I am loving the responses on this thread. I think you’ve got to feel out what kind of rider you are. For me, counting is too distracting and artificial, but for others, is a useful, calming technique. Are you better with telling yourself “don’t do this” around the turn, or, rather, “do this”! For instance, for many, if we are not actively pulling, we are holding to the jump. “Don’t pull/hold” doesn’t work for me. Instead, I [try to] say, ride to the jump, hands forward, leg on, and that really helps a lot. I am not sure how it would be possible to see jumps more than 7 or so strides away, no matter who you are, unless you have a bionic eye. I find if I look too early and see something, for me that’s like 4/5 strides away, it is usually the wrong one. Death flyer, generally. If you’ve got a good ammy, saintly horse, better to ride down there and about 3-4 strides out go with what you see, or if that is nothing, let him be guided by jesus, indeed. Grabbing a little mane about 4-5 strides out also helps keep me from holding on to the reins, allowing the poor guy to canter forward.
Definitely possible! I can pretty consistently count 8, and I don’t consider myself “bionic” 
You can see a distance 8 strides out, or estimate that the jump is about that far away? Just trying to understand, thanks! I just can’t even imagine doing that, unless if was on a small pony, lol. There is a course designer in our area that sets these bending 8 lines in the hunters, and I just keep thinking how long that distance is. I can intuit that it is about 7-9 strides, but can’t see the distance from the first part of the line to the second.
I think if you get a sense of how big your horse canters at a given speed, and you know the jumps are set at related distances, you should be able to feel when you’re in the right rhythm. Eventually.
My experience is that for us ammies we are almost always going too slow or too short, and more likely to be fiddling and choking the horse back on approach. I recall from long ago jumping lessons that when coach said “now that’s a canter you can do something with,” I felt like horse was going way too fast :).
I see seven steps out, and can adjust to move up or wait, if need be. Cantering single counting backwards to the pole (6,5,4…,.) helps develop the eye as does adjusting strides in a line w two poles.
Meaning, I aim to start counting when I think I’m 8 strides out and I can pretty consistently start counting in the correct spot, 8 strides before takeoff.
Yup! I actually prefer to do that exercise counting up though, because sometimes I think counting backwards makes the rider ride to take off at 1 by either adding or moving up. I want the exercise to teach the rider to see 8, not adjust to get 8, if that makes sense…
It does make sense. It’s how I learned a million years ago. I feel counting up allows one to fudge:grinning:. We were taught to change the count if we were wrong as is…6,5,2,1 over…if that comes out so it makes sense. It was really hard for me as mentally I had to make that change in the numbers.
I do both 
but I also do eq
thank you!
I don’t think that’s what’s being said at all.
To me, the responses to the OP have been mostly along the lines of developing a quality canter that will both increase the chances of your horse naturally finding the jump, and allow the horse to smoothly navigate a distance that turns out to be slightly long or short.
That advice has been given in opposition of the rider attempting to hold or kick to “find” some distance that will, most of the time, naturally work itself out with a steady, quality canter (which isn’t to say that a correction is never needed, but that you should not be pulling and pulling on your long approach to that oxer on the diagonal waiting for your eye to kick in).
I think my trainers would like to clone any ammy or other riders here that can see a distance 8 strides out, just sayin’.
There are so many “right” distances, and so many distances that you can see when riding to a fence. If the horse isn’t moving forward (with impulsion, so pushing from his hind end, not pulling from his front), you’re going to have fewer options.
So - you want a flowing, forward rhythmical pace (not that you have to change every stride). Count the strides if it helps, but don’t count for a specific number - the counting itself will tell you if you have the regular pace that will allow you to see the distance as it comes up. Ideally, your eyes are up, looking past the fence to where you’re going next.
If the horse is moving forward from your leg, you’ll be able to see the distance from at least 2 strides out (more when you get better at it), and make small adjustments if necessary. But the key is to have the horse in front of your leg, moving forward.
This is probably a dumb question, but what exactly does “see a distance” mean? I realize it’s about the jump takeoff point but it also seems more specific than that. I’ve also never heard it in a lesson so that’s making it harder for me to figure out.
@halla Each jump depending on height and width has an optimal take off point. The best riders can almost always help their horse get to that optimal take off point while maintaining a balanced active canter in a regular rhythm. They can see the measure of the horses stride covering the ground and know exactly how many strides of a certain length it will take to reach that optimal take off point, or distance. There are many exercises one can do to develop an eye for “seeing a distance”, and having a good canter in a rhythm with impulsion is also imperative to this. The exercises mentioned earlier in this thread are all to help a rider develop their eye to see a distance. Certain horses also will learn to see their own distance, and often if you keep a rhythmic active canter will do much of the work for the rider to get to the optimal take off point for themselves. Seeing a distance from a few strides away is helpful because then the rider can make subtle adjustments in the stride length to reach the optimal take off point without changing the rhythm or making a big move up or back. When the horse and rider combination fails in all of the above they might arrive to the jump on the half stride and either chip or try for a leaper and that can lead to not only a disruption of a smooth round but also could cause a rail down or a wreck.
Can we talk a little more about getting – and more importantly – maintaining a good, quality canter? This, and impulsion in general, is what I struggle with.
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Lose your fear. That’s the biggest thing for most of us.
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Get the horse forward whatever it takes. Gallop on trails if you can. Then get the horse balanced at the canter which can mean poles, lateral work, lots of gymnastics at walk and trot. A balanced forward canter takes strength.
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You can practice adjusting the stride between ground poles, say try 3 4 and 5 strides. This effectively means moving between a collected and a lengthened canter.
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You can’t get a good canter if the horse is sucked back, falling on the forehand, or rushy. Or has crocked hicks or stifles.
Or if “a canter you can do something with” feels like horse is bolting and about to crash into the arena walls
I also recommend taking a look at these Practical Horseman articles that have some exercises addressing finding a good canter instead of the jump:
https://practicalhorsemanmag.com/training/never-miss-another-jumping-distance-11617/
https://practicalhorsemanmag.com/training/control-the-canter-for-better-courses/
A thousand times this.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
I love, love poles. And considering how busy I tend to get riding just over poles, clearly need more of them.
The horse I’m riding often feels behind the leg and we lose all forward momentum when I ask for anything other than just moving out – so shortening and lengthening feels frustratingly out of reach at the moment. Summer goals, right?
Then you need to work on collecting and lengthening at the walk and trot. Lower level.dressage stuff. A horse that can carry himself can collect, rock back, and maintain and impulsion when you shorten canter. He feels coiled up, ready to lengthen again. A horse that can’t carry himself and is on the forehand can only slow down and lose impulsion.
