80/20 Adage: The
On a Grand Prix course, jumps are big, technical and fast. The rider has just two minutes in the arena—a short time after the bell to scan the course and establish the gallop, and usually 70-80 seconds for the course. The rider’s position in the saddle (or out of the saddle) affects success over the rails. When do riders sit deep (three- point or full seat) and when do they sit light, floating above the saddle (two-point or half seat)? In his book, The American
Jumping Style (Doubleday, 1993), famed
coach George Morris
advises using a formula on course: 80 percent use of full seat, 20 percent light seat. Twenty-three years later, do riders still follow this principle? Our panel of six experts,
from both East and West coasts, share different points of view about these two techniques and whether 80/20 is the right mix.
By Charlene Strickland 12 May/June 2017
KEVIN BABINGTON From Tipperary, Ireland, Kevin’s now based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. He tied for fourth in the 2012 Olympic Games and was eighth at the 2002 World Championship. In 2017, he’s riding two top horses, Mark Q
(OBOS Quality 004 x Positively xx) and the 2005 Hanoverian mare Shorapur (Stakkato Gold x Dros- selklang II). Shorapur has competed in both the AIG $1,000,000 Grand Prix and the Great American $1M Grand Prix.
Kevin Babington competing on Shorapur in March at HITS Coach- ella Desert Circuit, Thermal, California.
N
owadays I would think more time in a light seat is preferable with the time
allowed. I would probably train in full seat 90 percent of the time on the flat. On course, I
ride 70 percent in light seat, 30 percent in full seat. Watch a lot of the Grand Prix riders—they don’t spend a lot of time in full seat. You can gain a lot of time in the light seat. It does depend on the horse. Every horse is different. On a very well balanced horse, it’s easy to sit still. At the same time, I use Anne
Kursinski as an example. She rides in a very light seat in the ring, and rides full seat train- ing. Her horses are so well schooled that when she’s off their backs, they are well balanced. The time allowed is such a huge factor
now. We have to train our horses differently. Years ago, you could see to add strides on different lines. Today, like in the 1.45m class I just rode [Wellington Equestrian Festival CSI 5*], you could only add in one place—not in all the lines or you would have a time fault. Now you train the horse to gallop in
balance. Riders have had to change flat work. I’ve had to adapt, to learn to ride in a lighter seat for that very reason. I used to ride in more full seat. It’s changed in the last ten years. The type of horses changed also. The big
“If you address them correctly, you can use your seat, a quiet seat used for collection, not a driving seat.”
old Warmblood that required a lot of seat, leg, hand—you don’t see that horse in the sport any more. In my everyday training, I use my seat a lot to train the horse to sit down, to
engage. Over time you build the muscle. You create the balance so you can carry a good balance in the turn, so you can engage your horse. The muscles are there. It’s hard to train that every day in a half seat. I train my horses very much from my seat. Some say, ‘don’t sit down on a hot
horse.’ If I have a hot horse that’s very sensitive, I get them relaxed, traveling straight from my seat bone, sitting down on them.
Charlene Strickland
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