Learning to jump.... any advice????

porte101 · Yearling

Learning to jump.... any advice????

Figarocubed · Advanced

In the old days, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was a youngster, learning to jump, we'd go through lines of cavallettis and gymnastic jumps with arms outstretched or folded -- no rein contact. Reins were tied so they wouldn't flap around or get a horse's leg caught through them. This aids both an independent seat and timing over jumps.

Bridge your reins and rest the bridged part on the crest as you jump or ride with your reins knotted with the knot resting on the crest. This is so you don't grab the horse in the mouth as he jumps. You want your contact to remain consistent, or the horse will quit jumping. I used to ride a schoolie at one barn who had a penchant for jumping from a very deep spot. We used a neck strap on him and would grab the strap over jumps.

Jumping on the lunge -- all you have to do is ride the jump -- the instructor does the steering. This was the earliest "jumping" lesson i had.

Looking AT the jump almost guarantees your horse will jump from a deep spot or stop entirely. Look instead at the horizon, a distant car, anything BUT the jump.

Some of this may be archaic, old school advice. Hopefully someone else will chime in with other suggestions and I will learn something, too!

knitty · Yearling

Funny Figaro!
I don't think your advice is archaic - good basics are always just that, good basics. I too spent my childhood jumping gymnastics over and over. We also had to tie our reins in a knot and jump through with our arms outstretched, behind our backs or maybe resting on our helmet. We did this both with and without stirrups. The beauty of a gymnastic is that the distances are set so the riders only real job is to sit quietly in the middle and let the horse figure it out and do its job. THis allows you to focus on your position while teaching your horse independence and the ability to think for itself.

An exercise we did to prevent looking down over a jump was our coach or a groundperson would stand at the end of the arena and hold up fingers, changing as you jumped down the line. THe rider had to call out how many fingers the person was holding.

There are many more exercises that give you the same benefits as these exercises. They teach you to rely on feeling how your horse is moving and create trust (this allows you to sit still and be soft over a fence).

Lots of two point position and work without stirrups on the flat will help you to develop a secure seat - this will allow you to rely less and less on your hands for support.

Good luck and have fun!

Geoffrey Pannell · Well Schooled

keep a steady tempo, look up , sit still and wait. That's the simplest advice to get you started.