Jumping advice please?

Question

Hi - Ive just gotten a horse in exasperation from its current owner who was frustrated over his ability to jump! After working with him i can see why - hes WELL able to jump, just quite lazy about lifting his feet and blows poles out of it!! Hes in great condition, well fed etc etc just a very laid back animal! Anyone who would have any tips on how to get him to have a more enthuastic approach toward jumping would be very much appreciated.Hes a five year old by the way - hasnt any experience as the owner gave up even trying with him. Thanks

Answer 1

Well if hes fit enough etc etc then maybe the problem is he just doesnt know what hes supposed to do!!! Make it enjoyable for him - get a lead of another horse in front of him keeping a safe difference. Try free lunging him over poles on the ground - which incidentally should be brightly coloured - rustics often arent even seen by animals as a horse cant see directly below them.
Most of all you need to encourge him when he DOES jump or go over poles well. you say he has no experience so give it to him! Practice makes perfect- just dont overdo it as you may turn him sour.

Answer 2

five years is very young for a horse to be jumping. I wouldn't start, and never have backed a horse before it reaches five years of age. Hack your horse 3 or 4 times a week, and let him play in a field with other young horses for a while. Then take him out in the country, encouraging him to gallop fast, but always make it fun for him. Schooling is very boring for horses. Constantly riding round in circles is far too much for a young horse to cope with. That's like telling a young child to sit on the sofa and watch paint dry! When he's used to going faster and picking his legs up, that is the time you should start jumping. Taking him over trotting poles will also encourage him to pick his legs up. Good luck.

Answer 3

We have a youngster that has just started jumping, but we only jump him now and again for fun, he likes to jump and can be laid back, and has he is still learning we try not to put any pressure on him, most of the time we just hack about the countryside, although he,s a strapping horse i still feel he,s a little boy and needs more time to mature. So take it easy and if its jumping he likes, it,ll come if not there plenty more to do out there.

Answer 4

alot of the advice already given is very smart. but here is something that i suggest because i had just the very same problem ........
start off small and just have your horse trot over a ground pole or, then grab some standards and put the ground pole between the standards (as if it was a jump but keep it on the ground). Now set up a tiny, tiny jump on the lowest hole(an X or crossrail is probably better) you can find and go over it a couple times. then raise the jump a hole or two and have him jump that. slowly raise the fence to whatever height you are looking to jump him. this will help him learn how to pick up his feet depending on the size of the jump, so he doesnt over jump small fences or underjump big ones.

you can also lung ehim over a fence and if he nocks it down, dont get mad at him but just keep lunging him over the fence( keep it very small) and then just keep lunging him over it andjust like riding you can raise the fence if he does well. i hope i helped and good luck with your new horse

Answer 5

My horse did the same thing if the jumps were too low or boring. Try taking him on a trail ride and jumping something a little more exciting or raise the jumps. He may just think that lower jumps are not worth the effort!

Answer 6

He is likely enough to be a little unbalanced, being so young. Don't be in a hurry to do too much. Having said that, I like to take my horses out at around 5 or 6 years for half a day, (a couple of hours), of hunting to 'get their blood up'. It gives them so much more enthusiasm for jumping and they learn to look after themselves in any going, learn to balance with a rider, and that jumping is fun! Joining a local riding club and doing a few 'pairs' classes with an enthusiastic older horse will work too.
Make sure all his tack fits well too, a saddle that restricts his movement in any way will reduce his ability to be athletic underneath you, and get his teeth checked out. Don't over bit him and make sure you are both enjoying the experience. If you get cranky when the jumps go up, he will dread it wether he has ability or not.
Have fun and remember, you have many years together ahead, if you take your time to train him to trust you...

Answer 7

In my belief he's a young horse and maybe you're pushing him too hard, he should really only have been lightly backed last year and not actually be jumping until next year. So maybe if you turn him away for 6months to a year you will get back a happier horse, who is willing to do the work you put to him.
ttfn ;o)

Answer 8

Sounds like he may be bored. You need to make it fun for him and make a purpose for the jumping. If you are just sending him over jumps without a purpose he won't see the point.

I do Parelli with my horse, and it had brought him on considerably. It makes everything fun and wakes up the most laid back of horses and quietens down the fizziest!

Just as a quick tip, put him on a lunge line and send him to a small jump. If he is lazy and knocks it down, let him make that mistake. Don't force him over it the first time, let him knock it down. Get someone to put the jump back up, and send him to it again. This time, use a bit of force to send him over, have a lunge whip in your other hand and lift it out to the side to make him see you have a whip and will use it. If he knocks it down again, let him. Send him straight back to it. This time, lift your whip and swing it towards his quarters. If he knocks it down let him. Next time, lift your whip, swing it to his quarters and this time start flapping it up and down to cause a bit of discomfort! DON'T LET IT TOUCH HIM. If he still knocks it down, lift the whip, swing it towards his quarters, flap it up and down, and this time make contact. Not a smack, but an encouraging tapping on his hind quarters. The MOMENT he goes over with a bit of enthusiasm, STOP EVERYTHING! Bring him towards you and make a fuss of him. Lots of stroking and love. This is very important, as it makes him understand that he has done good. Watch for him licking and chewing his lips. This means he is thinking and is a good sign.

After he has stopped licking and chewing and when he seems realxed, send him again to the jump. Repeat the above steps if necessary. Pretty soon, you will be able to judge if he is going to knock the jump, and you can go through the above steps in one go before he reaches the jump instead of introducing them each time he knocks it down. So as he is approaching, if he looks sluggish, raise the whip, then swing the whip etc, he should, after a few times, know that if he doesn't get a move on, that whip will be touching his bum, and he will shift forwards when you just raise the whip.

Parelli is fun, you should take some time to have a look at it!

Answer 9

could he be too laid back to be a jumper? it happens!
long ago when i rode, another person would stand at the jump and when the horse started to go over the jump the other person would tap his hooves with a long whip or a stick to make him lift his feet up, i recently saw one of the trainers on tV do the same thing

Answer 10

Go back to flat work. Does this 5 year old know how to leg yield? Bend? Does he have his own balance or does he feel wobbely sometimes? Does he lean in on his turns instead of bending through them? Does he give to the bit and relax his jaw? Does he know how to collect? These are a must for beginning a horse in jumping.

Once you establish that the horse knows the very foundation of flat work, then you can start training him to jump. You can't just point a youngster at a low jump and expect him to figure it out. Start with ground poles and ask him to walk, then trot, then canter over them. Make sure your ground poles are spaced correctly for your horse's stride. Remember, this training will take many weeks to reach the canter and have a calm horse. Do not pressure him, yet be assertive. Once you become frustrated, get off and try again another day or go back to doing something you know your horse is comfortable with.

Eventually place those ground poles going to a standard (without a jump pole on the standard) with the last ground pole at the standard. Once your horse is calm and listening through the ground poles and standard, add an extra ground pole in between the standard. Now you should have your set of ground poles, plus two sitting together through the standard. Your horse will have to reach farther with his stride to clear these two ground poles together. Once he's calm with that at the trot, add another ground pole to the two at the standard. Now you have three and at this point your horse should begin trying to jump them. If not, progress on to 4 ground poles together in between the standard. He may be confused and try to go around them or even stop, just keep a steady forward leg on him until he goes forward, then praise him heartily for doing so, no matter how sloppy it was. If starts cantering or gets a little quick after he jumps it, let him go forward so he knows it's okay and nothing bad is going to happen to him for jumping it. Calmly ask him to slow to a walk and try it again. He won't be as quick the second time, and more less so the third time.

Once your horse begins jumping between the standards, remove all the ground poles and move up with a low cross rail. Make sure to place an extra pole on the ground right in front of the jump so your horse can see a take off spot. Often, youngen's will trot over a low rail because they can't see a take off spot, so the ground pole will show him. Since the cross rail is low, your horse may decide that it's easier to just trot over it anyways. Give him a couple tries to figure it out making sure never to praise him until he does jump it. You can pull the "take off" ground pole away from the jump about a foot to show your horse a farther take off spot, which he won't be able to trot over and will have to jump over instead, which once he does praise him. Try to get him to jump that cross rail twice, then let him be done with that lesson for the day. He should jump everything else after this point.

You did not say if you had jumping experience, so just in case: You will not be able to help this horse if you do not have jumping experience. Counting strides, asking for spots, lengthening strides between lines, correct releases and jumping form are essential to teaching a youngster properly. If you continue this training without jumping experience then whatever you do, don't hit him in the mouth over the jump. Make sure when you go over each jump that you throw your hands forward on the horses crest so you don't punish him over the jump. He will be sour before you know it and may begin refusing to jump at all.

Finally, jumping should only be done at the most two times a week for a youngster, and even for mature horses, two times a week is plenty. Jumping is mostly flat work! Good luck! :)