How to get rid of some errors when jumping

Bad habits

One of the main mistakes when jumping, which entails a lot of other shortcomings, is the wrong position of the foot. The loosely pressed leg moves back, and the rider flies out of the saddle with a bullet when the horse lands. With a dangling leg, you not only annoy the horse by constantly pushing him on the sides, but also increase the risk of falling many times over.

Why does the leg not want to cuddle tightly? There are several reasons.

First, your heel is likely to be above your toe during the jump. Because of this, during landing, the entire load falls only on the knee, as on the only point of support. Have you ever felt particularly strong pressure on your knee? Has it ever happened that after landing, your foot is far behind and the heel is lifted up? If yes, then in order to correct this shortcoming, you need to work on strengthening and stretching the calf muscle so that the heel is always down.

The second reason on which the incorrect position of the leg may depend is the advance of the horse during the jump. That is, when you bring the body forward before the horse has started to take off from the ground. At the same time, the leg automatically goes back behind the girth, which in itself is very dangerous.

To understand how this habit is ingrained in you, a little experiment will help. Try tying the stirrups to the girths. Don’t be afraid, take some woolen or braided thread (such that it could break with a strong effort), thread the rope through each stirrup, then wind the thread around the girth and tie it into one knot. No need to tighten the knot tightly, the girth will hold the thread anyway. Now try walking, trotting and cantering. Did the thread break right away, or did you manage to ride for a while?

Now try to jump over small crosses with connected stirrups, it will immediately become clear how tightly your leg is pressed. Never try to ride long with the stirrups tied, remember this is just a small test. Oh, and also, do not tie the stirrups with an unbreakable tourniquet.

Exercises to eradicate bad habits

Exercise 1

To get rid of this error, you firstly need an instructor or someone to watch your foot from the ground. Secondly, get ready – this is riding without stirrups. Yes, yes, unfasten the stirrups at all so that they do not tempt you and do not distract you. So, you are ready for the most painful, but also the most useful exercise – lightweight riding without stirrups. Start with just a few minutes, then gradually increase the load. It is not at all necessary to hurt yourself from the very beginning with a half-hour ride without stirrups, and then walk with stretched muscles. Be patient, and gradually, you will notice that your leg lay down on its own. Here the instructor will come to your aid, he will tell you whether you continue to cling to the saddle with your knees, or your heel climbs up again.

Exercise 2 The second step is to work on the field planting. Try to trot in a field landing with your knees on the pad and bouncing at each stride. You should not just stand in the stirrups – your task is to stretch the calf muscle and try to lower the heel down. Try to relax the inside of the leg a little – this will stretch the muscles on the calf even more. When you’ve got your knees down and your heel down, just lift your butt up and slightly forward. Hold for a few strides, such as 5 strides, focusing on your heel, and then lower yourself into the saddle without lifting your leg. Now, do the same at the gallop.

Exercise 3

The last exercise is to work out the correct position of the body during the jump. It will help you get rid of such a mistake as getting ahead of the horse with the body. In other words, if you bring the body forward before the horse has pushed with its legs, this is not correct.

To unlearn this, you need to jump over small obstacles without stirrups. Having mastered the two exercises described above, you can easily and naturally jump without stirrups with a tightly pressed leg. Jumping in this way, you will immediately notice that it is almost impossible to get forward with the body before the jump. Imagine that your lower back should cross the pole first, not your chin and shoulders.

I wish you good luck in your endeavor!