Jackie Cochran's Page

I have been spending these last two months TRYING to get my body into the Forward Seat. Though I am showing great improvement in the stability of my lower leg, I am having great difficulty in keeping my knees in the knee roll. I start out great, but as the horse moves I find that my knees migrate back toward the stirrup leathers, robbing me of both my security and my main shock absorbers. I was beginning to despair, as nothing I did kept my knees in place in the saddle, unless I used a death gri… Continue

I have been riding the Welsh-Arab mare Cider for a few years off and on. All this time she has been trying to get to her owner, Shannon, in the center of the ring whenever I tried riding her around the ring on loose reins (we call it her nose dive.) Since I had gotten lost in the glory of coordinating my aids to get the responses I want I mostly used this irritating habit as a wonderful chance to practice coordinating my aids properly. And I can get her to go around the ring on contact, and for… Continue

First I want to thank all you people who made it through my Forward Seat Riding blogs. I found these lists in books I had never seen, or not seen for decades, and I just could not resist sharing them with all of you.

When I compare my seat with the Forward Seat ideal I am overwhelmed by my many faults. It is impossible for me to keep more than ONE thing in mind at a time, much less twelve! I concentrate on my feet and my hands wander about. I try to grip with my upper calf and my feet "lose" th… Continue

Jane Marshall Dillon owned, directed, and taught riding at the Junior Equitation School in Vienna, Va. from the 1950's into the 1970's, where she taught the Forward Seat. In 1961 her wonderful book "Form Over Fences" was first published. This book is unique, it only deals with the jump, and has lots and lots of pictures to train the reader's eye, both of mistakes and of good form. Mrs. Dillon taught TWO USA Olympic Jumping Team riders, Kathy Kusner (Team, Silver, 1972), and Joe Fargis (Team, Gol… Continue

The Forward Seat position for jumping adds several features to insure rider stability during the horse's vigorous movements while jumping. All the features of this seat work together, and if one is wrong then the whole position is weakened and the rider can interfere with the horse. While there are a few very talented riders who do not have to have a proper position over jumps, the normal rider will be much more secure and will interfere with the horse's efforts less when riding in the proper Fo… Continue