When I’m not sure what to do, I just try to get straight and gun it. And my horse also likes to take long spots. I think for both our safety, it’s fortunate we top out at 24”. With how muddy it’s been, though, I haven’t jumped in ages, and I’ve gotten embarrassingly bad! For one, my horse can’t decide if he wants to gun it or chip, and for another, I can’t decide if I want to fall behind or fling myself ahead. We had an interesting lesson that involved a bounce and made me realize that I don’t know how to jump. Like on a fundamental, mechanical level, I just have no idea how to jump. I know how to sit there and do nothing over crossrails, and that’s it!
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Interesting, I’m the opposite. I’d much rather have an oxer in for a combination.
I am another fan of the roll-back.
Swedish oxers are most inviting to me, and completely agree on the short approach or square turn where I can’t change my mind 100 times :). Gymnastics are the best - total no brainer for me, my horse is great at them.
While I don’t know that “gunning it” is wise, a forward mistake is always better than a backward one. If you come out of a turn, don’t see anything, and keep steady or close your leg a hair, it will always work out better than pulling to nothing.
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Anything that is set on a roll back turn. I think this is because I am always thinking about maintaining the impulsion thru the turns, and riding better thru the turns so it works out best - I can get lazy on some other parts.
Same here. More specifically I love a roll back to an oxer. Or a quick and different entry to the first fence, like you would have in the eq. If a start fence is at the near end, I’m always one to step in and canter straight to it rather than taking a lap. I guess it gives me less time to screw it up 
I’m with you — I’d much rather jump the oxer on the way in, that way I don’t feel boxed in on the approach to it. Even though logically I understand that the only difference between a placing rail three strides out from a fence and a jump three strides out from a fence is the height of the obstacle, and that the first fence logically and necessarily sets you up for the second, I still feel a little bit alarmingly out of choices once I’ve jumped into a line, and I’d much rather jump the bigger wider one on the way in!
This is “the correct” answer. But I will still, like weixiao, preferentially take a vertical in every single time. It is just easier for my brain to process even though if the oxer is the ‘in’ you can theoretically always get out more easily.
