as I interpret it, is letting your horse open it’s stride to achieve the correct spot. The horses that run through the distances are the ones who either need more gymnastics to teach them to wait, or more time twirling on the line. JMHO
Oh Flash, if you are using my patented Gig 'n Go, I expect to see a monthly stipend per US patent 7,098,984,928,027,484,823,729,978,923 
And to further confuse Inverness… let’s talk about a horse “making a bid” for a fence as opposed to “moving up to the fence”…
BIG difference!!!
Please do go on DMK! Larosa90, thank you for putting the issue in “human” terms. I get it now! Of course, doing it will undoubtedly prove more troublesome. How long before that patent expires DMK?? 
Good advice Kachoo. Now could you please tell me what your trainer would tell me when he notices that I am such a huge believer in that philosophy that I end up taking off at distances that make my trainer sort of sag weakly and say in a quiet voice," ok, well, you made that work. But perhaps you could really have fit another one in there," and then run for the vodka.
oooh, Inverness, I just LOVE your dumb questions… they are so… Not…
I think that could be a two part answer from my perspective… I think of a horse who sees a distance as a horse who “takes you to the jump”. To me that would be different from “moving up to the jump” - I think of that as just concentrating on keeping that steady forward pace to a fence (but that may becuase my first inclination is to hold until the last possible moment and then pull off my patented DMK Gig 'n Go - it always makes for the worst possible fence!)
And when you keep that forward pace you (I) do get this feeling of the distance just flowing into place - kind of hard to describe, but it is a way different feeling than when you crawl out of the corner and happen to find the good one…
Silly Momma - don’t take this personally
You said a horse that will take its rider past the distance needs more time on the lunge.
I disagree - If the horse is just speeding up a little but not DRAGGING the rider I don’t think lunging is always the answer (sometimes it is).
I think teaching the rider to monitor the horse’s pace is the answer. It’s what I call learning to ride.
My mare is green and will take me past the jumps if I LET her. If I followed your advice I would have to lunge her before every lesson and the result would be a horse who is so fit that I would no longer be able to keep her from lengthening.
I think sometimes people forget that lunging may make a horse less fresh today but if done consistently over time it results in a very fit horse.
More gymnastics might help - but again I can’t do gymnastics every lesson. Sometimes ya just gotta dance with the one ya brought…
Okay, this has probably been explained wonderfully fifty times by now, but I really want to post to this because this is EXACTLY what my trainer has been nagging me about for the last month, and I just don’t have time to read everyone else’s replies (I have a psych class to get to). The way I understand “moving up to a distance” is as follows:
-You ride your horse up to a fence at a powerful, balanced clip . . .
-You try to spot a somewhat forward flowing distance, instead of one that you have to pick to.
-When you see this spot, you press up to it and perhaps even just a little past it, so that your horse gets to the base of the fence . . .
-Because he’s arrived at the base of the jump, is balanced, and has lots of power, he can compress, really rock back onto his hind end, and explode off the ground like a coiled spring.
This sort of riding works well, even if your distance is long (the pressing up will close the gap and make it work). It’s hard to achieve for the first time, because the feeling is as hard to understand as it is to describe, but when you finally nail it, it all becomes crystal clear and you wonder why you haven’t been doing this the whole time. It really is a great feeling, and it produces a confident jumper that finds it way easier to clear bigger fences.
Cheers,
Susie
http://www.kachoom.com
Oh you can bet I had a bunch of pharmaceutical lawyers negotiate THAT patent, so it will be a good long time before it expires… I am willing to consider this flat fee concept that Flash proposed. Must get the numbers people to work on it…
Let’s see - we’ve covered moving up (horses idea), moving up (rider’s idea), making a bid (horse’s idea), sucking back (horse’s idea usually reinforced by rider who realizes right about then that tennis would be a lot more fun)… what else do we need to mention? Ah yes, another one of my favorites: Drifting into or out of the distance
Takers anyone?
LOL!!! Hate ut when that happens!!! On the greenies, it’s acceptable, but those darned ol’ timers that do it on purpose to unsuspecting AA’s really P me off!!!
The way I think of it - moving up to a distance is when you see a distance, but at your current pace, you will miss it so you ask for a more forward pace so that you will meet it correctly.
Now, I’m much better at, and its less difficult to, pick pick pick to the chip (ie keep shortening and holding back until you see something and then its not there and you chip).
But those are the options, shorten or lengthen to meet the spot that you see - unless your pony is perfect and get there right out of stride (oh the things to dream about!)
Well, I’m dancin’ with the same hoss my mom bought as a foal about 7 years ago. She’s great, but sometimes a little eager shall we say. As well, I have this habit of “moving up to the distance” when I see it, which actually drives me past it much of the time. When I saw myself do this on video, I slapped myself in the forehead repeatedly. Bad Kirsten! Teaching the horse bad things! 
The best remedy for this, for me, was the mantra “stay the same”. Not “wait for the distance”, which had a tendency to make me pick to the base. “Do nothing” is another one that helps lots for me. When that distance presents itself, the hardest thing to do is “nothing”!
YOU are eeeevviiiiiilllll!!!
Horse making a bid to a fence is doing it out of self-preservation for the most part – ie. a horse that is either inexperienced, or one that just thinks “screw what’s on my back, I’m on my own now!!!”. I don’t mind a “bid” in a jumper class, but demand respect in the hunters. Yes, in the AA’s, sometimes those good ol’ packers need to make a “bid” because the frozen corpse on their back won’t let them move up, but for the most part, I feel that if you can’t find spots congruently with your horse, you need to back up a step, and try some baasic gymnastics…JMHO
Flame suit on!!!
Are making a bid and charging past the distance the same thing?
Kachoo, thank you for your post. I tried what you suggested last night, and it worked beautifully. I plan to use it over the bigger fences this weekend.
Ah yes, the drift! My horse loves to do this in a tight combination or line to make herself a little bit more room. It’s always when I least suspect it!
Inverness your “dumb questions” are my pot of gold. all are very helpful to me anyway.
The more you longe, the more you have to longe.
I was stabled across from soumeone who put on the ‘morning lounge’ list. Woman after my own heart!
SM - works for me!!
Although the correct “Short Answer” would be “a “bid” occurs after one too many uses of DMK’s patented Gig 'n Go, which is preceeded by DMK’s (not patented - someone beat me to it) HOLDHOLDHOLD move…”
Inverness - have we succeeded in thoroughly confusing you yet, or should we go on?
I would say they are not. To me making a bid just consists of moving across the same amount of ground in the last stride more quickly than the previous strides.
I have seen horses making a bid who consistantly hit good distances, but they never have as nice of a fence because they generally lose their impulsion from their hind end, and your eye (you as the viewer) is distracted by the loss of flow.
WHOA - my trainer would probably give you the same advice he’s given me time and time again (taking off from distances that drove him to drink was a big habit of mine as well ). You have to learn to differentiate between flowing to a forward distance and building to a superlong. They are two very different things, but it can be really tough to tell between them when you’re making your approach. Basically, you want to make sure that you’re approaching the fence at a big, forward, engaged canter, but that you are not changing this canter. It stays in exactly the same rhythm, not getting bigger or smaller, until you actually spot the distance that you want. If it’s a little long, ride up and close the gap, and if it’s a little short, compact your horse a bit but early enough so that you’ll be able to ride UP to the fence instead of taking back to make the distance work. If you see a superlong that you’re pretty sure will be certain death, you do the same thing you did for the short distance - break it up, and then ride forward to the short spot you’ve created for yourself. When it comes to fliers, I know that it seems like it’s the only option at the time, but if you are patient and resist the urge to take it, there’s almost certainly something better waiting there. The key is not messing with the rhythm of the canter until you actually see what must be done. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Susie
http://www.kachoom.com
When I hear someone ask, “Did you feel your horse move up to the jump?” or I think to myself, “Hmmm… my horse is moving up to this jump,” I take a little different perspective.
To me it means that the rider (or I) saw the waiting spot and the horse, on its own, “saw” or took the moving up distance.
It’s one thing if I SEE a moving up spot. Then I soften my feel on the reins a little and (hopefully!) my horse will lengthen his stride a tidge without noticeably increasing his pace and make the distance work.
On the other hand, a horse who “moves up to the jump” on its own is kind of like a horse who has locked on to the jump and could be tuning out its rider. So, the rider sees one spot (maybe the waiting one) and the horse “sees” or chooses another.
