If you want to ride a horse, you can't just jump into a english saddle with tennis shoes and jeans on. Same goes for shows. Before riding, you will want to get into the proper attire to insure safety and comfort.
Here is a list of essential riding clothes.
1) Breeches- breeches are soft, stretchy, form-fitting riding pants with suede at the knees to keep you from getting pinched by stirrup leathers. They come in a variety of colors, but are usually worn in tan, beige, gray, or black. I have purple ones. ;)
2) Riding boots- riding boots are usually made out of s
mooth leather and have a small heel to keep the stirrup on the ball of your foot. You can get 2 different types of boots; Jodhpur/Paddock Boots (which are short and usually worn with half chaps) and Tall Boots. Tall boots are used mostly
for shows, as they are more expensive and delicate.
Tall Riding Boots
Paddock Boots
3) Half Chaps- half chaps are stretchy "leg wrap-like" articles of clothing that are worn over paddock boots to protect the calf and give a stylish look.
4) Riding helmet- helmets are probably the most important thing out of all of these. They keep your head safe if you were to fall.
Okay, first off, this site was lacking a post. A lot. June 2010 was when the last post was done! Wow! Well, not to worry, you couple people that read this blog! The H101 team will be posting more often!
Today, our post is on how to jump.
Please note that all horses learn differently, and they learn differently in different environments. We'll just teach the basics, but if you're serious about jumping higher and gaining more experience, we advise you to contact a local riding farm or stables for info and lessons.
Before you jump or even ATTEMPT, make sure you have a helmet on and proper gear.
Also, before you start jumping you need to have a solid riding seat. With jumping, balance is key. Make sure you are able to get in and out of your jumping position, or "2-point" easily, and without getting out of the saddle too much or laying on the horse's neck.
In the picture above, this woman is showing a correct jumping position. She is closing her hip angle by not being too far out of the saddle, sinking the weight into her heels, keeping her hands low on the horse's neck, and she has a flat back that is following the horse's movement.
Now, before you jump big like this lady, you will want to start with either poles on the ground or a very small crossbar.
Try trotting up to a crossbar first. If you and your horse are inexperienced, get into your jumping position a few strides before the takeoff. (See previous post on different parts of a jump.) Inexperienced horses tend to either over-jump or just trot over it. A good jumping position will help your horse to actually jump, rather than knock the whole thing over.
Once you've trotted up to it, make sure you squeeze with your heels or cluck, to get your horse listening to you. This will help him/her to jump. As the horse lifts up his front legs, you will then go up farther into your two point to avoid getting left behind. Once you're in the air (like the horse and rider in the picture) you will hold your position until the back legs come up and the front legs begin to come down for a landing. Then, you will lean back in the saddle, and give your horse rein to stretch its neck down. Once your horse has hit the ground, you will lean forward slightly into your half seat, and canter away from the jump.
And thats a successful jump!
Once you've done that, you can try cantering up to the jump, and GRADUALLY increasing height. Practice makes perfect!
To get more of an understanding of what this looks like, you can watch these videos.
THANKS FOR READING!!
P.S. How to videos made by us will be up this summer! :D
