Takeoff, flight, landing and bascule — what happens biomechanically during a jump, where you can genuinely help as a rider, and where you only get in the way.
What can you actually still influence once your horse has left the ground? The honest answer: almost nothing — and that's exactly what you should know before you try to know better. A jump runs through three phases: takeoff, flight and landing. During the flight phase, your horse's center of gravity follows a fixed trajectory, a parabola it can no longer change — comparable to a thrown ball. Whatever rein action happens during this phase can't correct the trajectory anymore, only disturb it.
This exact phase reveals whether your horse bascules — the term for the round arch of back and neck over the fence. Only a horse that travels over the fence with poll freedom (head and neck low and stretched forward) can actually use its muscular shock absorbers on landing. A horse forced to throw its head up because your rein demands it loses exactly that protection — and you unintentionally increase the strain on tendons and joints.
Landing itself is the most intense phase: the front legs touch down first, followed by the hind legs — the highest impact load of the entire jump. Studies on experienced riders show their hip opens through a range of motion of about 55 degrees between takeoff and landing — roughly how much your hip bends in a deep squat. That motion needs to be absorbed, not blocked.
This knowledge takes the uncertainty out of jumping for many riders. Once you know the trajectory is already set, you stop reacting frantically in the air — and that calm transfers directly to your horse.
Train Smart. Play Hard. — the best rider over a fence is the one who does the least in the air.
Takeoff (the hindquarters push off powerfully), flight (center of gravity follows a fixed parabola), landing (front legs first, highest load). Separating these phases in your head immediately shows you where influence is even possible.
A bascule-ing horse arches its back and neck round over the fence instead of staying flat and stiff. Poll freedom — head and neck low and forward — is the precondition for that.
The front legs briefly carry a multiple of body weight on touchdown. A blocked rider back at this moment adds even more strain — your job is to absorb the motion, not brake it.
About 55 degrees of hip range of motion between takeoff and landing isn't accidental — it's trained mobility. Hip mobility work away from the horse pays off directly in the saddle.
Landing is the phase with the highest load for both horse and rider — a blocked rider back raises both your own fall risk and the strain on the horse's back. Never ride jumps under time pressure or with distractions, especially through this critical second. After intense jumping sessions, deliberately schedule calm hacking days — landing loads your horse's tendons and joints cumulatively, even when a single jump looks harmless.
Get yourself filmed jumping and watch the footage in slow motion. In real time almost every jump looks symmetrical and clean — in slow motion you immediately see whether you pulled the reins during the flight phase or blocked your back.
Barely. Once your horse leaves the ground, its center of gravity follows a fixed trajectory that neither you nor your horse can change anymore. Your job is to move with it, not steer it.
Bascule describes the round arch of back and neck over the fence. Only a bascule-ing horse truly uses its muscular shock absorbers on landing — sparing its tendons and joints.
Because the front legs touch down first and absorb the highest impact load of the entire jump. A blocked rider adds even more strain on top of that.
Most clearly from a side-on video: a bascule-ing horse visibly rounds its back and neck over the fence instead of staying flat and straight. Your instructor can also show you this difference live from the ground.
Show Jumping: Reading Distances and Strides