Bounces???!!!

[Painting Horses]

my paint has been jumping for about a year now and he's doing very well he can do 2' very nicely now. I can get him to canter over 1' poles and he canters over single poles i'm going to work on more of them. I wanted to ask how can i teach him to go over a bounce? i've ridden a few myself and they are fun and my old horse use to injoy them so i wanted to see if my paint would as well. Also how can i teach him to canter over those higher jumps? he's doing really well and has a lowly smooth canter and bounce over the jumps but i want to help give him something new to think about so he wont get bored.

[kedwards]

Ideally, you want to start with something that is most natural for him. Try setting up two ground poles 60' apart and ride him through them a few times, bringing him in at a steady canter, but letting him figure out the striding. Does he prefer 4 strides or 5?

This can help you decide whether to set the canter rails a little long or short. If he prefers 5 strides, set up 3 ground rails at a 9-10' distance. If he prefers 4 strides, set the rails up at 11-12 feet between them. Then, just bring him through the 3 ground rails at canter and try to aim for a consistent canter throughout. When he's going over them consistently, you can raise the second two rails off the ground a little (first one side, then the other). Raise them progressively, until they are 2' and you have the basics of a little bounce.

For introducing higher fences, I think the easiest way to do it is by slowly increasing the last jump of a measured line or a gymnastic (but not a bounce).