It’s how Greg Best had his big wreck. He said he was always taught to never, ever back down, no matter what. Lucky to be alive. His hunt cap was smashed to bits.
I could tell you Barbara Worth stories that made JAW sound like a babysitter!
2 Likes
That’s just stupid on a horse, IMO!
One has a responsibility to the horse as well as to oneself. IMO
So I am happy that I was not hearing people say that, or not where I have been, before one local person was trying to make it some kind of motto a few years ago.
Thanks for the explanations, all !!! I had no idea what that individual was trying to urge people to do. Now I know that person is a poor source of good advice. 
1 Like
Guess he wasn’t on the “live to fight another day” program.
To me that is what jumping horses is really about. Make a smart decision, live a long and happy life. For the rider and the horse.
1 Like
I have heard that saying too and it’s wrong if you are in a normal headspace…my trainer always says “never take the first distance you see.” It’s usually the flyer.
However, I think the saying has a place with certain riders who tug to the base when they don’t see anything. I say this as a nervous ammie myself who had been known to make ridiculously wide turns when I don’t see anything and just keep waiting to turn until I do…but tugging to the base can be a recipe for disaster especially when the horse takes the wheel and doesn’t put the chip in. Trainers need to know the rider. So I am not willing to say it’s wrong to use that for everyone. Some people (been there!) have to be trained not to ride backward.
3 Likes
Exactly. Tugging to the base can invite your horse to say, “Eff off, I got this!” and three-legged leave one out. Ride your jumper forward to the base. This is what my “teacher horse,” like yours, has taught me so well.
7 Likes
Exactly! @Tha_Ridge
My recipe instead of tugging is to go wide but go forward out of the turn, then wait/keep it (NOT PULL) is just classic riding.
4 Likes
And when you learn it, it is a glorious AND fun thing! Here is what my horse has taught me, in less than a year of owning him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1A5GCFhkzo. Notice that even when I didn’t know where I was and got a little long into the two-stride and landed in a heap (around the 1:08 mark), he had enough power to pat the ground, add the step, and keep us both safe. Now, that comes from his years of knowledge and knowing, as a smaller horse, what he is and isn’t capable of, but if I had picked to that, he absolutely, rightfully, would’ve stopped at the out.
6 Likes
There are better ways to express it though, IMO, and screaming it at every student in a schooling show does not really help the rider solve the problem.
I been yelled at pretty good. At home. With more constructive direction in finding the go button.
3 Likes
Very timely topic for me. So last night, I’m jumping him at home the second time, and I’m coming to an oxer and don’t see anything, so I just pull and he shortens and shortens and finally just launches from a half stride away because I squeezed in 5 extra strides. And because he’s a good boy and the jumps are small, he made a smart call. So then next time I rode with more pace, kept him in front of my leg, and magic, get to the perfect spot. It was so lovely and educational, and I felt so confident. So for some of us, “when in doubt leave it out” could mean “when you don’t see anything just keep your leg on and for christs sake leave your sweet horses face alone”
Anywhooooo……update on the giant pony. He’s been home six days. First day he was a little wild and I had a brief moment of, oh crap, this isn’t the horse I bought! But since then he has been an absolute saint, and now I know he probably needs a lunge day 1 at a show. Yesterday’s lesson after the aforementioned oxer, I was laying on his neck and hugging him like a 5 year old kid. I feel like I totally have him figured out on the flat and have had a few moments of understanding his huge step. I’m just so excited of what I get to learn on this horse.
31 Likes
You nailed it! And yes, even though they’re saintly boys, they’re allowed to feel good too.
2 Likes
Yeahbut when you kept your leg on you got the correct pace which produced the correct spot. You didn’t leave a stride out and take a flyer, you just did it right the second time. Thanks to that Saint you bought.
4 Likes
I’m not advocating for that phrase in any way. I’ve always been taught that the add is safer and kinder to the horse. I’m just poking fun at myself for adding too many strides and fidgeting and pulling to a distance that’s not there and praising this lovely kind horse for helping me learn to ride better and for not holding a grudge as I make mistakes and learn about his huuuuuge stride
2 Likes
Its like you’re speaking to me personally. I had a “trainer” 15ish years ago whose mantra was “when in doubt leave it out.” She would yell it repeatedly and laugh at the dangerously long distances her students took. (Ride it like you stole it was another favorite - are we talking about the same person??)
At a show with that barn, I did that to a 3’6’’ oxer and crashed. Luckily we were both fine after a short recovery. I got yelled at. 
I agree that “when in doubt, leave it out” doesn’t convey “don’t pick to the deep spot.” It conveys “long is always the better choice,” which just isn’t true. I spent years as a junior having “long is better” so deeply ingrained that even years later I still sometimes had to be reminded to put the “long eyes” away.
2 Likes
Oh come now, you are an Adult Ammy, thats what we do. Pick to the chip or if we don’t see it? Run at it. Our signature move.
For Rel6, are you in the midwest? Its not all that uncommon to hear that anywhere though. They are as numerous as the spur and jerk “Reining” JAWS.
4 Likes
Nope - NY. I don’t know if its reassuring or scary its such a universal experience!
He looks like a lot of fun and very generous- I’m so glad you are enjoying him!
For me one of the keys to learning how to be a good (well, better), jumper rider has been figuring out how to get my horse balanced, with his hind end underneath him, while maintaining enough pace for the bigger jumps. He can heave himself over just about anything but if I don’t keep him up and in front of my leg with enough pace he’s going to start getting mad at me when we keep meeting the fences wrong. I get about two crappy jumps and then he either refuses (if it’s 1.15m or up, usually), or he gives me his patented “eff you, dummy, ride better!” buck after the jump. He likes me to support him to the base and has always been this way, so when I don’t he’s not the kind of guy who will cover up for me.
But, why should he? If it was up to him he’d be sitting around eating alfalfa, not carting my dumb ass around while I make his job harder! 
But, I’m lucky enough to have had my older guy for years, so we trust each other and I finally know how to ride him better. I have a new, young jumper and I feel like I get to use everything I’ve learned on my other guy with this one, and not make the same mistakes.
But, I wish I’d had a schoolmaster to learn the ropes on instead of experimenting with him (he was five when I got him and I had no idea what I was doing in the jumper ring), so I think you are exactly on the right path. Have so much fun and post updates!
4 Likes
As a junior I showed with a trainer in the hunters whose phrase was, “Look for the deep one, deal with the long one.” I have a propensity for being a little (maybe a lot? LOL) under the pace. This helped me because thinking you have to go does tend to lead to looking for the one to always kick for, which is likely to be the flyer, and that’s not right either.
If you have a horse in front of your leg with impulsion (so, moving from hind end to front) and maintain the contact, it’s really hard to miss a distance.
4 Likes
I find this to be true on a non-pulling horse and find it easier with slightly bigger jumps, which generally sharpen the focus for both horse and rider. What also helps is pick a point on the jump to look at (stripe on pole, etc.), rather than generally looking in its direction.
Mine had a ride for the “chip” exercise too. Actually a great skill to master for Big Eq and Jumper riders to set up and stay balanced fir inside turns. She made me do it too 
but only out of a forward pace, not so slow it was the only possible distance 
