Can jumping a horse????

Question

Can jumping a horse cause it to become unsound? I ride western so i wouldnt really know.

Answer 1

doing anything to a horse can cause it to become unsound. It depends on what your asking the animal to do, at my english riding school we have a lovely old gentleman (19 years old) who we don't jump anymore because he would become unsound, but for any healthy horse, as long as your sensible, there should be nothing wrong!

Answer 2

it depends on the horse, and exactly what type of jumping you are doing. So yes it can cause a horse to go lame. But any type of riding can cause a horse to go lame, so you can't just single out jumping.

For example if you have a horse who is unfit, with smaller legs in proportion to its body and a stockier build (think almost a halter horse), and you ask them to do a 3ft course, yes they are probably going to be sore, if not lame the next day.

but if you take a horse who is fit, has clean legs with alot of 'bone", a medium build and you ask them to do a 3ft course, they probably could handle it without going sore or lame.

Now I'm not singling out breeds, but as long as your horse is fit, and build so they can at least do the job you are asking them comfortably, (providing that you are not pushing them too hard or overworking them), they probably will not go lame/sore due to jumping.  

Answer 3

generally jumping doesnt cause your horse to become unsound, horses naturally jump in there every day life it may be a fallen log on the floor or a stream etc.they could get lame if they are jumped too often on hard ground or jumping a horse thats too young to jump could cause a horse to be unsound.what makes you ask that?

Answer 4

I ride english and have no clue what you are even talking about...

Proably no.

Answer 5

Jumping over high fences can be hard on a horse's legs, just as any athletic activity can be. But it does not in and of itself make a horse unsound. Most people do not jump very high fences, and the ones who do know how to gauge how many jumps their horse has in him. Sometimes horses have defects in their legs that come to light under the stress of jumping, but those defects were already there. The strain just caused them to show up, as would the strain of any other strenuous activity. It is possible for horses to get hurt while jumping by stepping in a hole or landing wrong, but that is an injury not an unsoundness.

Answer 6

Depends on the horses build. I think a western horse COULD be a prospect Hunter or Jumper depending on its stamia, speed, and ability!  

Answer 7

It CAN, they can land wrong, or get something stuck in their hoof while they are running, and when they land it can do some damage, but if you really think about it running a barrel can make a horse unsound. All they have to do is turn the barrel and have a leg slide out the wrong way and they are unsound.  

Answer 8

you can ride a horse into the ground jumping(just like any area of riding). . . but most the time jumping a horse that is conformationally correct for jumping they will have a good chance of NOT becoming unsound.

my second horse we bought from a college, and they told us he was a great jumper ect. we bought him and jumped him lightly here and there for lessons bout 1-2 times a week.  a year later signs that he was lame finally came to light and after hours of tests we found out how many soundness issues, he was basically dead lame in both front legs, we dropped 3,000 dollars to help him enjoy a 3 more years of light riding here and there, and then retired him.  anyway, jumping isnt bad for a horse if the horse is sound enough to jump.

it's okay to ask questions, and thanks for the nice question.  sometimes we get over protective of what we love to do (ie jumping)

Answer 9

Yeah, if you work any horse too hard they could go lame, no matter what you do.  It would be silly to jump a 30 year old horse four feet because the muscle use and hard landing would probably hurt the horse.  But it would also be dumb to gallop an older or unfit horse on a hard surface in a western saddle, right?  So you just need to be sensible.

Accidents happen in jumping, just like they do in other equestrian disciplines.  So an accident can also cause a horse to go lame.

I hope that answers your question.

Answer 10

well yes. it can because it puts a lot of strain on the tendons and the bones that normally wouldn't be there. plus adding the weight of a rider just adds more tention and stress. but if you let your horse rest and put jumping boots on the horse will help prevent the horse from getting lame.

Answer 11

i hate jumping.

Answer 12

yes it could. Any thing that puts strain on their legs can cause unsoundness.  

Answer 13

if you jump a horse too high or too far or too young or too old it can make him unsound.  if you take any already sound riding horse he can probably jump comfortably without getting hurt, as long as you don't over do it.  what is overdoing it?  completely depends on the breed, fitness, training, time spent jumping, etc of the horse.  sensible Jumping won't make the average horse unsound.  we don't let our four year old jump with riders yet.  But the girl who has semi-adopted him lets him loose in the arena.  she runs around and jumps over a little course and he sees her having a blast and follows her, its really cute.  and we don't let our old horses jump more than 1.5 feet or more than 8 jumps in 30 minutes.  in general we school our students without putting the jump any higher than 2.5, because you can learn alot about jumping at 2.5 and not take as much out of your horse especially since we do tend to use oldER horses

Answer 14

umm well it depends if you jump on poor footing or u use horse shoes(long term) or if you are jumping without protective boots etc etc but most ppl take these percautions so yes and no =]]