Jump With Joy

Sarah Blanchard

Description

Many riders want to try jumping, but are intimidated. This guide helps riders of every age safely learn to jump by presenting a natural approach with progressive, step-by-step exercises, full explanations, and lots of photos and diagrams. It covers everything from preparing a green horse for the first jump to riding a challenging course in a show ring. It includes guidelines for every discipline and every breed of horse, plus information on the demands of different competitive events.
Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

1. A Horse's Talent for Jumping.

2. Finding a Talented Horse.

3. Getting Started: Readiness and Equipment.

4. Balance Basics: Center of Gravity.

5. Preparing for the Jump.

6. Understanding Strides, Distances, and Grids.

7. Beyond the Grid: Riding Single Fences and Courses.

8. Starting the Green Horse over Jumps.

9. Jumping with a Rider.

10. Specializing: Finding the Right Fit.

11. Troubleshooting.

References.

Index.

Sujets

• Animal Sports
• horses
• Sports
• Equestrian
• Recreation
• Sport équestre
• Sports équestres
• Sports équestres
• Sports équestres

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 08 mars 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470652275
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

J UMP WITH J OY
Positive Coaching for Horse and Rider
Sarah Blanchard
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2008 by Sarah Blanchard. All rights reserved.
Howell Book House Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Photos courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blanchard, Sarah.
Jump with joy : positive coaching for horse and rider / Sarah Blanchard.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-470-12140-5
1. Jumping (Horsemanship) I. Title.
SF309.7.B53 2008
798.2 5-dc22
2007044698
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Book design by Lissa Auciello-Brogan Cover design by Wendy Mount
C ONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Natural Approach
Who Should Read This Book?
How Should You Use This Book?
1 A Horse s Talent for Jumping
The Mechanics of Jumping
The Jumping Stride
Balance in Jumping
2 Finding a Talented Horse
Inherited Characteristics
Conformation and Natural Balance
Evaluating Conformation and Basic Movement
Breeds with Built-in Jumping Ability
Parentage: Who s Your Daddy?
Temperament
Physical Development
Nutrition and Health
Skills Training
Strength, Stamina, and Agility Training
Partnership Development
Trust and Confidence
Responsiveness
Experience and Judgment
Evaluating Talent: Yearlings and Two-Year-Olds
3 Getting Started: Readiness and Equipment
Rider Readiness
Skills, Partnership, and Responsiveness
Your Support Team
Equipment
Horse Equipment
Rider Equipment
4 Balance Basics: Center of Gravity
The Rider s Center of Gravity
The Horse s Center of Gravity
The Combined Center of Gravity
Balance Basics: Position
The Anchored Leg
Using Your Eyes: Soft Eyes and Hard Eyes
Using Your Hands: The Release
5 Preparing for the Jump
Lesson 1: Manage the Reins, Crop, and Jumping Strap
Exercise 1: Bridge Your Reins
Exercise 2: Change Hands with Your Crop
Exercise 3: Slip the Reins
Exercise 4: Add the Jumping Strap
Lesson 2: On Your Feet-Gain Balance and Strong Legs
Exercise 1: Heel Lifts and Hamstring Stretches
Exercise 2: Half-Squats
Exercise 3: The Egg Position
Lesson 3: Two-Point and Three-Point Positions
Exercise 1: Rising Trot to Three-Point Position
Exercise 2: Ring Figures in Three-Point Position . . .
Exercise 3: . . . And Now in Two-Point Position
Exercise 4: The Test
Lesson 4: Focal Points and Crest Releases
Exercise 1: Focus and Release
Exercise 2: Simple Rails
Lesson 5: Stirrups and No Stirrups
Exercise 1: Retrieve the Stirrups
Exercise 2: Ride without Stirrups
Are You Ready to Move On?
6 Understanding Strides, Distances, and Grids
Measuring Strides
Your Horse s Jumping Stride at the Canter
Lesson 6: Calibrate Your Stride
Lesson 7: Find Your Horse s Baseline Stride
Riding through Gymnastic Grids
Lesson 8: The Basic Grid
Lesson 9: The Grid-Add a Vertical and an Oxer
Lesson 10: The Grid-Canter Bounces
7 Beyond the Grid: Riding Single Fences and Courses
Lesson 11: A Single Jump
Exercise 1: Grid to a Crossrail
Exercise 2: Verticals and Oxers
Lesson 12: Adjust Strides on a Four-Stride Line
Exercise 1: Confirm the Baseline
Exercise 2: Shorten the Strides on a Line
Exercise 3: Lengthen the Strides on a Line
Lesson 13: Add a Stride on a Longer Line
Exercise 1: The Add-a-Stride Option
Exercise 2: The Lengthen-Stride Option
Exercise 3: Options for Riding a Six-Stride Line
Lesson 14: Feel a Distance-Single Fence on a Circle
Exercise 1: Paths on a Circle
Exercise 2: Adjust the Path on a Circle
Lesson 15: Leads and Turns
Exercise 1: Hold the Lead on a Bending Line
Exercise 2: Change Leads and Turn
Lesson 16: Angles and Bends
Exercise 1: Jump at an Angle
Exercise 2: Jump at an Angle, or Bend the Line?
Lesson 17: Ride a Course
Lesson 18: Get Out of the Arena
8 Starting the Green Horse over Jumps
Sound, Healthy, Mature, and Physically Capable
Physical Condition
Age and Growth Plates
Prior Career
Balance and Skills on the Flat
Confidence and Responsiveness
Motivation
The Right Rider and Trainer
Begin with the Great Outdoors
Free-Jumping in the Arena
Facilities
Setting Up
First Jump
A One-Stride Combination
Jumping on the Longe
Longe over Jumps in the Arena
Longe over Jumps outside the Arena
Carrying a Rider: Preparing to Jump
Develop Your Horse s Balance, Rhythm, and Trust
Cavalletti and Ground Poles
9 Jumping with a Rider
Train with Grids
Simple Grids
Standard Distances
Jumping outside the Arena
Logs and Walls
Banks
Ditches
Barrels
Drop Jumps
Water Crossings
10 Specializing: Finding the Right Fit
A Critical Component: Your Coach
Choosing a Coach
Making Sense of the Competitive Scene
What Can You and Your Horse Accomplish?
The Show-Ring Hunter
Hunt Seat Equitation
Jumpers
Field Hunters
Eventers
Strategies for a Successful Round
11 Troubleshooting
Rider Problems
Ducking, Diving, or Over-Jumping
Getting Left Behind
Overriding
Under-Riding
Unable to See a Distance
Losing a Stirrup, Losing Balance, or Falling
Horse Problems
Disobediences (Refusals)
Wrong Leads or Uneven Knees in the Air
Rushing or Pulling
Jumping Long
Chipping In
Bucking, Swerving, or Bolting on Landing
Afterthoughts
References
Index
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many, many people have graciously contributed time, photographs, and general assistance to the creation of this book.
At the top of the list is my husband and principal photographer, Rich Valcourt, who is always ready to master new photography equipment and stand in the blazing sun to take hundreds of photos. Thank you for your love, patience, and support.
Thank you also to photographers Ham Ahlo, Jr., and Pat O Leary of Kamuela, Hawaii, for their excellent photos. Cynthia DeMeter from Horseplay Equestrian Center in Honalo, Hawaii; Carole Geballe of Hilo, Hawaii; and Chandra Chowanec of Newberry Farm in Columbia, Connecticut, also provided photos.
I d also like to gratefully acknowledge the help and support of Senior Editor Roxane Cerda, copyeditor Carol Pogoni, and developmental editor Betsy Thorpe at Wiley Publishing, who have enthusiastically helped guide the manuscript through the entire process, from concept to completion.
And a big mahalo (Hawaiian for thank you ) to the riders who graciously allowed me to use photographs of their best and not-so-best moments: Emma Ahlo, Scott Walker, Monique Walls, and Lily Startsman, students at Hawaii Preparatory Academy; Rachel Rechtman and Greta Friesen from Horseplay Equestrian Center; and good friends and students Lisa Johnston, Nancy Bird McIver, Lori Campbell, Joanne Costa, and Zahra Shine.
The patient, willing, wonderful horses in these photographs are Leo Bar Nani, Wai aka, Waiwi, Petunia, Wile E Coyote, Tsatyre, and Taser, along with my own beloved Pandora and the talented eventer Cuhoolain. Without them, there would be no joy in jumping.
I NTRODUCTION
A highly successful hunt-seat equitation rider once told me, in all seriousness, that she didn t need to learn how to balance her horse on a hill because All the Maclay classes are