And no, I don’t mean like this.
I’ve been looking at jump position photos for weeks now.
and pondering how to achieve this “Must Have” jump position that so many say is essential.
Then….. I found some old photos from my “return to eventing” days……..
It was a very dark and scary part of my tale………..
I was bad, REALLY bad.
I was scary.
I was loose in the tack.
I was in my horses face.
I couldn’t let go of her mouth when I wanted to.
I couldn’t land over my feet from a jump.
But for some bizarre reason a lot of my jump photos from that VERY BAD time in my riding….
look an awful lot like the “You-Want-To-Look-Like-This” photos I keep seeing everywhere.
Fast forward 5 years…..
Ok, I’m still bad.
And YES, I PAID for that photo. A year ago. And I’ve been dying to use it because it’s HILARIOUS but the photographer won’t send it to me…………..so I’m using it with PROOF on it, Take That shady thieving photographer………….ggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrr…….back to my story………..
Yes, I’m still bad at eventing, but I’m not nearly as scary.
I’m not loose in the tack.
I do NOT balance with my reins.
And I land over my feet…….most of the time.
But my photos now aren’t the “you want to look like this” image I keep seeing.
This blew my mind a little bit, and definitely re-enforced Bad Eventer’s theory
that riding position………. is a myth. See Truth or Fiction for more on that subject.
This lead me back to an anatomy discussion I had with a friend………..
While we seem to talk ad nauseam about horse conformation, and how function relates to form………………. you don’t hear much IF ANYTHING about how HUMAN conformation relates to riding.
Riders come in all shapes and sizes……….
Seriously, look at these femurs. The person / hip joint on the left is going to “fold up” much differently than the one on the right.
And just like so many successful horses have different conformation and different jumping styles……….
What if the same is true for the person up top?
My goal is not to let my boobs touch my horse or lose aerodynamicism, all without losing the ability to pick Pony up and correct (if need be) a stride after landing. Does this always happen? Haha, good question. Mostly… we do what works.
Definitely the funniest comment ever, and bonus points for getting the word boob in there!!!! Hahahahaha!!
Interesting question about rider confirmation, i'd never thoight to question that but you are right we all cone in different shapes & sizes and all have strengths & weaknesses. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me can write a fact-backed article about this someday as I for one think it'd make for fascinating reading.
Plenty food for thought – cheers 😀
My trainer, while always making me try for perfection always got annoyed when I asked him about my jumping position. Usually responding with, "It's fine, it's fine…now let's focus on [insert insanely easy for everyone else but hard for me thing here]. One time after REALLY pushing him to give me an answer, he finally said, "George Morris said my leg was too far back, Mark Phillips said my leg was too forward. I'm telling you, you're balanced, you're safe, and you're out of your horses way, and THAT's OKAY for your level right now, let's go back to [insert insanely easy thing that's hard for me but easy for everyone else". lol Love you, bad eventer!
My goal is never, ever to look pretty — I just hope to merely be effective one day… and not in the way so much!!