Without a secure jumping position, you can’t expect to ride a good round. Top show jumper Laura Renwick is here to help you get it right.
With jumping, like many things in life, success depends on getting the foundations right. With the basics in place, you can build up your skills with confidence and progression comes more easily.
Positioning yourself from a bounce to a single stride
This is all about practising moving quickly and effectively from the jumping position, back into the saddle and into the forward position again. The bounce leads on to one stride to a spread, so you have a lot to think about and do in quite a short space of time.
Throughout the bounce, you need to stay in the forward position – just your upper body should fold forwards. Then, as you land, from the bounce, you need to sit up and reposition for one stride folding and going forwards again. It is an exercise to keep you thinking.
If you do too much, you will throw the balance of your horse and risk a fence down. People who make a big change in position over a fence find their recovery is twice as hard and will often lose control when they land.
When riding a round, you need to recover quickly as the fences come up fast. It will also save you and your horse from making a lot of extra effort.
