I don’t often cover jumping things mainly because most of my clients focus on flat work, but I do have the odd one that leaves the ground occasionally. 

However I watched a video recently that made me think about how the rider has so much influence on the quality of the horses landing, the get away and turn to the next fence and of course getting over it.

Landing from a fence requires your body to absorb a huge amount of force and it needs to be strong enough to do that. 

As you then start to pick up the pace again you need to already be back in balance to stay with the acceleration of the horse. Then particularly if you’re showjumping you will be making a tight turn to another fence.

Your horses ability to do this in balance and fast relies on the rider staying with him at every stride. 

Being able to do this can be the difference between 1st and 4th place at a competition as the margins for time can be so tight. If you shaved 2 seconds off because you were able to make a tighter turn or because you were able to pick up the pace faster after a x country fence that  could be a decider.

Also, most importantly in my opinion being able to stay balanced puts your horse at much less risk of injury.

Ok, I could talk about all the why’s etc forever but I’m pretty sure you’re already at the “so how do I do this” bit.

Work on yourself. 

• Your balance and stability.
• Your reaction times
• Your force absorption 

Look out for future posts on some ideas on how to incorporate this into your off horse training.