Need the assistance of the collective COTH memory. There is a group of young woman in my community who are outriding their guardian angels. There horses are honest and keep on trying so these girls keep jumping bigger but their horses have rather bad form, some from conformation, some form lack of training. One mare in particular points both knees at the ground over pretty much every jump. Not so scary when they do the puddle jumpers but they are starting to do cross country. I am not their mother, coach or barn owner so not really comfortable telling them they need professional help. Was hoping to find some good articles explaining what makes good jumping form good (beyond not knocking rails) and why things like pointing the knee at the ground can be dangerous, in hopes that they start to think about what they are seeing in their FB pics. They are motivated to learn but are lacking appropriate mentorship.
I wish Practical Horseman would publish all the years of Jumping Clinic from GM in a book. it would be so instructive on this and many other issues! He really does pound home the message that knee hangers are dangerous especially, and what jumping over the shoulder looks like.
Some green horses are very fixable with form. I have a mare who jumped over the shoulder at first. Sheâs improved immensely with time and training. she wonât be knees to chin but sheâs certainly safe. You might not have thought so last year when she first started out, though.
I had a TB mare, and she was âokayâ up to about 2â6", but when I tried any higher, she began to stop. I pushed on, managed to get her around Novice X-C a couple of times (we had stops, but never two at one fence). My trainer kept pushing me to sell her - âSheâs gentle and a good trail horse; you can do betterâŠâ - then finally, she showed me a picture that had been taken on cross-country with me jumping an oxer on her and her knees were pointing straight down. Up to that time, I had been concerned about her stopping, not thinking about her form. When I saw that picture, it really brought it home to me how dangerous it was. I found a good home for her (brood mare for a breeder who wanted to raise some Anglo-Arabs). I bought a 14 year old former Intermediate horse and had a great time with him through preliminary. Have they actually seen pictures of their horsesâ bad form? Would they understand what they are seeing? If so, offer to take some pics, then show them.
How often is the problem down to the rider and how often is it that the horse is simply a willing soul but doesnât have what it takes to be a ârealâ jumper?
A horse can generally get away with poddling (made up word) around a 2ft 6 course looking like a zombie in need of a serious caffeine fix but to go above that they need impulsion and energy to go higher. That requires a rider that knows how to gather a horse together and push it so it uses its rear end to go forwards and upwards
Itâs a matter of the chances of a fall being exponentially greater if the forearm hits the jump (as opposed to hoof, pastern or fetlock). The impact prevents the horse from putting its âlanding gearâ down properly at best, and causes a rotational fall at worst.
The danger is there with show jumps that fall down, and increases substantially with jumps that donât!
