Haven't been here in awhile, Just a quick question

[SmokeKandeeBar]

Wow, I haven't been here in awhile and I see it's changed a little in a month and a half. Anyways I just have a quick question about jumping. Does a horse have to be four years old to start learning how to jump? Kandee will be three in March, and the trainer probably won't start jumping her for another couple months. It's not going to be anything really high or strenuous. After all i'll be jumping her and I can only jump 6 inch jumps :) Her legs are completely closed, we've had them x-rayed so they are fine for it. Do you guys think she'll be alright? I just don't want to wait another whole year for her to learn how to jump, and I think she is healthy and old enough for it. But on the other hand I don't want her to get hurt but I don't think she will. I'm confused. If other people have started jumping three year olds let me know. It's not like she is going to be jumped over olympic courses. The highest she'll probably go is 2'6. and the trainer is going to work it up gradually. He takes everything very slow with her. Anyways just wanted to see what you guys thought. Thanks!

[jUmPingIsLifE]

at 3 you want to be very careful and make sure you know when she tells you that is enough. she could easily be started over ground poles and little cross rails but personaly i really wouldn't start jumping until 4. tahoe was started at 3 but we were under the impression he was 4 or 5 and i took a couple dumps because we pushed too hard and he definatly told us when we pushed to hard and he didn't just tell us he TOLD ME and put me in the dirt a couple times :D

[Holly B]

It's best to start training to jump when the horse is 4 or 5, as a horse's bones don't finish growing and developing till then. Big jumps should definitely be left till 5 or 6.

[eventerbabe]

a horse will not be fully developed until its 5 or 6 (depending on breed) so jumping will be putting excessive strain on the joints, why the rush to start jumping? i didn't start jumping my boy seriously til he was 8. i felt it more important to establish his flatwork, get nice, even, balanced paces and get him reasonably happy about hacking. IMO you should not be jumping her at the moment and if you can't wait you need to reconsider whether or not a youngster is the right horse for you.

[SmokeKandeeBar]

No I'll wait for whenever is good for her, and she is definitely, definitely,definitely the horse for me! I love her so much she is my baby, I'll do anything that is best for her. I can't even think about not having her, or selling her, she is sucha great horse, I can't imagine not having her. If she can't jump i'm not going to make her jump. I'm not even a hard core jumper, i'm just starting out. She is a Paint horse and they tend to be started earlier than the bigger warmbloods. She has been in professional training since November, and I'm not sure when he is going to start her over poles. I'm not even sure if he will start training her to jump. He knows alot about horses and has a very good reputation for taking things slow and gently. If she isn't strong enough or old enough he will tell me. Thanks for your advice.

[SmokeKandeeBar]

I've decided to wait another year until she is four. I don't want her to get hurt, and I want her to be healthy. Thanks!

[Kate F.]

A horse, or rather a foal, knows how to jump from a few days old - so they don't need to "learn to jump" as such. What they do need to learn is the confidence and timing to jump the things that they would probably go around if they encountered them when running around free. I'd agree with the others that it is best to leave it until 4 to start jumping even small fences, then bigger ones not until they're 6 or 7.

However at 3 you can certainly start building the confidence around poles and the idea of sequences of poles, teaching the horse this is nothing to get worried about and teaching the horse to wait and listen to the rider. If you have a look at the latest update on my website (www.harmony-project.net)the latest article is about re-training jumpers who rush or boil over - but all the exercises described are equally relevant for introducing a young horse to jumping before you start actually jumping, if you see what I mean! These exercises are simple, lots of fun and can be done with horses of any age (you can also do them in-hand, which is a good way to start everything with youngsters anyway!)

Traditions vary a lot on when to start jumping. Here in Central Europe they have "young showjumper" competitions where horses between 4 and 6 can be asked to jump 1 meter 20 courses. I think this is a terrible practice - but it's done and accepted by the establishment. Not surprisingly a lot of horses that go through this are gone in the head, or gone in the legs, or both, before they reach double figures on their age - but that doesn't seem to put the trainers off as they can sell a 4 year old that's jumping over the moon for a small fortune.

However, as I say - I don't agree with this approach at all, and would much rather have a well and slowly prepared jumper who enjoys his/her work and is still happily jumping at 20!

Cheers

Kate

[Scarlett 001]

Funny I did a search for threads on horses and age to jump before I posted my thread, but the general title of your thread made it not get picked up I guess! Sorry for posting so similar a question just a day later in my thread! Great minds think alike! :p

[SmokeKandeeBar]

lol don't even worry about it! Great minds do think alike! :)