Training tips: How to teach your horse backwards.

With moving your horse backwards it is very important that you stay in contact with your rein. And going strait backwards!

The goal of going backwards:

Obedience
Bending joints of the back legs
Bending of back and loins
Loosening stiff horses
Promote closeness
Promote yield to the bit

The aids of going backwards:

The horse needs to be active, with impulse and on the leg. With on the leg I mean: if you give leg he or she needs to responds. Also the weight needs to be equal on every leg.

To go backwards the rider need to give resistance to the leg. So you give leg and the same time you hold it with your hand. The hand of the rider is not giving so the horse can only go backwards. Very important is when the horse is going backwards you/the rider relaxes in the hand. And if you do it properly the horse is going backwards on your leg, not on the hand. With young horses the rider can be a little bit in half seat. After backwards directly riding forwards.

With your horse backwards:

With going backwards, the horse need to change his weight to the back-legs. Also the horse needs to have enough forward impulse. To achieve this you can ride a lot of transitions. The criterion with going backwards is not necessary Standing Square but more that the horse is willing to put his weight on the back-legs.

Problems and solutions:

– Going not strait. The forehand needs to be corrected and again set on one line with the backhand. On the side where the horse is going with his backhand, places the rider his or her hand a little bit of the neck. The horse needs to be better on two rains.

– Horse comes to the hand and pushes back away. Important is that the horse yield enough to the bit and legs when standing still before backwards. If so the horse will put more weight on the back and yield more to the bit.

– To deep and to fast going backwards. The rider needs to put his or her hand higher and the horse more to the leg. Why? This is because the horse has so less opportunity to put his head down. When his head is more upwards the horse need to use more his back-legs and is going slower backwards.

– The horse blocks. (Is putting all joint on lock). The rider needs to let the horse do side passes. Every side some side passes alternately.

Show jumping horses: Training tips.

Al lot riders are having some problems with riding distances. If you want that you and your horse be in harmony when show jumping, you first need to understand some basic facts. To better analyse the jump and the relation between one jump and another.

At competitions mostly the best riders win. They have a correct distance/take-off points, nice rhythm between fences and turn nice and smooth. These are the most important elements to have success.

Riding your horse with a good rhythm is important because it is directly connected with balance. Good rhythm can break or make your balance. A horse with a good balance can jump relaxed/easy and make no stupid faults.

If you pull or lose your rains in turns you can never expect that a horse jump good after the turn. So turn nice and smooth and most of the time your distance is coming as we speak.

The understanding of distances

But all these things are just factors in the bigger picture. Every jump has his own take-off points. I want to discuss every jump separate.

Jumping a vertical:

A vertical is a fence that can be tricky. When you ride your distance too short on a vertical, it takes a lot of effort for a horse to jump clear. The take-off point of a vertical is further than an oxer. A horse jumps in an arc. If the horse jumps over the vertical the highest point is in the middle.

Jumping with your horse over an oxer:

The take-off point for an oxer is getting closer if the width of the oxer increases. So The middle of the fence is always the highest point.

Of course if the fence is getting higher the distance needs also be further
from the oxer. But like I sad, if the fence is getting more width the take-off point is smaller.

Jumping a triple bar:

Triple bars are three fences upwards directly after each other. The take-off point is the closest of all. So the arc is at his highest point at the last and highest bar. Maybe you notices. If you look at the pictures, the oxer and the vertical are the same distances before and after. The triple bar is al little bit different because the distance to the fence is shorter but after the same as the other two.

Thanks for reading,
Show jumping training tips.