Ok i need some help here, i help out at my stables and i ride this horse called Scooby (aka Scoobz or Fat Boy) and hes a bit…well spirited, lets say he has a sense of humour. Hes 8 years old and i jump him quite a lot however hes still learning to jump…and so am i! Problem is, he jumps far too high and often cat leaps jumps so i either lose one or both stirrups from the force of landing or i end up with a painful backside afterwards. I’d like to know wether this is because im still learning to jump and im just crappy at it, or wether its because scooby isnt particularly sussed yet, but as they say a rider who blames his bad riding on his horse isnt a good rider! My stand-in instructor who works at the yard said i need to improve my landing but my original instructor is back after having her leg broken by another horse doesnt seem to comment on it, she just praises me for keeping him forwards when he hesitates at the jump. Shes never said my jumping position is poor. What should i do because ive got a few little niggling bad habits (like stirrups slip backwards in my foot because of my leg being tensed and my hands tend to do their own thing sometimes) that may be adding up to this initial bad jumping? Any advice because my original instructor is very good and if i follow her advice scooby does everything i ask well enough?