Is Jumping Instinctive?

[Peanut]

I always thought that to a certain degree it was - see obstacle get over it. Afterall I've seen lots of much younger horses free reined over quite big jumps when people want to see their jumping potential.

However having lunged my 4 year old over her first little cross pole last night I realised that she hadn't a clue (despite having jumping in her blood :eek: ). She's expert at trotting poles and loves to show off over them, but given a tiny jump and she hadn't the faintest idea - first she tried to trot straight through it and then the next time she fell over it!

I had to end the session over her beloved trotting poles to get her confidence back and finish on a good note. Despite wearing boots, I'm sure her legs must be black and blue this morning.

Oh dear, I can see the road to the show jumping arena is going to be a long and bumpy one :p

[Cheeky]

Heya

Aww .. what a sweet-heart .. giving her all :p

Jumping is natural to a degree .. if required out in the wild, they will . .but they wont willingly keep an eye out for a log to jump, if you get what I mean.

But jumping for some horses is great fun! Missy would jump all day, given the chance - she loves it! Even in the arena, if she's stirred up, she'll jump out of free will :rolleyes:

Takes time for some horses to get the hang of these lanky legs :p Perhaps try leading her over inhand over a small individual pole, then a double pole (two together), then raise it up to a tiny cross jump .. let her know that the height of the pole is beginning to grow .. and be there with her :) As soon as she's done it a few times .. her confidence will grow .. :)

Perhaps she cannot see that the height has been risen?

Any photos? Good luck :)

[Peanut]

Thanks Cheeky - yes we stepped over it together a few times first and even then she banged it :o

[Wobblydeb]

I've got no personal experience of this, but don't some people use a lead horse that already knows how to jump? And also I seem to see people "free" lunging - i.e. without attaching the lunge line. Don't know if that would help..... :o

[notpoodle]

i alwys thought the instinct was more along the lines of 'see obstacle, find an easy way around it' :D ie in the wild they probably wouldnt jump if they didnt absolutely have to because jumping would be a waste of energy for them :D

Julia
x

[KateWooten]

My gut feeling is that it is instinctive ... or developed as a foal. I have two 4 yr olds with similar breeding, same height, similar backgrounds. The little grey gelding can easily jump out of his paddock - he needs more than 4 ft 6 fencing that's for sure. The little mare tried to follow him once, and got all strung up and cut to pieces :(

She just can't jump. She has trouble stepping over obstacles - she gets confused as to where all those feet should go. She's getting better, she can now 'jump' a 6 inch high pole from a trot - and that was a big deal to her. She can free-jump about a foot, and she can trot 4 trotting poles. Any of that, the little grey pony could have done blindfolded and backwards before he was 3.

[skye06]

Generally I find that when introducing horses to jumping and poles loose schooling is the way to go as you don't have to worry about the lunge line. I would also sugest small vertical jumps as opposed to cross poles because as far as my own experience goes horses jump these better than cross poles when starting off, and again only in my experience if the fences are too small then the horses don't seem to try to jump them. I usually start over trot and canter poles then use canter poles into a 2ft upright. as long as horse keeps going forwards and the strides are set right the quickly get the idea.

[Giveitago]

I always thought that jumping was an instictive thing too but have found recently that i may have to put a little more input for my horse to jump better.

Firstly, because in one of the horse magazines this month it showed that they have no vision of the jump within four feet of it :eek: and secondly, my horse, now 14, wasn't taught/given the experience at an early age. Lastly, I know nothing about strides etc, have always ridden jumps kinda naturally.

I can only assume that practice makes perfect and by following fellow NR guidelines may bring the necessary respect for the fences.

Maybe we have a trainer NR who can start a thread. Week one exercises to follow, etc.... I'll join!

Good luck with the youngster.

[cazrider]

My 16 year old section d regards all obstacles as just that... obstacles. He sees a fence as a fence.. same as you'd get at the edge of his field. He stops in front of the jump as if to say. "Ok, here we are.. now what". So instinctive? not necessarily.

[LMS]

Heidi was not taught how to jump but yet she enjoyed trotting & cantering over jumps around in her paddock.

They weren't jumps with standards & poles but more like a little ditch, a log and an old part of the barn where on one side was sloped and another had a 1 metre drop.

She would tackle all three from different angles, it was so funny to watch her and her "mentor" (a retired grand prix mare) run around their imaginary course.

Now I've only ridden Heidi twice a few years ago, so can't tell you how she handles them if I'm the one telling her where to jump though from the saddle.

No wait... but I have shown her how to jump a real ditch bank (we dug a 2' - 3' deep X 5'-6' wide in the middle of their paddock for drainage). I was on foot & the mares couldn't figure out how to get to the other side, even though there was yummy grass to tempt them.

Funny how they figure out ways to escape & you scratch your head wondering how they tackled the obstacles, but invite them to freedom & they think it's a trap. Hehe

Anyhow, I jumped back & forth, taking a run at it so they could see how it's done, they tried but balked, so I grabbed Heidi by the collar loosely & guided her to it & then pop over she went all proud of herself.

When Ariel saw it, she gracefully jumped over. Mind you she was trained to jump (was a pony clubber & trillium jumper in her youth).

Now they go back & forth over the ditch as they please. They can either walk through it or jump it.

[LMS]

Maybe we have a trainer NR who can start a thread. Week one exercises to follow, etc.... I'll join!

Sounds like a great idea!

[Skyhuntress]

My trainer liked to say that jumping is the equivalent of running for humans.
No one ever teaches you how to run. You know how to do it, you just have to progress through some other steps first.

And some people will take longer to learn how to run, and some people will always run better and more effectively. Same with horses. They all DO know hw to jump, but they have to learn the proper way, some might be slower learners and some just might not like it.

[Peanut]

I would also sugest small vertical jumps as opposed to cross poles because as far as my own experience goes horses jump these better than cross poles when starting off, and again only in my experience if the fences are too small then the horses don't seem to try to jump them.

What are vertical jumps? :confused:

[entreat]

My pony LOVES to jump - ears forward looking for the next one. My new ASH appears to hate it. Wobbly approach, trying every way to run out & gets all snorty & flustered afterwards. & they were TINY (20-30cm?!).

Although he didn't hit them, he certainly wasn't pleased to do them & would rather not. I'll try him on the lunge, but he really wasn't happy mounted.

[Cheeky]

Giveitago - that sounds like a great idea! What kind of exercises do you mean? I wouldn't mind starting a post with some weekly exercises for us all to try :) Would be great to keep each other informed, give eachother advice and share photos and experience :)

I'll start a thread .. if that's okay by everyone else? Get the ball rolling.

Peanut - Vertical jumps are straight jumps - with a bar that goes straight across, rather than a cross bar jump, which looks like an X.

What kinda exercises did you mean - ones to help improve you and your horses jumping? :)

[carrimclaren]

Uprights/straight bars are harder for a horse to jump unless you're making them into an oxer or something they can make a rounded shape over. If she knows whats she's doing with trotting poles why don't you put down a few trotting poles and then just raise the end one into a little crosspole or a very small upright? If she's confused why not try leading her over yourself? Sounds a little silly but i always find if you go over then they tend to sort of follow. My friend had to do it with her fell as he was a green little chap and didn't understand the concept of going over a ditch. Worked wonders when they'd jumped together a few times, although she nearly fell in the ditch herself :D

[Peanut]

I'll start a thread .. if that's okay by everyone else? Get the ball rolling.

:)

Sounds great - yes please!

I'm going to try a little upright following on from some trotting poles next. Also, I think I should take her in the school more when others are jumping because she is totally relaxed in a large school with other horses working around her unless they are jumping - then she is frightened as she obviously just doesn't understand what it's all about.

By the way she's not a shetland pony but a 15.3 hh irish sport horse and her sire was a successful show jumper! :o Where have his genes gone :D :D

[Cheeky]

Hey Peanut .. sounds like a plan :p

what did you want in the thread of exercises? Anythin in particular - stuff to help with your balance as a rider, stuff for the horse, both? :p

Good luck! Cant wait to see some piccies of your gorgeous horse :)

[jenren!!]

Maybe some horses have better navigation of their legs than others :p. Maybe the foals who took longer to get on their feet find jumping harder? Hmmm

Jenny xx

[Giveitago]

Hey Cheeky,

Thanks for the offer of some help.

Would it be best to start at the basics of trotting poles, that kind of thing so we can all join in when it suits our abilities?

Could we also have some ideas to avoid the lunging bit as my boy hates it at the best of times and he'll probably try and kill me if I ask him to jump from the lunge- we've only just managed a decent trot without pulling faces!

Will it be in the training of the rider or the horse section?

[zizz]

Don't teach her from a trot, get her over some canter poles as this will make things so much easier for her. just canter her over one pole until she learns to judge the stride and distance then add a some feed sacks weighed down by the pole. This will give her something to look at and encourage her to jump over but means she won't bang her legs if it goes wrong. When shes popping over this simulated jump put up a small vertical with the sack as the groundline, and progress from there.
This method also has the added advantage of introducing 'Ditches' at a young age!!!

[Cheeky]

Heya!

Sure .. I'll put it hmm .. good question :p I'll put it here, seeing as its mostly for training horses .. but there'll be heaps of exercises for riders for confidence and things too :)

Righty .. lets start :p