I was ready. It was really hard for me to think about doing a crest release. I could get away with it if I was on a certain horse, had the perfect distance and was doing something very tiny. But any variables and it was not good when I started to get nervous. Grabbing mane really helped me and I could see it being the gateway to a crest release.
Jumping is hard! You all make it look easier than it is! Kudos to you all.
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“Terminally overthinking”. Thank you for this phrase 
. I can apply it to so many things in my life and will mention it to my trainer lol.
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In this video, I am not seeing a good release - rather, it’s riding the horse from behind into the hand over the fence. A good release would allow more reach with the head and neck over the fence. It’s not punishing the horse, but it’s not allowing (as a good release does), either.
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Rider in video is likely very much stronger in the tack then OP or anybody else still trying to understand releases. She doesn’t need to do anything, just lets her body respond to what the horse is doing over these relatively low fences.
We tend to ride in a lighter seat over here, even Jumpers. Using full seat only as needed, not every stride around the course. Comparing apples to oranges as far as explaining or teaching releases.
Watch MW videos instead.
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Beginning to jump, but not ride. Someone who has ridden dressage should have an excellent sense of independent hand and leg. If you’re beginning to jump, it’s likely cavelleti size fences which are incredibly simple to do an automatic release over. 
I’m not her trainer, so I agree she should clarify and ask for clear examples from them. It’s not absurd to do this with someone who already has a solid foundation for jumping.
IMO the automatic release is simple an extension of the elbow following the mouth and therefore requires less thought than an entirely different motion of a Crest release. More balance, yes, but over presumably tiny jumps, it’s probably not a bad thing to learn early on.
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This is my read too. Crest releases are kinda crutches on the road to auto release that then morphed into stylistic elements in some hunter circles.
I also think someone with a dressage background could pop over 18” jumps and just keep their hands following and straight, after a couple of sessions grabbing mane/strap to get the balance/feel of the jump. This kind of rider, I would have on a bounce line so she could basically just balance and flow without worrying too much about steering.
I’m curious what her trainer’s orientation/background is.
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At a very lowly level, it isn’t necessary to release but rather just bend at the hips as you feel the horse lift. Concentrate on timing that and it will improve your feel,
and balance and is a good preparation for when the jumps get a little larger - and a following hand becomes necessary. Don’t forget to shorten your stirrups to help your balance. Personally, I have six/seven holes difference between dressage and jumping.
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MW? When I searched MW jumping I get some kind of video game 
Flame suit on, but the automatic release is both overrated and frankly just not the holy grail people on this forum like to act like it is, nor is it anywhere near appropriate for someone at OP’s experience level to be thinking about. She should be thinking about keeping her weight in her heels, keeping her hips over her legs, and keeping her hands where they are (the neck strap suggestion upthread was a great one).
Let the horse jump up to you, OP, don’t feel like you have to make a big move with your body or with your hands. Ask your trainer, and if you can, get some videos of yourself jumping in a lesson and review that with your trainer - sometimes it can be easier to understand what they’re saying when you experience it (and have that feedback on video) and then go through it with them in review afterward so they can say “see how your pinkies were tickling Dobbin’s ears? When I say I want them to stay where they are, look at the position they have 2 strides out from the jump - that’s what I mean and where I want them to stay.”
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Again, watch her hands in relation to a piece of tack. With your reins at a good short length, they will not move from their position on the neck. The movement you feel in your arms/back/hips is simply the horse moving under you. There is no need to throw your hands forward (barring an OH $%^& moment where you want Jesus to take the wheel, in which case I recommend slipping the reins instead and putting yourself firmly in the “backseat” with your feet on the dash).
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Some great tips here (like using a neck strap for a few rides), and I love watching the videos!
It sounds like OP has been making a separate movement with her arms and hands as a release. I imagine she’s pushing her hands up her horse’s neck, toward the ears.
If you’re already approaching these small jumps in a correct two-point, with the reins an appropriate length and your hands in front of your body, resting on the crest of the horse’s neck, then you merely need to maintain that position and yes, the horse will “jump up to you.”
It’s the holding still, keeping your position and allowing the horse to jump that can sometimes be a challenge.
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McLain Ward.
