Please help! thanks

[zueale]

ok..i just bought a 7 year old mare that is 15.2 hands high!but she dosent know how to jump! How can i teach her to jump? I cant afford a trainer so please give me some advice or websites telling me how to do it! please! :) btw im 14 years old! ok? lol! thanks

[problem]

hi, if u look in the general message board there is a topic about teaching a horse 2 jump
hope that helps
if not pm me and i will tell u more :)

[jUmPingIsLifE]

have you jumped before? do you know how?

you can do both you and your horse a lot of harm if you dont. start by doing troting poles and canter poles and work your way up to small Cross Rails. Take things slow and dont jump to often, remember still do do flat. i don't know how often you get a chance to ride, but if you get to ride a lot my rule of thumb is three days of flat two days of jumping and everyone once in a while maybe the other way around with a trail ride here and there to have fun and relax.

[zueale]

i havent actually jumped before..but i have jumped ditches! lol. but I DO know how to jump. my horse dont tho. lol.

How do i make totting poles and what are canter poles? lol. how do i make them? lol. and how do i make cross rails? lol. out of bricks and poles? i can ride everyday any time i want lol. she is at my house. lol

[kedwards]

It really is adviseable to work with a trainer so that you can work on both you and the horse. Eyes on the ground are helpful and important even for advanced riders.

That said, if you must do this on your own, bear in mind that most of the basics can be learned with rails on the ground. I highly recommend Linda Allen's book (I think it's called "101 jumping exercises" or something like that).

This one starts with ground rail exercises at trot and canter that lay the foundation for the control, rhythm, and striding you'll need as you move on. If you use something like that, don't skip around, but work through it religiously, perfecting each step before moving on.

[jUmPingIsLifE]

you havn't actually jumped before...but you know how?

this makes no scence.

anyway---
troting poles are just ground poles placed about 4 1/2feet apart (this may very depending on weather or not your horse has a large or short stride) and canter poles should be placed i *think* 9-10 feet apart ((i may be wrong i havn't done them for a while so im not positive))

crss rails-- go here to see a pic of one...there are two poles and one end of each is put up and the other end lays on the ground and the part where they cross forms a low "x" http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3a//images.search.yahoo.com/search/images%3fp=cross%2brails%26ei=UTF-8%26cop=mss%26tab=3&h=331&w=323&imgcurl=viptraining-stables.com/Mirah_jumping_nicely_over_cross_rails.jpg&imgurl=viptraining-stables.com/Mirah_jumping_nicely_over_cross_rails.jpg&name=Mirah_jumping_nicely_over_%3cb%3ecross%3c/b%3e_%3cb%3erails%3c/b%3e.jpg&p=cross+rails&rurl=http%3a//www.viptraining-stables.com/Horses4Sale.htm&rcurl=http%3a//www.viptraining-stables.com/Horses4Sale.htm&type=jpeg&no=2&tt=189

[Luv 2 Trot]

The August issue of Horse Illustrated has a feature on how to teach your horse to jump. The article is online too at http://horseillustrated.com/horse . Then, click on Preview August 2004 issue which is in red lettering, then, there is a title in blue lettering called Jump Start and click that. The whole article is there. Hope it helps!!

[T-bred]

I would not advise training your horse to jump without a trainer. Unless you really know what you are doing you could cause the horse to have problems jumping in the long run and it is extremely difficult to go back and retrain a horse that has already been trained the wrong way [I know, my thoroughbred was trained incorrectly and we have still never gotten him retrained entirely]. It is even dangerous as neither of you have jumped before.

Anna

[pipkin]

i think you should try doing trotting and cantering poles too then as soon as you think she's ready and your ready try and do some small jumps. Also do lots of 20/10m cirlcle before jumping, my instructer always tells me to as it gets them warmed up good and gets them listening to you! Hope this helps:)
julia xXx

[OlavS]

Galadriel has some great articles on jumping (and lots of other things). You'll find it on lorianstable.com/articles/jumping (http://lorienstable.com/articles/jumping/)

However, as others have said it is advisable to get help from someone who's been there and got the T-shirt to teach your horse.

My mare is being trained professionally. Her trainer won't let me jump more than 2' with her, and only when I ride *well*. She says that if you pull a mare in the mouth when jumping the horse will start to stiffen up their jaws and back in anticipation just after a few jabs in the mouth, and it's very hard to regain that trust later on. Geldings apparently are much more forgiving.

I don't know if that's true (I'm no expert) but I don't want to take the risk and the trainer has no motive for fibbing. So I will learn to jump on experienced school horses before riding my own horse over fences. She's never been pulled in the mouth yet and I intend to keep it that way ;)

You probably want to jump *so much* and I can understand that. Just beware that this involves a bigger risk of injury than flatwork. Please make sure you make it as safe for you and your mare as possible. Wear your helmet, and have someone with you. It's very easy to come off, especially if the horse isn't confident. Definately get safety stirrups if you can or wear proper riding boots.

If you can't get an instructor, perhaps you can buy some videos to give you an idea of how to set up small fences, trotting poles, how and when to move with the horse, etc? It might get you a better understanding than reading books and articles.

Sorry 'bout the essay :o Best of luck!

[No_Angel]

If you have an experienced friend that can teach you to jump that would be helpful.
I would say to try your horse over small jumps on the lunge before trying it on his back, at least then he can try and find his own balance before you try!