If you look up the old beginner adult rider sections in Practical Horseman when Jeff Cook was running them, there'd be a wealth of information that might help you. Granted, most of the jumps are VERY small, but since you're getting your foundation back, it can be important.
The roached back is something you're going to need to work a lot on, very consciously on the flat as well as over fences. When you're flatting alone, ride without stirrups at least 20 mins a day if you can help it. That'll get your leg moving in the right place almost independently. I'm sure at some point your trainer will have you doing some gymnastics without stirrups, which I think would be critical for helping you out. After all, think about it--if you're in a grid, your horse is pretty much on the go, and instead of worrying about distance or other things, you can just focus on yourself, your balance, your form, the movement of the horse.
Be careful with the "hinge" idea with the hips... most often, when I hear people talk about that, they end up having way too much motion and duck over the fences. Ideally, you want to have as little motion on your behalf, but be soft enough so the horse can jump up to you. Let their bascule close the distance between you and the neck. If you feel like you need to bend over over the fences, you'll be in a lot of trouble with ducking and later on jumping ahead, and you definitely don't want those habits.
Definitely up the no-stirrups work. Also, I rarely had the chance to do this, which was unfortunate, but riding bareback would be great for you really getting the full movement and I'm assuming that if you've done eventing that long you're MUCH gutsier than me and have better balance.
Watch a lot of videos of the grand prix riders who look completely effortless and neat. Although I'm not a personal fan of him, ignoring his heels, Chris Kappler is one of those soft riders. Mark Leone is probably the softest rider in the hands I've seen in god knows how long. Old videos of Katie Monahan Prudent and Beezie Madden are irreplaceable. ANNE KURSINSKI!!! SO much love for her. SO, so much. McLain Ward is interesting in that he's the only guy I've seen in a grand prix do a long release on a tall vertical in a jump off and have the horse keep it up. I still can't figure out how he pulled it off... And again, Anne Kursinski. SUCH love...
The roached back is something you're going to need to work a lot on, very consciously on the flat as well as over fences. When you're flatting alone, ride without stirrups at least 20 mins a day if you can help it. That'll get your leg moving in the right place almost independently. I'm sure at some point your trainer will have you doing some gymnastics without stirrups, which I think would be critical for helping you out. After all, think about it--if you're in a grid, your horse is pretty much on the go, and instead of worrying about distance or other things, you can just focus on yourself, your balance, your form, the movement of the horse.
Be careful with the "hinge" idea with the hips... most often, when I hear people talk about that, they end up having way too much motion and duck over the fences. Ideally, you want to have as little motion on your behalf, but be soft enough so the horse can jump up to you. Let their bascule close the distance between you and the neck. If you feel like you need to bend over over the fences, you'll be in a lot of trouble with ducking and later on jumping ahead, and you definitely don't want those habits.
Definitely up the no-stirrups work. Also, I rarely had the chance to do this, which was unfortunate, but riding bareback would be great for you really getting the full movement and I'm assuming that if you've done eventing that long you're MUCH gutsier than me and have better balance.
Watch a lot of videos of the grand prix riders who look completely effortless and neat. Although I'm not a personal fan of him, ignoring his heels, Chris Kappler is one of those soft riders. Mark Leone is probably the softest rider in the hands I've seen in god knows how long. Old videos of Katie Monahan Prudent and Beezie Madden are irreplaceable. ANNE KURSINSKI!!! SO much love for her. SO, so much. McLain Ward is interesting in that he's the only guy I've seen in a grand prix do a long release on a tall vertical in a jump off and have the horse keep it up. I still can't figure out how he pulled it off... And again, Anne Kursinski. SUCH love...
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