ok well my trainer sometimes tells me to grab mane when i jump, but sometimes i dont and i just push on the horses neck (not hard or anything). but sould i grab mane? im not sure if i should get use to it because if i show and the horses mane is braided it would be kinda hard (i would think).what do you people do? and what do you think i sould do???
Grabbig mane is only used to learn. It helps you to stop from snapping back until you learn to feel when you should sit/helps stop you from snapping back. ALso if you get really nervous or something you can grab mane for some extra security.
Honestly I don't think your trainer will be putting you in a jumping show until you don't need to grab mane or she stops telling you to.
It does not hurt to grab mane. It does help to not get left behind. When I jump I push my hands forward and don't touch the horses neck please someone correct me if I am wrong though
A correct crest release is done by resting your hands on your horse's crest and using it as a support for your upper body. When you first learn to jump your trainer will tell you to hold the mane so you don't catch your horse in the mouth, which is one of the worst habits you can have. But at any level of riding (and I quote George Morris here) "You're never wrong to grab the mane as to stop from catching your horse in the mouth." I know that sometimes my horse will unexpectedly think that our 18" crossrail magically turned into a 4' oxer so I have to grab the mane so I don't rip his mouth off. And you can still grab onto a braided mane. Like tangerine_sky said your trainer probably won't be entering you in a show until you're comfortable releasing with out having to hold onto something, but if you're nervous at a shows feel free to grab on. When you first jump at shows it's better to have a confidence building round your first time out rather than trying to win at all costs.
its fine to grab mane! while you're learning to jump its good so you don't catch your horse in your mouth or fall back, like the others said. also, as time goes you won't have to hold mane. for me i just got to a point where i just jumped the fences without thinking twice and i didn't even have to grab the mane. your seat and strength will become better and you won't need the mane. pressing lightly against the neck is fine, and if you're not grabbing mane already you're progressing! yay!
Jumping with mane is fine,r eally. I do it when i'm on new horses because I need to get used to them better and grabbing mane helps keep blance. Also on the martingale you can hold on to that.
I've also been told to hold the maringale, but i personally don't like it because once the horse spooked over the fence [it bolted towards the fence, but instead of jumping far like you would expect, he jumped WAY early and high and so we were like 3 ft. in the air!] and i was just beginning and i fell back and i had been holding the martingale and it went up so all though it basically kept me on, i still felt like i was falling and it freaked me out. so... yah, i don't like to use it as much. but its still a great tequenique. [sp.]
grabbing mane is more preferable than fussing with or catching the mouth. I've had my horse 10 years and he doesn't like it if you fiddle with your hands before a fence, so two or three strides out, I grab mane, or fix my hand, and just leave them be.
I only grab mane when i'm jumping a new jump thats bigger and more difficult like wider oxers or soemthing. I lie many trying to place my hands close to the horse's neck and if you line them correctly with your elbows and body you don't ned to hold onto soemthing.
Grabbing mane is much better than either pressing down on to his neck, catching him in the mouth, or laying on his neck. So yyes, do it when your trainer tells you.
Lol, yeah grabbing mane is a very good way to control balance. i fell on the horses neck when i was a beginner i fell onto the neck by not holdign onto the mane on accident. Now i don't nee dit.. but its a good tool to use.
ahh yikes, you all are going to hate me for this. i was in chicago and didnt have a computer, otherwise i would have said this alot earlier.
grabbing mane is, i was taught, one of the worst most commonly taught habits. it teaches the rider to be dependant on their hands, and oftentimes the rider ends up leaning on the horses neck. if you are "supporting your upper body" with your hands, you shouldnt be. do some situps and go to a gym so you can support your body weight by your own muscle power, and not need the horse's mane. and if you are an "advanced rider" that is still grabbing mane, feel free to argue that you know better than to lean on the neck. but a first time jumper is 99.9% guarenteed to put too much weight in their hands, so they will never learn how to do it the right way. (and i dont really get the advanced riders that are still using mane, but whatever.) i was taught to jump without grabbing mane, and i have never fallen off as a result of it. and trust me, my horses are far from saintly. they pull all the tricks imaginable, and i stay on because i can ride, not because i am holding mane. i learned to jump without reins at all, by tying them up on the horses neck and dropping them right before the fence. that way, i learned to balance, support myself with my back and stomach and legs. i taught myself where my sweet spot is... the happy place for my rear end that isnt too far back and not far forward.I know that awhile back we had this same discussion, and i dont remember everything i said, but you can go back and find it. I'm still way jetlagged and super tired, and that is all I can say for now.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: lilchica04007,
haha i tried to include that for you... i know, you'll do it your way and I'll do it mine, buuuut i still think that for beginners its a nasty habit, and too many bad things can come of it. yea, it will help you stay on, but some people also think things like gripping with their knees, or holding tight on their reins will hold them on, and we all know thats not true. grabing mane was taught to me right along with those other common misconceptions, as one of those things that might make you feel secure, but in the end it could be your downfall. rockmysocks already explained on this board that it helps keep her from fidgiting with her hands, and if thats what it does for you, great, and congrats on finding a good tool. but i just dont see why it has become such a fallback technique for trainers... if you dont want to be left behind, or you are expecting a refusal, shove your bum back and keep your chest up. there is no need to risk teaching kids to lean on the neck, or even to teachthem that they cant jump without mane.
I would rather see a kid learn ot jump grabbing mane then a kid learning to jump while ripping the horses face apart getting left behind or really snapping back hard. I know a lot of people still snap back but beginners tend to land harder then most people do and if they learn by grabbing mane what the correct feelng of staying up is then thats a great way for them to learn. THey can also learn how to jump without grabbing mane after they've learned the basicis of jumping. My trainer still tells me to grab mane if my horse takes off from a long spot I wasn't expeting and it helps me to try and not get tottaly left behind in the air. Granted I never end up grabbing his mane because I ususally throw myself instead but she still tells me to.
i don't want ot be rude but how long have you been jumping for that you think beginners shouldn't grab mane? When you've had a few years expirence is when you should talk about jumping and how to do it correctly
[quote]i don't want ot be rude but how long have you been jumping for that you think beginners shouldn't grab mane? When you've had a few years expirence is when you should talk about jumping and how to do it correctly[/quote]
You are right, I havent been jumping all that long. About a year and a half. But the fact that I'm a beginner just makes me all the more qualified to argue my point. If youve been riding a long time, you can't speak from the standpoint of a new rider and say that "grabbing mane just helps", because it does alot of bad stuff too. A beginner is all the more likely to lean on the neck and learn dependance. My trainer has a "practice perfectly" policy. She is harsh even on first time riders, and expects perfection every time. And we are all better for it, the fact that she doesnt teach us bad habits to make it easier on us. And also, if you read all of the many other posts on this topic, you will see that I mentioned that I learned to jump without mane or rein. That way the horse isnt punished for my ignorance. And arrogance, saying that "When you've had a few years expirence is when you should talk about jumping and how to do it correctly" will get you nowhere. Knowing how to jump correctly is not the same thing as executing it. And even though I am not in the perfect form 100% of the time, no one is, and that doesnt mean that I dont know what I am saying. I have been riding my whole life, and have plenty of experience to go off of.
My intake is that grabbing mane will help more than hurt. I can see your point lilchica about getting reliant on your hands and upper body, but I think it's more important to keep a rider from falling behind the motion or from catching in the mouth. For instance, if a beginner rider doesn't see the distance and the horse does, it may take off earlier than expected. The motion grabs the rider forward, and if she's not grabbing for something (being a beginner) she's going to yank off that horses mouth. Some horses are very hateful and unforgiving and the discomfort will the be least of their problems. Lots of horses will get angry and buck or become "unwound" because of this. If there's not something visual or mental for the student to connect to, things could go wrong.
Once again, I do think lilchica's ideas have good points, but also I bet they go with your trainer's desire on a release. If they are not fond of a crest release, they may not be eager to get you into the habit. We are never allowed an automatic, so a crest release is just that...a crest release. And the crest has mane on it. You don't really have to grab it, but it's a visual placement.
(I know I'm rambling, but I have more) Some kids have a really hard time figuring out their hands, so you can use a "jump strap." It's just a stirrup leather turned into a loop (make sure the end is tucked and not flapping) and can be put on the right part of the horses' neck. They then have that to grab...similar I think to the strap near the pommel for beginners. Martingales have always seemed to far down the neck to grab to me, though I don't use one and can't grab at it. My trainer always tells me to find the part in my horses' mane for a visual aid. I guess it's all relative...whatever you're used to that is safe and effective.
