#Form and Function tips 1
Balance & control of your show jumping & cross country positions
A significant difference between 1*/2* riders and 4/5* riders is their reaction time and urgency to make a correction. Of course, there’s many things, but reaction time and urgency are very important in all sport. To be able to react you must be in a balanced position. You must know what that is and be in control of your mental and physical use of it.
Part of a coach’s job is to develop a rider’s ability to use the multiple jump positions required in eventing. Separating the complexity of jumping information on these positions gives you clarity in your choice, helping you be in the right place at the right time for the phase and jump. This is where, and when faster reactions can develop allowing riders to reach expert levels. This also helps less lofty goaled riders to gain more enjoyment in the sport.
In show jumping you train to keep the horse centered under you, in a forward seat, maintaining the speed set for the height of the class. This allows rhythm to be developed so the horse can do his best jumping effort. It takes understanding to keep the horse centered under you; deciding to go to your stick instead of being put in front of the balance when the horse slows or keep the speed from increasing without falling back into the tack when the horse is eager. Without this knowledge, riders travel around a course without rhythm, changing their center of balance and preventing the development of the horse’s responsibility for the jump. In show jumping this results in rails regularly falling and a lack of bonding between the horse and rider. When a horse and rider become very successful, there is always a bond they have, a communication, a feel, that led them to rise above expectations and become special.
In cross country training, you add the need to understand when to change position between being centered or slightly behind the movement. This is required because of the terrain and expected reaction of your horse to the course designers use of jumps. You must not risk getting in front of the movement in cross country. If you don’t understand where the balance should be, your reaction times will always be slower than those that do, affecting your ability to steer and regulate your horse, risking faults particularly at combinations to skinnies, corners or jumps after drops, especially as the jumps get more technical in the higher levels. In cross country the balance can sometimes be behind the center, which would cause rails in the show jumping, and you train to not do this in show jumping. Over a defensive cross country designed fence or when the footing or terrain dictates it is learnt that this can enable a more stable position to get the horse through the flags.
A common mistake is to mix up the two jumping phases and cross country in your show jumping, or show jump your cross country, at times. An eventing coach helps you gain clarity over the science in positions and mental skills in training the two phases, helping understand that form and function are well correlated. You can then move towards making your competition riding reflective of your training and keep the phases well defined. Having a coach on the day can help manage separating the use of your positions to get the best results, particularly under the pressure in the ring when form and function are most vulnerable to be overruled by mental stresses.
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