Natty I would call that a nice long crest release. No tension in the reins but you have good control. At least that is how I see it.
From Allergy Valley USA
Could someone please post pics of people using an Auto release, a crest release, a short & a long release? just so I can see them, since I don’t picture things very well
thnx
muah
kris
GoosyGurl2@hotmail.com
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I had my lesson on Awesome Elliot last night.
And I talked to my wonderful trainer about this great release thread going on here.
So I asked what am I doing right now and she told me short to medium release.
Elliot can be a bit “luggy” and down in front, so a long or crest release would probably make me a lawn dart and set Elliot onto his cute little nose!!!
Report to my fellow Greenie Brigade…we had a slight flying pole incident , and after that, he started listening more to me and doing a 6 in a 5 if I asked him too. 
And he appeared a little less luggy.
There are “Young Whippersnappers” who know a proper Auto release, and many of them are the top winning Eq riders today.
Others use the Crest in the EQ and Auto in the Jumpers, showing that they do it and know it well.
I don’t think the “Oldies but Goodies”, are saying it was BETTER then, just that everyone who showed, pretty much used an Auto release as opposed to the more basic Crest release.
Don’t worry someday you shall be Olde like us and I hope that you recieve the respect that we gave our elders when we were young whippersnappers.
Oh those “chutes”, those were fun. I wonder if any trainers do those anymore?
I would like to try again, will have to ask my trainer
Who wants Elliot if I break my neck? haha 
I learned to ride in the 70’s and early 80’s as a junior. I started with an automatic release which is evident in a snapshot of me jumping my appaloosa mare over a 4’ft vertical in our pasture–I was 9 years old and my stepdad had just built me some jump standards, with 1’ height increments (if I can find the box of photos I will try to get it up here)
Then I started to get some real riding instruction and I learned the crest release and later the rotating release (watch a GP sometime and you will see it at verticals–pull back on takeoff to get the knees up and then a big release to get the hind-end up and over).
Now I am a moment away from elder ammy status and I am learning the automatic release by necessity. I have a 4 year old who only jumps if you hold onto his face–ski on it, he likes it. If you soften at the base, he will stop, which means no grabbing mane just in case when approaching scary things you know he is going to overjump by 3 feet. So I have been trying to get the hang of the auto release and it’s fun. What I am finding is hard is that I don’t have the back/stomach muscles that I need to hold my body up to do it perfectly. I guess I will have to start hitting the gym… 
By the way, great picts Dublin and Bumpkin! And thanks Kachoo and Just_Me for the research!
I agree regarding choosing the correct release. There are occasional times when an automatic/following hand release is appropriate for my horse but very rarely (I’ll get back to that). 99+% of the time she jumps best if I can drop the contact and float the reins to her a stride or 2 in front of the jump and never touch her mouth until she lands.
Unless a horse needs contact in the air (can’t figure out quite why - remember, you can’t lift your horse off the ground) my training and understanding on why to use the automatic release is to have the contact right there waiting for you when you land. So, if your horse is being a baddy and running off (that -1% [now 
] time with the pink horse) or you’re in a tough combination on a cross country course, a jump off, on rutty, uneven ground hunting, etc, I’m not sure what the advantage is of using it. There aren’t many places on hunter courses except maybe before the trot jump on a handy hunter course. (Bring the handy hunters into the AA’s!!!)
It seems to me it should be seen in big eq classes because those riders should show that they have the ability to do it when appropriate. Perhaps the course should be such (and, I believe they sometimes are) that in order to get from one fence to another, at least one place on course, an automatic release would be needed/appropriate to show a true advanced level of riding and thinking.
I am paraphrasing, but I do not believe I am misquoting, Nick Karazissis from Equine Affaire, where he “judged” a simulated eq. o/fences class:
The crest release was designed to help more riders learn to jump without catching their horse in the mouth over the top of a jump. To be done correctly, the rider presses into the neck of the horse over the fence. This method helped get more riders into the show ring faster. But it has been way over done and is not correct for equitation, especially the more advanced medals.
“You just keep thinkin’, Butch. That’s what you’re good at.” – The Sundance Kid
AHHHH!!!
-Amanda
Sandy, just what do you suggest we do when the ENTIRE CLASS is using a crest release? I’d LOVE to reward a well done following hand, but I haven’t seen one in ten years.
Bumpkin, I saw this thread again and thought, ‘I bet [B]Bump[/B]kin has been at it again.’
Just because you’re not paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.
I think the auto release is a more advanced move…Not that I think it should be beyond the abilities of big eq riders. It would be a lovely thing for a rider to gallop to the single oxer and demonstrate an accurate following hand.
My guess is it is a moot point because eq coaches like their riders sitting up too soon and using releases that are too short. A following hand generally results in a rider closer to their horses neck. How in the world can you sit up straight over the top of an oxer if you use a following hand? Not to mention that the poor horse would probably be completely flummoxed by actually having his head.
I’m not sure exactly what you mean by “short auto release.” But do understand this, there ARE degrees of an auto release. It’s quite possible to have your hands below the creast but not yet at the point of creating a straight line from bit to hand. It is often seen in eventing where you need the connection of the auto release, but because of a bunch of reasons, none being rider instability, the available security of the crest is wisely not left to far behind.
As an eventer it’s quite possible and likely that on a course of 20 jumps I’ll not have the same release over 2 of them (especially at the higher levels.) It is specifically a statement to the variety of jumps on a XC course. In the hunter ring there is NO variety–that’s why the same crest release works at every jump. Is the same perhaps true to some degree in the equitation ring?
What I’m deducing from this thread is that the auto release has died because equitation courses are no longer designed to ask that question. (Whatever happened to outside courses?)
To push the point one step further. As are rear ends are repeatedly being whipped in international competition does the lose of the automatic release have any bearing on that? I suspect yes. Our equitation ranks do not prepare our young ridders with a most important skill used by the best riders the world over in the upper echelan of Grand Prix Jumping. Just where is this skill supposed to be learned? Any comments? sbk
In your judging, I’m wondering what percentage of the the advanced eq riders that you see use an auto release? (I would hope that it would be a high percentage, but somehow I doubt it…)
Chanda, go for it! Can’t wait to see what happens.
Those girls are downright awesome, aren’t they? For those who don’t know them, they perform close order drill at a canter in the same lack of tack - over 2’6" fences… We videoed them at Belmont 10 years ago - what a treat to watch them! What an inspiration. What a ego deflater…
I somewhat feel the need to stick up for the crest release and feel the automatic release is not the end all to be all in every situation.
When I was a kid, I was taught the mechanics of the auto release but not the basics that were required to do it correctly. In fact, I had no idea I was supposed to be able to ride without stirrups until I lost one approaching a jump and had to pull up. my trainer then informed me I should be able to do it without, but I had never worked without stirrups. Now, none of this has anything to do with auto over crest, but when I was a kid, everyone did the auto because there were no options, not because they were capable of keeping a delicate amount of tension on a horse’s mouth while jumping.
Aren’t we getting into a can’t see the forest for the trees situation here? A crest release is certainly not required to win in the big eqs. You may see it pin but how did the rider solve the problems asked by the course designer? That is what pins-the total effort not the choice of release. You may in fact see nothing but crest releases in some classes but I see autos on the top riders here at the really big shows. Dependence on the neck for support occurs in the weaker rider. Are most of these kids weak. Think so. They do not have ponies in their backyard as tykes, never just play around bareback and do not have access to multiple rides 6 days a week nor acres of open fields with natural obstacles. They are mostly 3 day a week riders on made horses stepping up from made ponies. Maybe the trainers are a little lazy for not pushing them to work harder but trainers are business people too and must work with what they have.
From Allergy Valley USA
You are correct Margaret!!
Andrew Ramsey has shown a beautiful one in the Devon result issue of COTH this year, of course it is the only one I have seen in the Eq in COTH in forever!!!
I also noted that some of the riders in Show Circuit like Jamie Taylor from California does not “lay over the neck”. But she also shows jumpers, and rides many different and difficult horses.
is really Nancy Baroody, on Pride N’Joy. This picture was in the Chronicle (or a similar one!) about a lifetime ago…like 1972. I loved it then (I was in jr high) and cut it out as a reminder of great form.
I understand it is a typo in the book that this is shown to be Polaris Make Believe. This is real trivia for the dedicated BBers!
Back to the subject…
You do not see this release at shows. Dublin is right, look through the COTH Horse SHow edition, I don’t think you will find one.
I bought the videos of the Ronnie Mutch Eq Classic from Florida. These are the best riders in the big eq today. Most riders did not release their horses over the jumps - as described, the horses get to the humps and pull their heads in (I think this is called “scotching”). The crest release might have been designed for lower-level riders to “save” their horses mouths, but as some else wrote, it is not working that way.
It was really something to contrast this group and the “Masters” (yup, bought that video too). George Morris, McLain Ward, Debbie Stevens, Todd Minikus, and some others rode in this special event. Needless to say, there was a big difference in the form from the Masters to the Ronnie Mutch group.
The course for the Ronnie Mutch class was very challenging and the riders should have been using an auto release for control, just like in jumpers. The crest release is nice on hunters, where the courses are simple and you are really trying to maintain pace and flow. This doesn’t work on the big eq courses, and the riders are keeping too much contact while trying to maintain the crest release position. This is the recipe for bonking the horse’s mouth.
It will be up to judges to make this situation change. Maggie Jayne, Charlie Jayne, Andrew Ramsey, and the other junior riders know how to use the auto release - you see them do it in the jumper ring.
It will be up to judges to make this situation change. Maggie Jayne, Charlie Jayne, Andrew Ramsey, and the other great junior riders know how to use the auto release - you see them do it in the jumper ring.
I honestly felt so relaxed and with the horse at all times…No jerkiness after the jumps…I just sat up nice and easy for the next jump…It felt so good!! I WAS THE ONLY ONE WITH RUST BREECHES!!! But that’s ok…I felt a little strange…but I didn’t care!! I felt great!!
Barb
I WISH I TOOK PICTURES!! You guys would have died and thought you went back to the 70’s…The rust breeches were the only breeches she had that fit!!! So that was my only choice!! The judge obviously didn’t mind…that was my patriotic thing…they are kind of RED, my jacket is BLUE and my shirt was WHITE!!! YAY!
