2point and jumping position?

The first thing that catches my eye is how uncomfortable your horse is. He's stiff, with his head up, and his tail is wringing so much I'm afraid he might turn into a helicopter and lift off. I think a lot of this tension comes from your fixed hands. It looks like you've simply planted your hands and are determined to not move them. Your hands must "breathe." Your hands are a part of you. Is your heart beating? Are you breathing? Yes? Good, that means you are alive, and since your hands are a part of you, they should be alive, too.

I see a lot of tension in you, too. Not just your hands. Your elbows, your shoulders, your neck... even with the dark pictures, it's easy to see. A person's angles and posture give a lot away. It may be a mental fear, or a physical fear (you've had a fall recently, for example). Your horse looks smart over the jumps. I think you should put a little more trust in him. Remember to breathe as your riding. If it helps, sing a song. Learn to move your hands with his head and give him that room he needs to BALANCE. I put that in upper cases because it's so important. I wish I had Littauer's book with me because there's a great part I would like to quote about balance, but I'll do my best to recite and hope I don't butcher it.

When the horse jumps, almost the entire body must flex. Almost. There is one single spot that remains immobile as the horse jumps and that is the area just behind the withers. This is why riders are positioned where they are these days. Because it puts them over that immobile spot, and prevents them from interfering with the loin (leanig too far back) and the "balancer" (the neck and head [jumping ahead and laying on the neck]).

What I'm trying to get at is that the head and neck must be able to oscilate to act as that "balancer." If the rider is stiff in the hand/elbow, the horse cannot extend his neck to balance himself to his potential. Thus you end up with an *upward* neck. If this pony were able to extend his neck (imagine this), his chest would lift, his knees would snap up and become even (yes, a fixed hand can make the knees drop, as can an off-centre rider), and his back would fill up instead of being hollow.

It's the same thing in the walk/trot/canter. The "balancer" must be able to oscilate. I looked at some of your other pictures (flatwork), and saw that exact same tension in your horse.

See:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25003951@N04/82442974...

Here's what I would suggest to you:

1.) Carry your own hands. I know that sounds obvious, but your hands are down, in the neck, and this cuts off your communication to your horse. Lift your hands, hold the reins with your hand, and hold his mouth with your elbows. No part of your arm should be tense, if you feel tense, turn your hand so that your thumb is pointing out (like you're hitch-hiking). This will unlock your ulna and radius (bones in your arm), and eliminate much of the tension. It's also a good trick when you're turning ;)

2.) Have elasticity. Even in the trot, you must be supple and elastic with your aids. Lifting your hands will help you to be less fixed. When he gets into a frame, open your fingers just slightly to reward.

3.) Activate the joints. Your horse has broken at the third virtebrae (can you see it?), and this is the point where the joints stop bending. In order for the back and abs to properly lift, the joints in the hind end must be active and bending. Once a horse learns to break at the 3rd V, it's difficult to fix. Take off the martingale, and encourage him to mobilize the jaw (not necessarily chewing the bit, but being open to flexing). It looks like a running(?) or maybe a german martingale, I can't tell. They're both great for training, but a horse cannot live in them.

4.) Sit more forward in your saddle (fall into the "pit"), and then draw your shoulders back (remembering at the same time to carry your own hands) by activating your lats. If you draw your shoulders back without moving forward in the saddle, you will put all of your weight over is kidneys (ouch!)

All of this (the flatwork) translates to jumping. If he carries tension when you're working on dressage work, he will carry it as he's jumping.

I think your leg is pretty darn decent, and I think your base of support (your bum, thighs) are good. You're NOT too far out of the saddle. That's perfect. But don't fall into the trap of using your hands to hold yourself up.

Hug up the saddle with the inside of your thighs this will help your bum. Lift your hands as you said. Plus when you fold bring your chest towards the neck and pinch your shoulder blades together. I can't see your lower leg so... Also try to let your horse have her head it looks like you caught her in the bit over the jumps but it may just be her head set, I can't tell because it is not a video so yeah.

the pictures are super dark making it difficult to really see your positioning. You need to release more though, bring your leg a little more underneath you (the last picture it looked good from what i could see), grip with your lower leg, not your knee, and allow yourself to bend at the hip a bit more (this will be difficult if you are pinching at the knee so really make sure you are holding with your calf and ankle). You also might want to bring your stirrups up a few holes, they look a little long, which will not help you at all getting into the right position over the fences. your horse is holding her head really high at the jump, which might be as a result of the lack of release you are giving her. that is probably the biggest issue you have right now, you need to try and reach for her ears with your hands. it seems like you feel as if you really need to hold her to the jump and you just forget to let go. try to relax and not think about holding so much and just go with her as she jumps.

Of course we all have problems we need to work on. Contrary to what most of the people doing the critiquing on this site believe, none of us are perfect. I think it's great that you know your limitations and are seeking advice.

I'm just gonna say this: Look at the picture of the horse free jumping. Now look at any picture of him jumping with you on his back. Notice anything? He jumps beautifully round by himself. With you on, he's hollow. Now plenty of people out there jump there horses every day and don't know the difference, but you are a dressage rider and you should know better. Look at some of the best jumper riders in the world and they look like they are riding around a dressage course with some jumps in the way. Your horse looks very athletic, but even in your dressage photos he looks a bit tight over his topline. This makes your job challenging, but this horse looks worth putting the time and effort into.

My advice is to work with your instructor, but don't sacrifice the quality of his gaits in order to jump higher and faster. Stick to basics until he stays round and supple up to and over the fences. If your flatwork is correct, when you release over the fences your horse should follow the contact, seeking forward and down rather than throwing his head up and hollowing his back. You look tense and tight, which is not doing your horse any favors. Just stick to basics and keep practicing. You look like a competent rider who needs to develop finesse.

Well, you want to get into a jockey position (lifting your rear out of the saddle.).