[CaliLove1994]

thanks Zelly

[mize67]

nice very cute horse

[CaliLove1994]

sentence didn't really make sense but thank you

[Huntseat]

I agree with everybody else, you do look really good, but I will second the motion to lengthen your stirrups. PonyCrazyGal did a great job and pretty much covered everything that I see.

From your shoulders through your hips, you look very nice. Have you and your trainer been working on an auto release? That is one of the key indicators that somebody is really using her body independently and has full control and the strength to maintain that control throughout her body. While it does look good too, there is a lot more to it than the current hunter fad to have your arms thrown to your horse's ears.

As far as your leg, I think that lengthening your stirrups a hole or two will make all of the difference. You will probably feel "lost" and unstable, but as it is now your too-short sitrrups look like they're on the verge of pushing you too far out of your tack and it is giving the appearance that your leg is slipping back and you're pinching with your knee, which I don't think you are. Below I will post a picture of me having the same issue and how it affected my EQ is similar to your issue. I had just gotten on the horse for the first time (I had never jumped her before) so my stirrups were short and I took her in a schooling/groom's class.

With all of that said, you are a beautiful rider, and WOW, that is impressive for only having jumped for six months!

[CaliLove1994]

thanks so much .. i love all the advice everyone is giving me

so i went and talked to my trainer today and asked her about auto release.. and here is what she said:

"auto release is like a movement in the air with your hands to help get your horse up and around turns. With roxy she was trainer by a true hunter that used ALL leg so when you use hand she locks her jaw and gets a little crabby instead you do (the release im doing) bring your rein into her neck instead of having pressure on the bit and shape her with your leg. Generally you would also use a auto release with a bigger horse (roxy is only 16hh) that needs a little more control. Also auto release is encouraging your body to come forward. Keeping your hands in front of your shoulders distributes weight throughout your body, instead of a auto release which has all your weight in front of your body sometimes getting your horse unbalance at the landing. With a release in front of your shoulder your horse is able to move freely and is already balanced when landed. Also not everyone can perform a floating release because you need to know how to distribute your body weight, but you've got it down. And i wouldn't want you to do a auto release"

So that is what she said, and it does make sense. Any questions feel free to ask she told me basically everything.

[Huntseat]

Originally Posted by CaliLove1994

thanks so much .. i love all the advice everyone is giving me

so i went and talked to my trainer today and asked her about auto release.. and here is what she said:

"auto release is like a movement in the air with your hands to help get your horse up and around turns. With roxy she was trainer by a true hunter that used ALL leg so when you use hand she locks her jaw and gets a little crabby instead you do (the release im doing) bring your rein into her neck instead of having pressure on the bit and shape her with your leg. Generally you would also use a auto release with a bigger horse (roxy is only 16hh) that needs a little more control. Also auto release is encouraging your body to come forward. Keeping your hands in front of your shoulders distributes weight throughout your body, instead of a auto release which has all your weight in front of your body sometimes getting your horse unbalance at the landing. With a release in front of your shoulder your horse is able to move freely and is already balanced when landed. Also not everyone can perform a floating release because you need to know how to distribute your body weight, but you've got it down. And i wouldn't want you to do a auto release"

So that is what she said, and it does make sense. Any questions feel free to ask she told me basically everything.

Well, some of that is true, but an auto release really HELPS to center your balance. Rather than being able to place some of your balance on your horse's neck as you do in a crest release, you must share the same center of balance with your horse which can only be achieved when you as a rider are strong and balanced. In an auto release your hands should be in front of your shoulders as well, but there should be a straighter line from your hands to the bit. At no point during the height of the jump would you end up with your hands behind your shoulders while doing a proper auto release. Doing an auto release doesn't mean that you have to hit her mouth, that is where the balance aspect comes in To be able to do a nice auto you need to be able to balance your body wout relying on your arms at all, so when you do an auto you put your hands forward and go with her movement. You should NOT be balancing on the reins and hitting her in the mouth in a correct auto release.

[CaliLove1994]

yea that makes sense to, but i think what your saying for the auto release is also what i'm doing in this release just it has a hunter polish to it

i'm definitely going to try it but i dont know if the trainer is going to allow it :P

[royalrox]

a floating release is not a "type" of release, its an error in a correct crest release. Yes you rarely see hunters with riders doing an auto release, but that's not to say it isn't correct. You should use a crest release if you NEED support in your upper body, if you don't need support, then why not do an auto and make your horses job even easier. I think your trainers idea of an auto is a bit off...

And the size of the horse should have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with how you ride it, a pony can get just as out of hand as a 17 hand horse.

Also it seems Roxy has several little things in her training that you seem to think should be allowed, and you should have to do things improperly because that's how she was trained. You should be fixing her problems not thinking of ways to avoid them.

Sorry for the rant lol

[JumpingBean]

You look like a stylish rider. In the trot pictures, your upper body is too far forward in some of them (unless you were doing two point, in which case it's fine).

Over fences your base of support looks fairly solid. I would let your stirrups out a hole or two (right now you are jumping with a length that would be appropriate for a much bigger fence, but it's not doing you any favors for 3'). Your leg has the potential to be quite elegant. In the one side picture it looks good, although I get a vague feeling that you can tend to knee pinch and let the lower leg slip backwards and upper body jump ahead. Your posture is good as well. My biggest peeve is your release, which is too high and floating over the crest. If you are going to use a crest release, use a crest release. Put your hands on the crest where they are supposed to be (in this case they need to drop a couple of inches). There are also a number of misconceptions you have about the automatic release which, I feel, bear correcting.

Originally Posted by CaliLove1994

thanks so much .. i love all the advice everyone is giving me

so i went and talked to my trainer today and asked her about auto release.. and here is what she said:

"auto release is like a movement in the air with your hands to help get your horse up and around turns.

Yes and no. It is of course extremely helpful when you are planning to land and turn, because you never relinquish contact in the air, but it is equally appropriate for a straight approach and departure from the jump. It is not only for turns.

With roxy she was trainer by a true hunter that used ALL leg so when you use hand she locks her jaw and gets a little crabby instead you do (the release im doing) bring your rein into her neck instead of having pressure on the bit and shape her with your leg.

A horse that locks its jaw and resists contact is not a "true hunter," it has holes in its training that need to be corrected.

Generally you would also use a auto release with a bigger horse (roxy is only 16hh) that needs a little more control.

Not true. The release is appropriate and ideal for any size of horse. You always want a straight line from bit to elbow when possible. I realize that a crest release is in vogue for the hunter ring, but if it must be used it should be done correctly as well.

Also auto release is encouraging your body to come forward. Keeping your hands in front of your shoulders distributes weight throughout your body, instead of a auto release which has all your weight in front of your body sometimes getting your horse unbalance at the landing. With a release in front of your shoulder your horse is able to move freely and is already balanced when landed.

Entirely untrue. An automatic release has nothing to do with the hands being behind the shoulders. In fact, I would charge that it is the other way around -- the crest release has the rider dependent on the horse's neck for balance and thus more likely to unbalance the horse/take longer to recover on landing if it is done incorrectly. Here is a picture of an automatic release (click to enlarge):


As you can see, my center of balance is spot on, neither too far forward nor too far behind. I landed from that 3'10" jump and cantered on in a straight line, and was able to rebalance the horse more quickly because the line from bit to elbow never broke.

Also not everyone can perform a floating release because you need to know how to distribute your body weight, but you've got it down. And i wouldn't want you to do a auto release"

A floating release is a fault, not a skill, and nothing to be proud of. If the rider does not need his hands for balance, then he should progress to the more advanced automatic release. Raising the hands off of the crest in an artificial broken line is incorrect and impractical -- it accomplishes nothing, except perhaps demonstrating to the judge that the horse is so talented that it can perform in spite of the fact that the rider has abandoned the pilot seat. Even if the rider is showing hunters, it is an essential skill that he should at least be able to perform, even if he does not use it in the show ring. I am at a loss as to why anyone would not want to know and be able to use an automatic release.

[jumpthemoon]

Originally Posted by royalrox

a floating release is not a "type" of release, its an error in a correct crest release. Yes you rarely see hunters with riders doing an auto release, but that's not to say it isn't correct. You should use a crest release if you NEED support in your upper body, if you don't need support, then why not do an auto and make your horses job even easier. I think your trainers idea of an auto is a bit off...

And the size of the horse should have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with how you ride it, a pony can get just as out of hand as a 17 hand horse.

Also it seems Roxy has several little things in her training that you seem to think should be allowed, and you should have to do things improperly because that's how she was trained. You should be fixing her problems not thinking of ways to avoid them.


Sorry for the rant lol

Well said!