Tips for a clean stadium round?

[Catalina]

We are moving up to Novice tomorrow and I find myself in a mild state of panic. Our dressage is going really well and I have a dressage lesson today to fine tune everything. XC should be okay as long as I don't do anything stupid. We went schooling at Waredaca last Friday and he was awesome. So, it is stadium that has me :uhoh:. We had a rail at our last two BN outings and wound up going down a few places in the standings because of that. I had a lesson on Wednesday and we worked on a good stadium canter and Connor was really good, but I still feel ill about the thought of stadium tomorrow, especially since he had several rails at Novice with his former owner.

Any tips, hints, advice (mental or otherwise) on how to get a clean stadium round?

Thanks!

[Jazzy Lady]

your canter is EVERYTHING. Balance, impulsion (not speed) and rhythm. Ride your canter. Don't freak if you don't see a distance, wait with leg ON. :) Oh, and relax and have fun. Visualize your perfect round before you go in.

[Jleegriffith]

Go in the ring and create a good canter. Depending on the horse be prepared to ride the first fence or two a bit agressively if needed. Look for your jumps early and focus on riding the canter all the way to the jump. Ride each jump individually and if you have a bad fence don't dwell on it (this tends to get me if I dwell on a bad fence I get disorganized quickly).

Have a game plan on how you will ride your course and walk it or go over in your mind several times and set little markers where you will tell yourself here I will balance up and reorganize.

Good luck!

[curlykarot]

Good Luck tomorrow Catalina! I'll see you, I'll be there grooming and cheering on for a couple of horses from my barn. You guys will do great! :D

Something that has been helping me in my past couple of jump schools is counting strides in my head. I'll count before a single jumpp (3,2,1) and thru a line. Its helping my eye and helping me not pick at my horse (which, when I pick, gives us a rail).

[Bobthehorse]

your canter is EVERYTHING. Balance, impulsion (not speed) and rhythm. Ride your canter. Don't freak if you don't see a distance, wait with leg ON. :) Oh, and relax and have fun. Visualize your perfect round before you go in.

This is so true. And on a horse that pulls rails in the front (well, any horse really) make sure you wait with leg to the base, and dont get ahead, always keep your weight back over the saddle, and dont be too quick with your upper body. Thats probably why most people have rails at that level, and its a skill that will come with time, but an important one.

[CBudFrggy]

If you feel disorganized at the canter before the start flags, make a courtesy circle a la hunterdom. Use it to get your horse focused on you and to get your canter together. You should have enough time. I had to do this my first HT b/c my guy was watching with the photographers outside the ring.

[FolsomBlues]

I agree with everyone else, namely:

1. Establish a nice rythm, don't rush him.
2. Don't pick at your horse, let him do the jumping.
3. WAIT for the jump, DO NOT jump ahead.

Good luck! It's funny, I'm new to eventing (switched from Jumpers), so I feel the most comfortable in stadium, we never have problems there. Dressage.....WHOLE other story! :lol:

[ponygirl]

I'm also a jumper who dabbles in eventing.
Walk the course so you know your lines. I cannot tell you how many I've seen not ride the lines or know what their options are. Support your horse regardless of whether you see the distance and remember to breath and have fun :)

[Roney]

TOTALLY agree with the canter comments - it's helped me immensely.
Also helpful to me (I tend to anticipate the fence): once you have your canter and you're lined up with the fence, look beyond the fence. By three strides out, I don't take one more glance at it. I know this doesn't work for everyone, but it's been a big improvement for me.

[Fergs]

I wouldn't do a circle after going through the start flags for two reasons: (1) time faults and (2) danger of crossing your tracks.

You'll want to have good impulsion and an even rhythm both going into and cantering away from the jumps. Count in your mind if you have to....I do constantly!

Also, you may find that your horse jumps better over slightly larger jumps. Mine certainly does.

Best of luck to you!

[scubed]

I agree with posters that the canter is where the jump originates. It is also my experience that some horses care more about touching or taking rails than others. For those that care less, I stadium jump without boots. Often they begin to care more when they realize that rapping a pole is a bit ouchy and at these levels, I don't think they will be hurt by not wearing boots. Also, try to keep your rein and your seat soft over the fence. If you restrict head/neck motion or come down on your horses back while they are still in the air, it can lead to them hitting a rail, so breathe, relax and enjoy. In the longer term, gymnastic type exercises help them get quicker with picking their feet up, but that is less useful for the upcoming event. ;)

[FolsomBlues]

Fergs - I think we meant to do the courtesy circle to establish rythm BEFORE going through the start flags. I like to do this. Let's me get in there and breath and establish a nice canter.

[Ajierene]

Think confidently - imagine yourself going over the jump. The moment you feel yourself start thinking about taking rails, create a little mental movie of a clean round.

Personal confidence will help with translating the confidence over the jump.

Image your clean round with you doing what needs to be done to be sure each fence is jumped right, then think about it when you are jumping. (crop, if needed, extra leg/spur before the jump, three strides here, etc.)

It helps me to think the jumps are not as big when I first move up a level. My trainer and I discuss how the jumps are so small for this level....

Whatever you do - don't look back, always look and think forward. If you hear a rail knocking, forget about it.

[Fergs]

Fergs - I think we meant to do the courtesy circle to establish rythm BEFORE going through the start flags. I like to do this. Let's me get in there and breath and establish a nice canter.

Gotcha (sorry I misread the previous post and thought it was suggested after the first jump)...and agreed if there's room. Anyone who was at Surefire a couple of weeks ago can tell you it wasn't possible there!

[CBudFrggy]

No worries, Fergs. You raised a valid point! :)

[luise]

is he hitting rails with his front or back feet? remember to pick your horse up off his forehand--a half halt or 2 maybe 5 strides in front of the fence and then keep your leg on hi.

[Bobthehorse]

If you feel disorganized at the canter before the first jump, make a courtesy circle a la hunterdom. Use it to get your horse focused on you and to get your canter together. You should have enough time. I had to do this my first HT b/c my guy was watching with the photographers outside the ring.

Crossing your path in stadium results in a refusal. Just so you know. You are better off to go deep into the turn if you feel you need more time to get a good canter before the jump.

[Old Time Rider]

Another hint is to watch some horses before you go; if their route plan brought down a rail - what did the ones do different that left the rail up? (usually riding out the line from the previous fence is the answer). If worried about time faults - are others getting them? Some stadium courses are wheeled extremely generous. Good luck.

[Catalina]

Thanks for all the advice :).

is he hitting rails with his front or back feet?

Here is a picture of our rail a few weeks ago at Seneca (http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage.aspx?pi=0EBK007U860046&po=46). Please feel free to critique. This rail was really upsetting because I was the only one in my division to have a rail and it meant the difference between 2nd and 5th (and qualifying for the AECs :sigh:).

[Ajierene]

One thing I will say, looking at some of the other jumps on that course - he may have gotten lazy because that jump was smaller (vertical opposed to oxer) and if it was alone in the field (not turn to get to it, not part of a combination - alone in the field).

The horse may have not thought the jump was a big deal and gotten lazy. He is really hanging that one foot, which is what caused the down rail. You may have also thought it not a big deal either and did not ask for the jump as much.

If you have another jump like this (and likely you will), just be extra sure to set him back and make sure he has impulsion to the jump. Give him a bit of an extra kick or tap with the crop.

[Jazzy Lady]

You're jumping a bit ahead which may be why he couldn't/didn't lift his shoulder. It is very important to keep the weight of the shoulders...

Remember, wait for the jump to come to you with your body. :)

[Merle]

I agree. You're jumping ahead a bit. I moved up to Novice this past weekend and let me tell you, I was nervous. I've gone Prelim but those jumps looked so big on my 5 year old!!! I did terribly for me (pulled one rail because of it but still ended up in 1st) and was jumping ahead and trying to jump for him.

So, for you, think about WAITING (which is what I will be doing) and sitting until he jumps and riding him all that way. I KNOW the rail he pulled is MY fault because he couldn't get his shoulders up out of the way. Plus he was a bit pooped. So, everything combined = rail. Oh, and the canter, too. Get a good canter! I had a very nice canter but jumping ahead ruined it all. I've been great at BN with my baby but my nerves really got the best of me when I moved up. Next time the jumps will look small so I promise I'm going to wait wait wait!

[tlw]

Balance. . . . Don't forget to ride through the turns and use them to re-balance if necessary. Is Conner a big, gray, ISH from LA? If so, I know him - he's a very good boy! Good luck and have fun.

[LookinSouth]

We had a rail at our last two BN outings and wound up going down a few places in the standings because of that. I had a lesson on Wednesday and we worked on a good stadium canter and Connor was really good, but I still feel ill about the thought of stadium tomorrow, especially since he had several rails at Novice with his former owner.



I'm confused:confused:....if you had rails in BN and you are feeling ill at the thought of Novice then why exactly are you moving up?? Why not spend some more time lessoning at the Novice level until these issues are resolved?

Much of the advice given here is helpful and accurate but I can't help but think it isn't going to be of much assistance if you and your horse are not 100% .prepared for the move up to Novice. Dunno...maybe that's just me.

[Janet]

In Specific-
From looking at that picture, and some of the others, the reason the rail came down was because he got to a slightly tight (but still perfectly reasonable) spot AND you jumped ahead. When he jumps from a tight spot, he needs to get his knees up more quickly, and your weight being too far forward meant he couldn't get them up in time. If you had been sitting back (or even "left", as long as you slipped the reins) he could have jumped from that spot without pulling the rail. And if he had jumped from a longer spot, he could have got his legs up in time, even with you ahead of him.

That is shown in the sequence that starts with
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage.aspx?pi=0EBK007U860057&po=57
where he clears the fence even though you are even further ahead of him.

You need to SIT and WAIT, even if you are afraid you will be left.

More General
Going to a bunch of jumper shows would help. You can do one course, discuss what went right and wrong, and then go in and do it again.

[Catalina]

I listened to everyone's advice and got a good, balanced canter and sat up and WAITED and he was awesome, posting one of only four clean rounds in our division. I think part of the problem in BN is that he was bored and not trying and I was (wrongly :o) trying to compensate by jumping the fence for him because he just came alive in stadium and powered over everything. We finished on our dressage score and won :D!!!! Thanks for all the great advice!

[Jazzy Lady]

Hey Congratulations!!! That's excellent news!

[FolsomBlues]

Great news! Congratulations!