[ladida]

During my lesson today, my trainer commented on Isabel's knees, and how she was hanging them some. This was strange, because all the photos of her she isn't.

She hasn't been seriously jumped for a couple months, but she is fairly fit. Is this a strength issue? I would have thought my trainer would have noticed it when we started jumping a year or so ago then?

Maybe because she was very distracted today?

Regardless, any tips on how to strengthen her legs so she picks them up more?? She even banged her legs once and then just over-jumped instead of jumping correctly.

Here are a variety of pics of her mid-jump from a month or so ago.




and a jumping video

YouTube - Jumping Isabel

YouTube - Isabel lunging jump

Thanks!

[royalrox]

well not many horses will really try over little jumps so its nothing to worry about, the higher the fence the higher the knees in most cases she just has to be challenged to feel the need to snap up her knees my guys the same as well as most horses

[idlewild]

I like your jump "standards" very creative.

Over little jumps like this don't be surprised if she does not make much of an effort. Now if she was jumping a 3' oxer and hanging her knee like she does in the first picture I would be concerned. But here and now over 18" fences which are really little more than overgrown cavaletti, I would not fret about it at all.

Though, a great exercise to help her pick up her legs are riding through some gymnastic lines. Ask your trainer to help you set up and ride through a line of three to four jumps. Say a bounce to a one stride to a one stride. Sorta like this
X---------X (jump)
.(no stride in here, just land and jump again)
X---------X (jump)
.
.(takes one stride between fences)
.
X---------X (jump)
.
.(takes one stride between fences)
.
X---------X (jump)

Haha, had fun with that little diagram. Gymnastic lines are wonderful for helping teach a horse to sit back, rock off their hind end, and pick up their front feet.
You can also do a series of bounces, I've done up to 6 bounces in a row. It helps a horse with their jumping skills so much!
But remember to start small with a gymnastic and build up. Start with having all the jumps as ground poles, then build your way up. Put up the back fence first, then the second, then the third, and finally the fourth so that you are now jumping all four fences.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

[Huntseat]

Originally Posted by royalrox

well not many horses will really try over little jumps so its nothing to worry about, the higher the fence the higher the knees in most cases she just has to be challenged to feel the need to snap up her knees my guys the same as well as most horses

My pony mare does the same thing.. Over about 2ft or higher she jumps beautifully, but she gets SO lazy over little stuff that she usually ends up knocking rails.

Mae being good:




Her being lazy:

[MorabPaint]

My green horse does the same thing. I would not worry about it too much. A lot of horses, especialy those new to jumping will bump sometimes and hang their legs over low fences...just them being lazy. My gelding jumps with practically no effort unless he is jumping over 2 feet...he also still bumps and even knocks the whole jump over sometimes because he misjudges the distance to the jump and the amount of effort needed.

[smitty]

In looking at the pics I wouldn't worry too much. Others have said that the horse is lazy and that MAY be the case. She may hang her legs when the jumps get bigger too. It depends. As with all athletes, some are better than others. Some horses are naturals at going over fences and others, due to conformation and build are not as good. From what I see, she is in good shape and may just need to do some more extensive flatwork and begin with gymnastics.
It is imperative too, that you are riding her correctly to the jumps. If she has a hard time getting her front end off the ground then you need to make sure that you are not falling onto her neck and impeding her from using her front end to the best of her ability.

[ladida]

Thanks everyone! idlewilde, I suggested that to her as we did it during a lesson once (I switch off lessons either Isabel or a school horse) and she thought it was a good idea as well. The jumps weren't that low is the thing, I think it probably was due to the fact that she was frazzled today and therefore wasn't thinking.

For the longest time she would bunny-hop, which we are 90% sure its her fooling around vs not knowing what to do...like this.
boing!



but then overjumps too.


I think she is just slightly over-excited and fooling around, she can be "playful" like this when your ride, such as flipping her leads for fun when she's excited.

[ladida]

Oh...and I know my position isn't the greatest in those pics! lol...understatement of the year! :blushes:

[MorabPaint]

I think basically she is just very green to jumping like my own horse.

[Huntseat]

I would try setting up VERY low jumps and practice walking over them. If she gets excited and wants to rush, circle her and then try again until she realizes that jumps are no big deal and there is no need get all worked up about a little jump. Mix it up with trotting poles, transitions, direction changes, circles, and lateral work so she stays interested and doesn't get bored.

I saw huge improvement after doing that with my mare. Try to get to the point where you can walk and trot (without actually jumping) over the "jumps" while keeping a consistent pace. Also do some lunging o/f so she can get the feel of how she needs to balance herself over the jump without having to worry about a rider who may or may not get in the way of that.