Hiya!
I have a 5 year old WB and I'm "teaching" him how to jump. We've done poles and single fences to about 50-60cm. He has bee free jumped to 4' with plenty of scope. I am a retired hunter/jumper rider, I now do dressage. I have no real problems getting him to the fence, over the fence and away from the fence. We have some minor form flaws that are fixable and I know what they are.
I am just a worry-wart and I don't want to overface him or I, or do any major damage to his joints by overjumping him. I'm really careful to monitor his joints/legs for swelling. So how much jumping is OK and how high should I be going?
I am also worried about putting lines up in our small arena. It's about 40-45m long and 20m wide. I don't know his stride length either, but it's long I know. I want to set up lines with "typical hunter" striding that they would use at shows to get him used to the pace. What is that? 12 feet or 4m right? And is it OK to do a 3 stride to start with? I should also give 6 ft for each takeoff and landing, correct?
Thanks guys!
I have a 5 year old WB and I'm "teaching" him how to jump. We've done poles and single fences to about 50-60cm. He has bee free jumped to 4' with plenty of scope. I am a retired hunter/jumper rider, I now do dressage. I have no real problems getting him to the fence, over the fence and away from the fence. We have some minor form flaws that are fixable and I know what they are.
I am just a worry-wart and I don't want to overface him or I, or do any major damage to his joints by overjumping him. I'm really careful to monitor his joints/legs for swelling. So how much jumping is OK and how high should I be going?
I am also worried about putting lines up in our small arena. It's about 40-45m long and 20m wide. I don't know his stride length either, but it's long I know. I want to set up lines with "typical hunter" striding that they would use at shows to get him used to the pace. What is that? 12 feet or 4m right? And is it OK to do a 3 stride to start with? I should also give 6 ft for each takeoff and landing, correct?
Thanks guys!