As a show jumper, good form and position will go a long way towards improving your success in the rankings and help you graduate to more technical fences that have higher positions with the horse jump cups. A jump only lasts a few seconds, so you have to be spot on heading into the jump.
Practice Without Reins
Too many jumpers depending on their reins to keep them balanced mid-jump, but this can lead to overjumping. You need to develop an independent seat where you naturally stay over the center of gravity on your horse. When your lower leg slips back during a jump, you may be throwing your upper body out over the horse during the jump and causing the imbalance. Only try this exercise with an experienced horse.
Work on Bounce Exercises
By engaging in repetitive movements of gymnastics and bounce exercises, you train both you and your horse to improve your form and style. To really be able to focus on your position, you need to keep your fences down low and place them where the jumps will be taken in quick succession. Having jumps come up quickly forces the riders to develop a soft body approach through the upper thigs, knees, and ankles.
Put Extra Attention on the Jumping Position
You don’t need to be jumping over fences to work on your two-point position. As long as you are spending time in the correct position, you are encouraging the development of muscle memory. This encourages a strong, more natural body response that remains in perfect balance during a jump. Trot or canter around in two-point, since the exercise will strengthen your calves and teach you how to stay in balance with the horse.
You don’t have time to make a correction in the middle of a jump, and a good instructor can give you insight after the fact to help you improve. These are some useful tips to practice between your lessons to improve your technique.
