Ok, so I have been teaching my horse to jump. I have mostly been lunging her over very small fences but I rode her a couple of times. She doesn't pick up her feet properly, like tucking them in at the same time and stuff. She does sorta, but not at the same time. She sorta steps over it, so both feet go into the perfect position, just not at the same time.
I was wondering if there is anything I can do to teach her how to do it properly. I will post I link to the videos as soon as I get them on my computer.[/i]
Take your time and start with ground poles. Once she is doing those well at a trot, then move up to a canter. Next, comes a small cross rail at a trot... then at a canter, and so on.
Don't rush. She has to get the hang of it and build up muscle to gain strength. Don't do too much. Alternate jumping and flat work. Don't want to ruin her legs.
hey, you could do lots of gymnastics/ cavelettis to build muscles and coordination... also if the fences arent big she might not pick up her legs b/c shes not imporessed lol (which is no reason to rush her to bigger fences, because she has to learn to respect small jumps first)
Some horses are a bit on the lazy side and won't jump unless they really need to (like mine :P ).
I'd suggest work with ground poles and keep trotting over them until she knows that they're there and doesn't hit them anymore. Then trot over some crossrails, and generally raise them until she has no choice but to jump or refuse. I would try this on the lunge first.
Take it slow and let her build up her muscles. It's very easy for a horse to injure itself while learning to jump. I'd also suggest that you use some boots to protect her legs incase she oversteps and knocks her opposite leg. That can really sour a horse from jumping.
Walk fences. Like, 2ft fences are really good to walk for youngsters, thats what my horse does. Just walk towards it, and about a stride or two away, hit her with a crop, and that will encourage her to jump a nd tuck her knees. Also, it is common for youngsters to not jump crossrails and stuff, so she my come around once she goes to verticals, even little 12/18 inch ones.
But ground poles are great too. Just take your time, she probably just doesn't quite understand yet.
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