Tips on beginning training a horse for jumping?
I am beginning to train my horses for jumping. He is a 16.2 hand Paint. He has a lot of strength. I want tips that will help me make his trot better(its bouncy), to be better collected and typical English things.
Good for you! But before you begin this process, Ask yourself two things: are you experienced enough to teach a horse to jump and do you have access to a trainer if you ever need help?
Here is a good exercise to improve your horse's trot:
Lay ground poles out one after another spaced a out 3 1/2 feet apart (adjust them to fit your horses stride when trotting). Ride over the poles in a half seat on a long rein, allowing the horse to stretch and use his hindquarters. As he improves, make the poles more spaced apart and lay down more poles to increase the difficulty.
When starting to jump, first begin by trotting over a ground pole, then cantering over it. Next move up to small cross rails (once the horse is comfortable with the ground pole). You will want to get a trainer at this point to watch you and the horse and look for problems. The trainer will also be able to tell you when the horse is ready to move up to bigger jumps.
To ask your horse to use his hindquarters better, ride on a loose rein with soft contact at the trot and ask more more energy. Be sure to let your hands follow the movement of your horse's head. If he is using his hindquarters well, he should be using more neck motion. Riding on hills will also help with this.
I would not suggest trying actual "collection" until later on when you and the horse have more experience. You can, however, ask the horse to speed up and use more energy to lengthen the horse's stride, and sit up tall and gently pull on the reins(breifly) to ask for less forward movement.
I hope this helps, and good luck with your riding!
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May 28th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Good for you! But before you begin this process, Ask yourself two things: are you experienced enough to teach a horse to jump and do you have access to a trainer if you ever need help?
Here is a good exercise to improve your horse's trot:
Lay ground poles out one after another spaced a out 3 1/2 feet apart (adjust them to fit your horses stride when trotting). Ride over the poles in a half seat on a long rein, allowing the horse to stretch and use his hindquarters. As he improves, make the poles more spaced apart and lay down more poles to increase the difficulty.
When starting to jump, first begin by trotting over a ground pole, then cantering over it. Next move up to small cross rails (once the horse is comfortable with the ground pole). You will want to get a trainer at this point to watch you and the horse and look for problems. The trainer will also be able to tell you when the horse is ready to move up to bigger jumps.
To ask your horse to use his hindquarters better, ride on a loose rein with soft contact at the trot and ask more more energy. Be sure to let your hands follow the movement of your horse's head. If he is using his hindquarters well, he should be using more neck motion. Riding on hills will also help with this.
I would not suggest trying actual "collection" until later on when you and the horse have more experience. You can, however, ask the horse to speed up and use more energy to lengthen the horse's stride, and sit up tall and gently pull on the reins(breifly) to ask for less forward movement.
I hope this helps, and good luck with your riding!
References :
Jessica jahiel's horse training problem solver has lots of good suggestions in this area!
May 28th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
thats great that you're ready to start jumping! i know from experience that no horse is a good jumper right away!!!!!!!!!! Let your horse sniff the jump first, then try walking him up to it, until you feel him relaxing around it!! Try it at the trot first, probs for a while!!!! Good Luck!!!
References :