Monday Minstrel: Up and Over

In last Monday’s Minstrel I posted some photos of a Grand Prix dressage horse in the mid-air moment of a flying change.  For the Grand Prix jumper the airborne moment is the moment we see most often in photos.  So this week I wanted to show you the lift off, the up and over and the landing!  Here are three photos of Pedro Junqueira Muylaert riding Chacote in the CSI 4* at the Derby Field in Wellington yesterday. I think these photos will show the tremendous athleticism of the horse and rider in jumping over these very big jumps. Also worth noting how the rider in all three photos is looking to the next fence. He is already preparing for that fence which comes up after a short turn. And, as the horse is landing, the rider is giving with his hands and arms to allow the horse to have freedom in his neck for balancing the landing.

csi4-1955

csi4-1956

csi4-1957

Happy Monday to you all!

 

Comments

18 responses to “Monday Minstrel: Up and Over”

  1. cigarman501 Avatar

    Looking ahead to the next jump might be a life lesson.

    1. anne leueen Avatar

      Yes! You are so right! What a terrific comment!

  2. susiesopinions Avatar

    Your photos are just gorgeous

    1. anne leueen Avatar

      Thank you Susie!

  3. (HorseLover4Ever) Elizabeth Avatar
    (HorseLover4Ever) Elizabeth

    Amazing!!!!

  4. sandyjwhite Avatar

    Those jumps look SO high. It’s amazing the horse doesn’t just tumble forward
    on the landing.

    1. anne leueen Avatar

      The horses are amazing athletes and the riders have to be so well balanced as well to help the horse! And they are very high jumps 5ft and more!

      1. sandyjwhite Avatar

        This may seem an odd question, Anne, but do horses in general enjoy jumping? Is it something that comes naturally to them, or is something which takes aggressive training to instill and reinforce? Would it be accurate to assume certain breeds are more suited to become jumpers? I would think both rider and horse would need nerves of steel!

        1. anne leueen Avatar

          The horses who are jumping at this level love their work. They would not do it if they didn’t. Aggressive training usually backfires because if it is too aggressive the horse will know that in the show ring they will not be beaten or punished and so the horse will refuse to behave. Also if a horse is aggressively trained they have a tendency to shut down. This is a natural reaction that occurs with prey animals. Once a horse has shut down it will not be of any use as a jumper or as any type of riding horse. You are right to assume that some breeds are better suited than others to jumping. Today most of the jumpers are warmbloods ( Hanoverian, Westfalian, Trakhener etc). They are being specifically bred to be jumpers. It is the same for dressage.Many of the dressage horses are warmbloods and some are the Iberian breeds (Spanish and Lusitano). For jumping at this level the horse and rider must be very brave. Thank you for your comment and interesting questions.

          1. sandyjwhite Avatar

            Thank you so much Anne for providing me so much information and insight about the world of horses!

          2. anne leueen Avatar

            It is my pleasure Sandy!

  5. thelonelyauthorblog Avatar

    Happy Monday. Enjoy the week

  6. Miss A Avatar

    So much effort and training goes in to these beautiful equipage. I can feel the adrenaline 🙂

    1. anne leueen Avatar

      Yes! It is very exciting stuff!

  7. […] via Monday Minstrel: Up and Over — HorseAddict […]

  8. Deb Whittam Avatar

    I don’t think we realise how much effort it involves and how precise you have to be to show jump

    1. anne leueen Avatar

      Yes, it does look easy. However this course was full of very big jumps and it was easy to see how tight the turns were and how difficult the combinations were. Thank your for commenting with your thoughts on this post.

Leave a Reply

Discover more from HorseAddict

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading