How to teach a horse to jump?

Question

I have a 15 yr. old Quarter Horse mare, and i would like to teach her how to jump. I'm 15 and i know I can stay on her when she bucks or balks, so in other words, I have good balance on her. She's been through blizzards in Colorado, A little barrel racing, pole bending. So in this case she's a western horse. My saddle is a barrel saddle with a breast collar and it's light weight. So i think she could jump with it on her, plus i don't weight alot. I know horses can jump with western saddles, but how do you teach and encourage a horse to jump over an object like a small bale of hay, or poles, or something like that? I think she'd be really good at it.

Answer 1

Um well on the young rider site somewhere they have a article on how to teach your horse to jump:

Here it is:

http://www.youngrider.com/horse-training...

Hope it helped

Answer 2

start by doing some ground work with her, make sure you where boots, gloves, helmet.

Start with natural objects eg: logs, ditches, water puddles, hills- start at walk then trot

Then you can do a little with unnatural sj poles, walk over a rug, walk between objects (barrels), make an little course be creative -again start this walking then trot.

once you are both confident you can try it whilst lunging her - she may dart out so build build directional logs eg: two logs as a pathway to jump, be careful the wings arent to high you dont want them to get caught on the rope. if this doesnt go as well dont be disheartened - generally the horse needs to be fairly well educated in lunging to do this? if she isnt then maybe give this step a miss

then when you ready you can try it riding put some poles on the ground and walk over some natural logs once you are both confident try trotting, then try a canter, do it gradually!

they way you encourage a horse is by REWARDING! make little cut up carrots in your poket and reward her with that AFTER the jump on the ground, reward by not only food but praise her good girl, pat and scratch her.

reward when your on her also but only with praise and pat/scratch, not food.

end your ride on a positive note!

good luck! happy riding!

Answer 3

what you really need to do is check if she has a bad back if she does you shouldn't ride her for a week or more then you can get her a saddle pad or you could use a lighter saddle belive me I have a horse farm with 20 horses ,one of my horses had the same prob and her back was bad so we got her a saddle pad you can talk to her but befor you jump you should make her jump over somthing like a small pole start walking over then get it higher every time she does it right tell her she did good then pat her so ya good luck

Answer 4

Start with ground poles. Get her used to trotting and cantering over them. You can do that from the saddle. Once she is used to them, raise them a little (up to around 6" or so). I would lead her over it at a walk. Get her used to picking up her feet over it. When she is used to walking over, start leading her over at a trot. At this point, most horses start hopping over. When your mare hops, give her a vocal cue (jump, hop, etc.). She will associate the cue with jumping over. Once she does well with that height, try it from her back. Make sure you are out of the saddle when she hops over (for your safety and hers). When she is doing well with that, you can start raising the jumps slowly. Make sure you take your time and don't over-do it. With some time, she will be able to hop hay bales, poles, etc.

Answer 5

Haha, this is kind of different.. but I taught my dog to jump "jumps"

Start slow from the ground, I suggest while lounging. Get your horse used to going over just one pole on the ground. Then increase the number of poles as your horse gets better and better. If she refuses on ground poles, coax her over by blocking the exit (stand to the side) and giving lots of slack to the lounge line in front of the pole so she's even more encouraged to go over. When she does, give lots of praise. Continue working with her and slowly raise the height little by little. Be sure to not let her get away with a refusal, whether from the ground or when you move to her back. Good luck and have fun!

Answer 6

I personally think you shouldn't jump in a western saddle unless it's an emergency.  Even though your's isn't heavy, the saddle isn't made for jumping and you won't be able to stay with your horse in the air which is uncomfortable for the horse and dangerous.  Horses can jump with western saddles, but it really isn't a good idea.

First, get some jumping lessons on an experienced horse.  You need to be solid to teach your horse properly.  If you lose your balance you will punish your horse and discourage her from jumping.

Next, let the horse free jump, so that she learns where to put her feet with you out of her way.  Progress to small cross rails with ground poles.

Make sure you have an experienced trainer helping you.

Answer 7

Find a good Hunter/Jumper trainer.