How to Get Your Horse to Spend More Time in the Air Over Jumps

Description

Because we eventers gallop and jump at speed, our horses can sometimes develop the habit of jumping "flat". Which can be a big problem when it comes to trying to keep all of those pesky rails up in the show jumping ring! 

When a horse jumps in a flat style, it keeps its head high and back straight, which keeps the horse's body and legs much closer to the rails like in this picture:





Jumping with a good bascule is more mechanically efficient for clearing high obstacles. And it more reliably produces clean jumping, as the act of the horse rounding in the air moves his body and legs up away from the rails, like this:





But there are some things you can do to at home to encourage your horse to get in the habit of using its body more fully over jumps. Here are some ideas: