Riding a successful jumping course starts with your flatwork. Working on the flat gives you the opportunity to zone in on any position imperfections in order to develop a stronger and more secure base of support that will carry over to your work over fences. Top hunt-seat trainer Geoff Teall puts a strong emphasis on flatwork with all his students.
“Flat is the basis for all of it. This is where you build your habits and where you learn. This is where you develop the skills you need for jumping,” he said. “There’s no question that at certain times you just want to warm up and jump. But if you really want to improve, then you have to work and get things organized on the flat.”
In trying to better all your skills in the saddle, Teall advises to keep it simple, start at the beginning and take care of the details. “Figure out what you need to work on first in order to slowly and gradually get to the end of the story to where you can comfortably gallop and jump a course,” he said.
Here, Teall offers tips on how to establish good habits during your flatwork by finding the proper rein length and contact and correcting your hand and leg position. He also explains how the angles that make up a rider’s position affect your balance and in turn influence your horse.
Flatwork: Rein Length & Hand Position
“When we’re talking about rein length, you have the right length when you have contact with your horse’s mouth and your hands are at or a little in front of the withers. Your elbows should be a little in front of your body. If you’re not sure if your reins are the right length, they’re probably too long.
“Once you establish the right rein length at the walk, start trotting and find something you don’t like about your reins. Once you decide what to work on, go back to the walk to make adjustments or think about it. Riding is a balance between going, thinking, reviewing and going again.
“Your fingers should be closed and your hands should be slightly inside the vertical—not on the vertical, but just inside it. You can also think of it as following the slope of your horse’s shoulders with your hands.
“A lot of riders carry their hands a bit low and wide, but I’d like to see you carry your hands a little bit up and together. When I ride, I actually have one hand touching the other and carry my hands higher for two reasons. Number one, when your hands get low and wide, it makes it more difficult for you to balance. Two, if your hands are up and together, it will position your reins on either side of your horse’s neck, which will help you maintain steady contact.
“As you start to get the position of your hands more accurate by being up and together, you’ll naturally find the right rein length. Ideally, this will help you find steadier contact that your horse can accept and trust. Always think about maintaining very smooth, steady and even contact with your horse’s mouth. And in order to do that, you have to find balance through your leg and your base.”
Leg Position Is Key To Balance
“Your balance and the most important part of your position starts with your legs. To establish that base of support, your heels must be down, your leg is back and underneath you and your toes should be slightly turned out. Constantly think leg back, down and in. Everything that you’re doing at home in your flatwork is about building habits.
“A lot of people ride with their toes straight ahead. But I like for the toe to be slightly turned out at a natural angle; it should be just enough to free up your ankles, which in turn will allow your knees to relax. Once your knees relax, you can get your leg down and more around your horse. The longer your leg, the more secure you are.
“If you ride with your leg too open, you’re constantly going to be losing your balance backward and catching it in your hands. You should have a bit more of a closed feeling.
“Ultimately, you want independent hands and an independent seat. This starts from finding balance through your leg and your base during flatwork and then working with your hands out in front of you and not using them for balance.
“When trying to make changes, you’re better off working at the walk first. Get things exactly where you want them, walk, adjust again and then go back to trot. This way, you’re building good habits instead of just going around and around practicing bad habits.
“Another great exercise for leg position is to hold your two-point position at the walk or trot. Try to avoid looking in the mirror to see if you’ve got it right because that prevents you from developing feel. Instead, keep your eye up and feel where your leg is and where your toes are so that your balance starts to get better.
“Even in your two point, maintain feel with your horse’s mouth. You don’t want to go back and forth between no hands to heavy hands to no hands to heavy hands. The contact needs to be light but steady.”
Understanding Rider Body Angles
“An angle is the way two straight lines intersect. While riding, our position has four different angles: ankle, knee, hip and elbow. These angles can either be open or closed.
“The angle of your ankle is formed by your foot and calf; the angle at your knee is formed by your calf and thigh. Your thigh and upper body form the angle at your hip, and the angle at your elbow is formed by your forearm and upper arm.
“To lean forward on your horse, you must close your hip angle. You don’t want to lean forward from your waist because that will create roundness in your back, which is not only hideous but puts you in a weak position. You want a slight arch in the small of your back. That’s your strength on your horse.
“Practice leaning forward by bending through your hips at the walk. Keep your eyes up, lean forward and keep your back flat, leaning forward from your hips.
“At the posting trot, you should be inclined forward about 50 degrees inside the vertical to follow the motion of the trot. So, as you go to the trot, close your hip angle about 50 degrees in front. But as you close the angle, you must bend at your hips. This will allow you to stay down in your legs.”
