Joyeux Show Jumpers

02/12/2025

Happy Birthday to this little rider! 6️⃣😬💓

02/11/2025

See this way too often!

The top image is Beezie Madden, one of the best Grand Prix jumpers America ever produced. Today's riders would do well to follow her technique. All the other pictures are riders with hollow backs, one of the most common jumping and riding flaws.

We see the hollow back most often in show riders. In English riders this might be a result of the Morris inspired perching position. However, this does not explain why we see hollow backs in western riders.

The biggest problem with the hollow back is that it is a braced position. Whenever we brace a part or all of our body, the rigidity of the bracing separates us from our horse's movement and balance. We lose unity. We cannot follow Henry Wynmalen's advice, "Let the horse move you" when we brace our body.

A hollow back also places your seat bones in a strange position. Try sitting on a hard surface chair and hollow your back. Feel how your pelvis rolls forward, and your seat bones lift from the seat. This further separates a rider's connection with their horse.

Ride with your back relaxed and straight. Sit deeply with your seat bones directly under you. When you rise from the saddle keep your eyes up and your shoulders relaxed and open. Fold forward as needed from your hips without hollowing your back.

02/08/2025

Great equitation lesson with Julianna and Albus! Very proud of their progress🥹💕

01/28/2025

…THAT feeling after a great (no stirrup) lesson 😋☺️👏🏼

01/13/2025

Little Amelia working on her two point position! Can you believe this girl has only had a few lessons?! So proud🥹

01/07/2025

A sunset lesson makes for some beautiful photos😍💕🌅

01/05/2025

12/30/2024

Lilly working on cantering crossrails! Very proud of this little rider🥹💕

12/17/2024

Dispelling the myth of ‘the perfect position,’ by NF+ instructor and Olympic medalist Karl Cook and originally posted on our blog in 2022...

"In the United States, we have a very strong emphasis on rider position. There’s an entire discipline dedicated to it, in fact. That’s great, in theory, but the problem arises when function becomes secondary to the way it looks. Function doesn’t follow form; form follows function. That means that the way a rider looks in the saddle or in a snapshot from a round is secondary to the effectiveness and balance of that rider in the saddle.

There’s no one position. If you’re a rider who finds that you’re far more effective in a different position than you’re currently riding in, then change it! Position is dynamic; it’s not a snapshot. The only requirement of position is this: does it allow you to be the most accurate, effective, and balanced rider that you can be? If so, that’s your position.

I remember as a junior coming out of the ring following a round that I felt went poorly, and I was told, ‘You didn’t push your heels down far enough.’ So, as a young rider, that makes you think, ‘Maybe I had that stop or that rail or that poor distance because my heels were in the wrong place.’ Looking back, I think that’s a laughable comment. Now, it may have been because my leg wasn’t effective, but my round was certainly not poor because of the fact that my heels didn’t look a certain way or reach a certain angle of depth.

Your neutral position shouldn’t take a great amount of energy or fighting to maintain. It should feel like a relaxed, somewhat resting position. I see so many stiff riders who are clamping themselves into a position, and their horses have a hard time moving fluidly. A good position is one that moves fluidly with your horse, and we shouldn’t be afraid of movement when finding our position. When you watch riders like Marcus Ehning or Eric Navet ride, they look stable and secure in the saddle because they’re moving a great deal with their horses, not because they’re clamping down and bracing. Movement brings stillness in the saddle when you’re truly moving with your horse."

12/14/2024

A small stab in the heart is what you feel when you put up the day's riding list and you see riders sinking heavily in their shoulders when reading which horse they are assigned for the lesson. A small stab in the heart for that horse that for an hour will carry around a rider who has already decided that he does not like his horse. A small stab in the heart for the horse that did not choose the rider himself but still does his best, lesson after lesson.

Riding is a privilege and something you have chosen to do. If you chose to ride at a riding school, your instructor assumes that you actually want to learn how to ride. The instructor's highest wish is that you get good at it.

Often there is a plan and a thought as to why you are assigned to that exact horse. Before you mount up next time, ask yourself "what can this horse teach me today?" All horses have something to give, a feeling or a new tool in the box.

The art is actually in being able to get a lazy horse to move forward, to get an uncertain horse to gain confidence, a naughty horse to focus or a tense horse to be released. It takes work. If you think a horse is boring, it's more likely that you don't ride the horse as well as you think! It's not easy to be confronted with your own shortcomings, but it is in that very situation that you get the chance to truly grow as a rider.

The excuse that "it's not my kind of horse" is actually a really bad excuse. A good rider can ride any kind of horse. A good rider has trained many hours on different types of horses to become a good rider. A good rider can find and manage the gold nuggets in every horse.

If we absolutely want to ride, it is our duty to strive to do it as best as possible, even if it's only for fun. We owe it to every horse that carries us upon it's back.

Copied and shared with love for all of our EPE horses, ponies and riders 💙🌿

12/03/2024

🌟 Get your holiday orders in 🎄
There are some new seasonal color options coming too 🤩

Equestrian Team Apparel, where equestrians and teams get the latest equestrian fashion. Custom riding shirts and team apparel are our specialty. We love customizing college equestrian teams, show stables and more. We carry top brands of riding clothes and equestrian accessories.

12/02/2024

Contact Kaleigh or Ava for more information and any questions! Can’t wait to see some new faces💕

11/10/2024

Sunday Funday at the barn with Sofia and Lily! Great work, girls🐴💕

11/09/2024

Some of our great riders from lessons today! Everyone did amazing💕🐴

11/08/2024

Fun trail ride on the canal yesterday! Such a great time💕🐴

11/06/2024

Join us for a few full days of equestrian activities and education! Contact Kaleigh or Ava for information and questions💕🐴 (Ages 5 and up)

11/05/2024

Great day today at Joyeux Show Jumpers!

Assistant, Ava and little Sofia had a sunset ride with Harry and Albus 😍 Ava also gave Paddy a flat school & threw in a few jumps for some extra fun 😉