I really need some help deciding what exactly I need to train more on when I lease the horse I ride, sweet old Buddy-

I've been riding for about 2 years now, and I'm almost 18 and a half. Even though that might not be very long riding wise, I've excelled a bunch, and will start doing 3 feet jumps sooner rather than later hopefully. I'm starting to lease Buddy, and need help deciding on what I should do while I'm leasing him. We're starting to canter jumps, but only as far as some naturals and X's, nothing too serious yet-

I'm alright at posture, but I could use WAY more practice, and that is definitely my weak spot >w< I can two-point better now, but I also need to work on actually STAYING in the two-point (Suggestions on excersises to strengthen me in two-pointing can be PMed to me).

I've taught at a H/J barn for a long time. A great exercise that helps my students become stronger and more balanced--and more prepared to move on to larger jumps--is practicing going from posting trot, to half-seat, to two-point, back to half-seat, then back to posting, and repeat. The most important thing to focus on in this exercise is to make sure your lower leg is not slipping back (think 'heel at the girth'), and that you're thinking about pushing your hips further backwards when going from half-seat to two-point rather than just leaning further up the neck. Good luck!

Balance and strength is your best friend. Lots of no stirrup work, especially posting trot and canter, will help you a lot. Riding bareback will give you a better seat, as will lunge-line lessons, if your instructor is inclined to give them to you.

You can practice jumping even without jumping over things! Just throw a pole out into the arena and work on seeing your distance to it at the canter. A lot of riders count down from the last three strides to a fence, but I like to count down eight strides out- it's harder, but if you're eight strides out and realize that your horse is coming in short or long, you have time to adjust the stride. If you're counting down from 3, there's no time to adjust without getting super dramatic.

As for two point, a lot of that is leg strength, but you'd be surprised to know that core is key as well. At home you can do sit-ups and push ups to strengthen your core, which will help you hold your two-point.

Hope this helps!

To help improve your two-point, try starting some shallow wall sits (I.e. the same position that you hold in the saddle, rather than 90° with feet together). That will really strengthen your thighs. If you would like to increase the level of the exercise to 'Holy Cow, Why am I Doing This', add a block or two-by-four under your toes. This will help lengthen your calves. (For 'Kill Me Now' level, stand on a balance board instead. XD) For your core, lay flat on your stomach, then do the Superman yoga pose. Alternate between using only your back muscles, only your stomach muscles, and using both.

Hope this helps! :)

So, hate to say this but, you should not be jumping 3' if your 1. not cantering jumps and 2. don't have awesome posture and 2-point. Now for explanations: 1. If you haven't been or are not comfortable jumping from the canter, work over lower jumps 18", 2'3" until you have a good solid seat and are comfortable and feel confident jumping from all speeds. NO horse can jump 3' from a trot, it's just not possible. 2. You need to have a good solid independent seat, so hypothetically if your horse disappears or trips or stumbles you should not be affected at all instead your horses does whatever beneath you and you stay put. You also need a very strong half seat, 2-point and balance because your horse needs you. You can't just sit back for the ride. If you can't hold 2-point you could fall on his back and hit him in the mouth causing mixed signals, you might also not be able to help in a sticky striding situation because your to busy trying to say off his back, or he trys to duck and your left with your hands brased on his neck to keep your self in 2-point and can't correct him.

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Other exercises:

1. Get up in 2-point at a trot put you arms out to the side and go around the rail once, continue this exercise until you can hold 2-point with our sitting back in the saddle for maybe 7-10 laps then do it at the canter

2. This is a good balance and thigh muscle exercise: start posting but instead of the normal up-down-up-down go up-up-down-up-up-down staying in "up" position for 2 beats and sitting for one. If this is to difficult start with down-down-up or up-up-down-down till you get a feel for the weird posting.

3. No stirrups. This feels like torture but will be you best friend in the end. Posting, low jumps, cantering, basic dressage, everything it strengthens you core and thighs, calves. Remember it is very easy to go around with your legs dangling and flopping everywhere but that doesn't do anything for you, keep your legs and position just as you would if you had stirrups.

4. Gymnastic lines and Grids. Of you don't know what these are look them up but basically it's a line of jumps with different striding [ex. Bounce (where the horse lands and takes of without a stride between jumps), One Stride (horse lands takes a stride and jumps again), Two Stride (horse lands takes 2 strides and jumps again)] Make sure you have an instructor with you for these

5. Do this exercise over single jumps or even better Gymnastic Lines and Grids. This is good for trust, line your horse up for a jump(s) and then drop your reins, you can also put your arms out. Some other options I stead are closing your eyes, hands behind your back, hands on you head. You should always use your legs to control the horse and not rely on the reins.

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Notes:

1. Never jump alone

2. Lunge line or free lungeing lessons are great and help you work on you and not worry about your horse

3. Devolp your Eye. Practice seeing distances even for a ground pole or teeny cross rail. Distances are almost everything.

4. Condition, don't start doing a ton of hard stuff all of a sudden. Work you and your horse up to it

There's a lot of good information here, and I agree with HMHRealityCheck when she says that you really need to be solid in your position and your eye before you up the height of your jumps. I tried to move up before I was ready a few years back and it really hurt my riding and my horse's training.

One other tip I would give in addition to the exercises given here, is pushing your weight down through your thighs, while keeping your lower leg at the girth. Imagine that there is a weight running down your leg, so that you are anchored in position with your knee above your toe. This has helped me a lot with my stability in the tack, as I was really tight in my calves but often let my thighs be looser. I've found that this is a pretty common fault, especially in people who are beginners who know that they need to grip with their legs but not necessarily how to grip with their legs in the best way.

Building off of EmeraldHills and gripping with your legs... For the (sadly too short) time I was having lessons, my trainer told me to grip with my knees while allowing my calves to swing freely. You should be able to shift your weight all over the saddle without your thighs budging an inch. :)

My teacher is trying to teach me that, it's going better as I practice more-

What has strengthened me quite a bit - and I wish I was kidding for the sake of my own sanity - is no stirrups. It really does help build leg muscle strength, along with balance.

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I ride for my school team, and every Monday, we will be going to crossfit sessions to strengthen our upper and lower body. It helps quite a bit.

I'm sorry but your instructor gave you bad advice. You never want to grip with your knees- you want even pressure from the thigh to the calf, and you don't want your calves to swing at all. Watch videos of the top equitation riders, and I do mean equitation, not hunter. Their legs *never* move. Beezie Madden is also a good example- her equitation is as textbook as it gets.