[sillybunny11486]

I just want to know what everyone does to get their green horses used to jumping.

Do you let them loose in the ring to check it out, walk them over it, let the sniff it, lunge them over it ect?

 

[TwisterRush]

i would start with ground pole's first.
Lunge them or ride them over them, introduce them to it, when they are loose. it rather depends on how the horse react's to things, all horse's are different.
after you can get them to w/t/c over ground poles, you can suspend them alittle bit off the ground. but Just work slowely and at a comfortable pace.

Im sure someone can add to this.

 

[sillybunny11486]

^^ Thats my strategy but I was wondering if someone does it differently.

I'm working with my friends sluggy ottb. I've always done it in the past. Shes just soo slow. I am worried about impulsion with her.

 

[TwisterRush]

hmm, there must be something to encourage her..

 

[sillybunny11486]

I think she never learned the go forward cue or she was just way to desensatized, or pushed too far.

 

[MacabreMikolaj]

I always free jump or lunge my horses over fences first. I vastly prefer free jumping but I'll lunge them if I don't have the facilities to free jump.

It tells me what I need to know about the horse - is this horse going to make a good jumper? Does s/he have natural talent? My Arab mare took to jumping like a duck in water, and yet an Arab mare we rescued had virtually zero jumping ability. Even when free jumping, she'd hang her knees and deer hop over them. We rode her over a few small fences and it just never changed, she was a god awful jumper.

I also want to make sure a horse is good and balanced and learning to negotiate fences on his/her own. Free jumping is fun to most horses, hence why I prefer it to lunging. They're allowed to gallop around and have fun and asked to do something with the obstacles that appear in their path. It gets a horse moving forward, teaches him how to judge distance, learn how to balance himself for take off and landing, etc. I would never personally train my horse to jump until s/he'd been free jumped. To much can go wrong to discourage the horse those first jumps - and you only increase the odds when the horse has ZERO clue how to navigate even a crossrail by himself much less with the rider.

I think you may need to face the fact that this mare may never be a jumper - some horses flat out hate it, don't have the momentum, don't have the style, etc. I would highly advise free jumping her if you haven't already to get an idea of what she's thinking - is she happy doing it without a rider, or is she still sluggish and annoyed?

Shay-las neice had a TB mare at our place that she wanted to jump and wasn't having any luck. I hopped on the mare to see if I could encourage her - she was clueless. She wouldn't give any effort, she'd demolish the jumps, she just didn't care. I set up a chute for her and it was the exact same thing - she'd simply demolish them. Sure, you can probably work with a horse like this, but it will never be a "natural" and it will never find enjoyment out of jumping so I prefer altering disciplines or find a new horse.

Likewise, we're working with a 4 year old pony. She's a bit clutzy and unbalanced, and jumps quite wonky with a rider and usually takes the jump down BUT - we put her through the chute and she had form to DIE for, with absolutely no real encouragement she just kept flying around me in a circle and jumping that jump. This tells me the horse has a flair for jumping and is just having difficulty learning how to do it with a rider, but patience will likely pay off.

Hope that helped a bit

 

[sillybunny11486]

I think you may need to face the fact that this mare may never be a jumper

I'm not talking about her becoming a jumper per see. But she probably won't unless she really likes it, because otherwise she'll have just about no impulsion at all. I just want her to be a little more versitile.

I really dont like free jumping horses, especially if they've never jumped before. They can very easily duck out or just stop and learn to keep doing it.

 

[MacabreMikolaj]

If you build a proper chute, ducking out isn't an option and neither is stopping really. If the horse you're free jumping is slamming on the brakes for a 2'0" fence in a chute, you pretty much have your answer about it's jumping capabilities. Even the horses I've free jumped that turned out to be awful jumps always jumped the fence. I've never had an issue with any horse ducking out or stopping when the equipment is set up properly.

 

[Alwaysbehind]

I think she never learned the go forward cue or she was just way to desensatized, or pushed too far.

If she does not have a good go forward queue reaction then I think you need to start back at flat work and get her go button working and then worry about adding jumping.

 

[my2geldings]

Start off with ground poles, get her/him to go over ground poles and thru jump standards. Do various exercises to get your horse used to troting and cantering thru them. When you feel she/he is comfortable, start building small X-rails.

I really suggest having a ground line when building a fence. It will help you and more specifically your horse to figure out where ot jump. A ground pole on both side of the fence is also a great way to make it easier to teach your horse to distance herself/himself.

 

[sillybunny11486]

I really suggest having a ground line when building a fence. It will help you and more specifically your horse to figure out where ot jump. A ground pole on both side of the fence is also a great way to make it easier to teach your horse to distance herself/himself.

Great advice. I use ground poles alot for horses who cant get good distances, I'll have to do that with her. I have a jimmy wofford book that give a pretty good step by step from ground poles to full jumper courses as well as some cavaletti guides. I just have to find them and brush up. Im hoping to truck her over to a trainer for lessons ASAP.

She will be doing flat, I'm not going to rush right into jumping. I've seen people really sour horses that way. I took her over one small cross rail, because her mommy said she's not bad over them. I wouldnt have done it if she wasnt being responisve durring the ride. I would only be doing rails or poles if she schooled well. Shes a really honest sane horse, she just needs lots of encouragement. You'd never know shes only 3, and right off the track. She lunges w/t both directions, perfect circles. Shes a great trail horse and very trust worthy. Its been very cold and wintery out and she hasnt even had a bad day or acted mareish. She had not been ridden in two weeks and didnt show it one bit. I'm hoping I can ride more regularly, since my friend is a nurse and shes got a very weird schedule. I cant believe my friend got her for free. She usually has horrible luck with horses and this one is really working out. Knock on wood.