Setting up jumps?

[Caitlin]

Hey hey!

I was wondering if anyone could help me in terms of distances between jumps -- before I've always had jumps set up for me, because I'm on the horse and my instructor is on the ground ;). I've seen my instructor pace the distances out, not actually measuring them, but I have no idea how many steps she took between each jump. Since I've no way of measuring the distance, I was hoping somebody could give me some kind of general guide on how to set jumps up -- including bounce, trotting poles etc. I just don't want to take a guess and have Aussie at a really odd position when he takes off!

At the moment I'm riding a haflinger who stands a bit over 14 hands.

Any help is appreciated! :)

[myEllie]

For a one stride, there should be 24 feet between the jumps. 6 for take off, 6 for the landing and 12 for the stride. For each extra stride just add 12 feet. A normal human stride is about 3 feet. So for a one stride, you should take 8 steps. For any extra strides, take 4 more steps.

[Caitlin]

Alright, thanks!

Does that mean a bounce would be 12 feet (6 for take off, six for landing)? And what would be the rule of thumb for trotting poles?

[rocketman]

Don't forget that 12' is the average non-jumping stride for a horse. If you have a 14 hand pony, I would suggest setting a one stride double at 21' to start (7 paces) and experiment a bit with the jumps small to see if it's comfortable for him.

For a pony, I would set a bounce at 10'-11'.

Remember, everything depends on your pony's way of going, how he jumps the first obstacle into a combination, his speed, etc. You should find out what the standard distances for large pony jumpers/hunters at horse shows in Australia is and work towards training him to conform to that standard.

If he's green, set the jumps to make it easy for him at first, so he gains confidence, and then work towards the standard distances set at shows.