Do you yearn to look as laid-back over a fence as some of the world’s greatest riders? It is such a hard aspect of jumping to achieve but here are some top tips to help you improve your jumping position:

Relaxation comes with confidence and your ability to stay completely with your horse over a fence.

To do this you need a strong lower leg and secure jumping position. Go back to basics to start with and practise your two-point and jumping positions while trotting and cantering around the school.

Challenge yourself to see how long you can maintain the position for — this will help improve your strength and ability to get into the position while jumping.

Don’t throw yourself up your horse’s neck. Think instead of tilting your upper body from your hips, with your leg securely remaining in place.

When you’re ready to move on, use ground poles to help your horse meet his jumps correctly. This will enable you to focus on your position. Practise trotting and cantering down the poles holding your two-point position.

Now you can add a small jump at the end of the poles, followed by a landing pole roughly 1.5 human strides from the jump. This will help to prevent your horse rushing or flattening over the jump. Look straight ahead and keep your lower-leg position strong.

As you practice this repeatedly, you’ll gain a sense of how it feels to follow your horse in the air through the jump.

As the two of you gain confidence together, you’ll both relax and you should begin to feel secure in your position over the jump.

Ready to enter an upcoming showjumping competition? Search the range of events listed at www.equoevents.co.uk and get ready to enter, compete, repeat.