The riders position and jumping techniques that give your horse more freedom and you more control -

The riders position or show jumping seat position is not meant to be held by the rider, but is rather a fluid seat that changes as your horses balance changes. It keeps you in position over your horses centre of gravity.

Showjumping History
The Caprilli Technique
The Bascule
The riders position
Types of Show Jumps
Types of Show Jumping Competitions
Stride Distances

The riders position is a seat position used by equestrians when jumping a horse over an obstacle.

It normally involves the forward seat, first developed by Captain Federico Caprilli and commonly referred to as the caprilli technique.

Using or maintaining a correct riding position or jumping seat serves two purposes:

It gives your horse the freedom to jump an obstacle, allowing it to keep its forelegs and hindlegs tight and reduces the chance of a rail down or a fall. It also encourages your horse to bascule over the fence, which improves jumping form and your horses ability to jump higher obstacles

It provides you the rider with the support needed to stay out of your horses way while still maintaining a secure seat so that you are less likely to fall on landing.

It's important to note that your horse, not you, is responsible for opening and closing your hip and knee.

As your horse takes off, it raises its upper body off the ground and comes closer to you. This makes your hip angle (between your thigh and chest) close.

Over the fence, you keep the angle closed. As your horse lands, it moves away from your body, and allows your hip angle to open and your become more perpendicular to the ground. It is important that you, the rider, simply allow this movement to happen.

The position of the riders leg :

Poor leg position can make it difficult for you to stay with your horse. Your lower leg is the anchor of your riding position, and contributes a great deal to your security. Poor lower leg position makes you more likely to lose your balance over fences, and increases the chance that you may fall. It also tends to reduce your ability to communicate clearly with your horse.

Your leg should hang down your horses side, making even contact along its whole length (inner thigh, knee, and calf), and should not change position when your upper body moves. Your weight is dropped along the back of your leg and into your heel through a flexible ankle, your heel stays lower than your toes.

Your toes are generally turned out slightly (as opposed to dressage riding, when your feet are parallel to your horses body). This places the back of the calf against the horse, instead of the whole inner side as in dressage, which decreases the contact of the calf on the horse, therefore lowering the refinement in communication between horse and rider. However, the toe-out position tends to anchor the rider and increase security. Toes should turn no more than 45 degrees out.

The stirrups are shortened from the long dressage length, according to the height of the fence. Grand Prix jumpers and eventers on cross-country generally need to shorten the stirrups the most, to allow them to gallop and jump in motion with their horse. The short stirrup provides more leverage, and therefore security should the horse stumble, get a poor distance, or peck on landing. More importantly, a shorter stirrup allows the rider to get off the horse's back between and over the fence, freeing up his back and allowing him to bascule. The stirrup leather should remain perpendicular to the ground. The stirrup iron is usually placed on the ball of the foot, allowing the rider to have a flexible, shock-absorbing ankle. The rider should keep even pressure across the foot, rather than pushing on the inside or outside of the stirrup iron, as this makes the lower leg stiff.

The result of a shorter stirrup is that the ankle and knee angle decrease. Both the angles are used as shock-absorbers, opening and closing accordingly with the thrust of takeoff and landing. Stiffness in these angles makes it harder to stay with horse's balance, which may result in the riders "jumping ahead" or being "left behind."

Variations in leg position

Steeplechase jockeys shove their legs forward for extra security.Leg position may vary slightly between disciplines. Eventers and steeplechase jockeys tend to have a slightly forward leg position, with the foot "home" in the iron. The more forward leg position increases security, making it much more difficult for the rider to become dislodged. This is important in both sports because riders jump solid fences at high speed, where the horse is more likely to stumble or fall if he hits the fence. Especially in the case of steeplechase jockey, a fall could be extremely dangerous, as the other horses in the race could trample him.

The foot is also placed "home" (behind the ball of the foot, near the heel) for security purposes. This decreases the chance that the rider will lose a stirrup should a horse jump or land awkwardly.

Position of the seat, hips, and thighs

The rider keeps his weight toward the pelvis, and suspended in the air over the saddle (not on the horse's back). This allows the horse to bring his back up over the fence (bascule). The rider should not bring his hips too far forward, over the pommel, as seen in the fault of jumping ahead. This changes the rider's balance, and places him in a potentially dangerous position.

The hip joints are especially important, as they are the connection between the lower leg (which remains still), and the upper body. The hips should be very flexible, opening and closing as needed. The hips should always move backward from the neutral position, not forward (a sign that the rider is jumping ahead).

Between fences, the rider may ride in two-point (thighs take up weight of rider, not seat bones) or three point (seat bones touch saddle).

Position of the Upper body (shoulders, head, trunk)

Looking down causes the upper body to fall forward.In all disciplines, the rider should be looking up and in the direction of where she needs to go on landing. Looking down tends to cause riders to lean forward with their shoulders, round their back, and places them in a precarious position. The head should also not be tilted to one side, as this changes the rider's lateral balance and places more weight on one side.

In general, the back should be flat. Overarching causes stiffness, rounding not only looks bad, but affect the rider's balance. A slightly rounded back is acceptable cross-country when used in the safety seat.

The rider should have an open chest with shoulders back. This helps to prevent the rider from collapsing forward and helps to centre the weight of the upper body over the lower leg, therefore helping to keep the rider secure.

Releasing the rein to give your horse room to jump.

Short crest release. A long crest release being used for a large oxer to allow the horse more freedom.

The automatic release:

The rider has a straight line from elbow to bit, and maintains a soft, elastic contact with the horse's mouth.

Slipping the reins while going down a drop.

In all cases, the rider should release her horse over a fence, or give him enough rein so he can stretch his neck forward and use it as a balancing mechanism.

The key to a good release is relaxed arms with proper hand, wrist, and elbow position. First, the arms (elbows and shoulders) should be soft and elastic, allowing the horse to pull them forward as needed.

Preferably, there should be a straight line from bit to elbow (automatic release), as this improves contact and communication between horse and rider. The wrists of the rider should remain straight, as bent wrists tend to stiffen the lower arm. The elbows should be next to the rider's side, not "chicken-winged" and pointing outward, which decreases flexibility and softness.

As in all riding, the hands should be closed softly, neither tightly holding the reins (which causes tension and stiffness) nor so soft that the reins slip through too easily. The one exception to this rule is when the rider needs to slip her reins.

Types of releases

Difference releases are used depending on circumstances. However, all riders should strive to readily be able to use each one as needed, and should practice them all.

Basic release:

the rider grabs the mane of the horse. This allows the rider to be sure that she does not fall back and hit the horse in the mouth or back, or try to use the mouth for balance. It is used by beginner riders who do not yet have the position and balance to do more advanced releases without risking hitting their horse in the mouth. It is also very important for more advanced riders on green horses, who tend to over jump, or when a rider for some reason loses position due to an awkward jump. Riders should not think it is reserved for novices, and all good riders will grab mane to save their horse's mouth. However, it provides the least amount of control. It should therefore not be used if it is not required.

Short crest release:

the rider slides the hands up the crest as the horse takes off, not before (which "drops" the horse). The hands should not slide far up the crest, only a couple inches, as needed. It provides support for the rider's upper body, while still providing a good amount of control due to the fact that the rider did not release any more than needed. Best used on verticals, when the rider needs to turn mid-air, or when going down drop fences. An intermediate release.

Long crest release:

Similar to the short crest release, in that the rider slides his hands up the crest, but the hands are pushed much further along the neck. Gives a great deal of freedom, but fairly little control. Best for very wide oxers, to allow the horse to really stretch across, for green horses that may jump large or awkwardly, for gymnastics grids, and for use on horses that have been hit in the mouth over fences and are reluctant to jump or stretch down over a fence. The rider should be careful not to associate a large movement forward with the hands and elbows to mean a movement forward with the hips. The hip angle should still close backward. Many riders get into the habit of jumping ahead with this release. Critics say this release is overused and exaggerated by hunter riders; in the hunter ring it is often used by experienced and/or professional riders on well-trained horses over jumps of relatively modest size. Proponents say that this shows off a talented hunter by proving the horse needs little assistance from the rider to jump in good form.

Automatic release:

The most advanced release, where the rider maintains a soft, elastic, steady contact with a straight line from elbow to bit as the horse jumps. Results in a great deal of control and communication between horse and rider, allowing the rider to signal to the horse what to do on landing. It is allows the rider to better turn while in the air, to correct horses that jump crookedly, and to provide the support that some horses prefer over fences. It is also good on horses that need lots of control after landing. The automatic release requires perfect balance from the rider to be executed correctly. An unsteady rider will catch the horse in the mouth, and an incorrect automatic release will spoil a horse's jump and confidence. However, if a rider is able to perform it correctly, it is often best to use this release whenever possible. Very useful in show jumping and eventing, where control is very important.

Slipping the reins:

Not actually a release, but a very valuable tool that all riders should have.

To be used when the rider accidentally gets behind the horses motion, when riding drop fences or fences with a downhill landing, or when a horse gets in trouble over a fence (such as catches a leg on a cross-country fence).

It allows the rider to release the horse and give him the freedom he needs, without forcing the rider to do one of the other releases. However, it does result in extra long reins on landing, so the rider needs to practice gathering up the reins and shortening them to the correct length.

With experience, comes the feel that riders will learn to instinctively choose the correct release for a given situation

Some common riding position faults :

Swinging lower leg:

This usually occurs if the rider pinches or grips with the knees, if she lacks contact throughout the whole leg (for example, has no contact with the thigh), or if she rides with stirrups that are too long to provide support.

Since the lower leg is the rider's anchor, a swinging lower leg greatly decreases security and can be very dangerous if the rider is jumping complex fences at high speeds.

There are two "acceptable" occasions for the swinging leg. First, the Grand Prix rider may lose position because the fences are so large, and his horse's thrust and motion is very difficult to stay with. Riders of this caliber are generally able to compensate for their deviations from the classical position due to skill and experience.

Second, this is commonly seen by hunter riders, because their horses have such power jumps and great bascule that it is hard to stay with the jump.

In both cases, however, there remain riders that are still able to maintain a classical position.

Toes down/Heels up:

This is usually accompanied by the swinging lower leg. In some cases it is due to the rider standing on her toe, instead of sinking her weight down her lower leg. Again, this places the rider in a very precarious position.

Lower leg shoved forward:

Pushing the lower leg slightly forward is appropriate for some fences (such as cross-country) for added security. However, it is not appropriate for riding on level ground in a manicured arena at low speeds.

Shoving the lower leg forward tends to decrease the rider's ability to stay with the motion, placing them in "the back seat" and risking that they will fall down on their horse's back while over a fence.

Jumping ahead:

This involves the rider opening the hip angle over the fence, rather than folding back, so that the majority of their body is in front of the line made by the stirrup leather.

The lower leg usually swings backward. It places the rider in a very insecure position, since the rider not only loses her base of support (her lower leg), but also is in front of the horse's centre of motion. This means that the rider will fall forward (and possibly off) if the horse for any reason slows down his motion, (stops, runs out, or stumbles).

Secondly, this throws the rider's weight over the horse's shoulders, making it very difficult for the horse to pick it up as he takes off and harder for him to get out of trouble on landing.

Riders most commonly jump ahead if they are trying to jump for their horse or if they anticipate the take-off and do not wait for the horse to close their hip and knee angles. It is also seen in the hunter arena, as some believe it makes their horse's jump look more powerful.

Getting left behind:

When the rider's body is mostly behind the line made by the perpendicular stirrup leather and behind the horses motion. This results in the rider placing extra weight on the horse's back.

Although hitting the horse in the back is a huge fault in the hunter and jumper arenas, because it punishes the horse for rounding into the bascule which is essential in those disciplines, it is acceptable for eventing when riding cross-country.

This is because it places the rider in an extremely secure seat (as riders usually fall off over the shoulder of the horse, not the hindquarters), and because a great bascule is not encouraged cross-country. Instead, it is better if the horse jumps slightly flat for most fences, because they are very wide, and because a flat jump is usually a quicker jump, therefore making it easier for the rider to make the time.

This position is performed in degrees depending on the type of fence, with most fences where the rider is behind the motion but not putting his seat bones on the horse's back, and others, such as drop fences, where it is essential that the rider keep his seat completely in the saddle for security purposes. However, getting left behind sometimes occurs if the rider's upper body is too open and she is leaning back before the fence, if the horse takes off from a very long distance (jumps from too far back), or if the rider's lower leg is shoved so far forward in front of the knee that it forces the upper body back.

In all cases, the rider must slip the reins to provide the horse freedom of movement to get over the fence.

Snapping up:

When the rider throws his upper body upward, quickly opening his hip angle, on the landing side.

This risks that the rider will catch the horse in the mouth or put too much weight on his back.

It also disrupts the horse's jump.

It usually occurs when a rider has gotten into the habit of falling forward (usually because the lower leg swings back), and the rider tries to compensate by bringing the upper body back too soon before the horse has completed the jump.

Ducking:

When the rider bends her hip angles too much, and snaps her upper body over one shoulder. This makes the horse carry uneven weight on one side, which makes it more difficult for him to jump.

This occurs when the rider has too much weight in one stirrup, instead of being evenly centred.

Not releasing:

This is a mortal sin in all riding circles, as it causes the horse to jump flat and, can make the horse detest jumping. The horse will learn to associate jumping with pain and will eventually lead to refusals, stopping and running out.

A poor release may occur for several reasons.

First, the rider may use the reins for support over the fence because she has not developed correct balance. This rider should be sure to grab mane to avoid hitting her horse in the mouth.

Secondly, a rider may be left behind the motion. In this case, the rider should slip the reins.

Some riders do so when they are mounted on strong horses, and they wish to tell the horse to slow down over the fence before landing, or get in the habit of overusing their hands between fences and forget to release. In this case, the rider must make a conscious effort to remember to release the horse in the air.

It also occurs when riders plant their hands on the neck over a fence to support their upper body, but the hands are placed too far back to allow adequate rein for the horse, or if the riders keep contact during takeoff but stiffen their elbows so that they don't follow that contact forward over the fence.

Occasionally, it appears as if a rider is not releasing enough, when in fact she is slipping the reins or performing a correct automatic release.

Incorrect release:

When the rider releases by shoving her hands above the horse's neck, into the air, or way down below the neck. This not only looks sloppy, but changes the rider's balance over fences

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