Teaching your horse to jump

Hi all :)
My mare is a western pleasure horse and just for the fun of it I want to see if she likes jumping!
I used to jump for like 4 years when I first started out riding so I have some background knowledge to it but I've never trained a horse to do it.
So any tips/suggestions/input on starting a horse on jumping??
I'm thinking of starting off with some raised trot poles...


Thanks!

First start with ground poles. Just the basics. This could take anywhere from 4 weeks to a year, and basically, you want your horse to easily go over them several times without hitting them, and having good rhythm. THEN you can start going up to a small 6 inch or so jump.

Thanks for the tips! She actually has ground poles pretty much down. I've just always done them as part of her western pleasure training... So maybe I could move on to a little raised ground pole?

Sure, she sounds ready.

Sometimes if you're not sure how your horse will be, or if you'll be able to be strong enough in your riding to handle a horse that needs a strong leg up to the fence, you may wanna try having her jump with you on the ground. Free jumping gives you a better idea of both your horses willingness, as well as ability.

I agree with Oxer. However I've taught several horses to jump without lunging or anything first. We just started with poles and worked our way up to raised poles, then tinyyyy cross rails until they got the hang of it. Just make sure you stay out of your horse's way. I'd suggest grabbing mane the first few times in case she bunny hops it. You don't want her to associate being good and jumping with getting hit in the mouth. Good luck!