Jumping my horse?

Question

my mom and i are buying a horse who is amazing, we love her so much shes turing 5 and has the best personality.. i love to jump and she only does crossrails right now.. not even a full course, shes only done like a few at a time.. but we like her a lot. the only thing that makes em have a little doubt is that i want to jump i love jumping and i can jump horses in the barn, but i would like to jump my own horse. besides that how long does it take to teach a horse to jump a course little like lmaybe long sturrip just enough for us to do a little showing with her. maybe 18 inch cross rails. and she is really tight in her shoulders. would this be a problem? we stretch her and it helps with the flat, but im a little skeptical about jumping? if you have any feedback on this that would be great. Also do you think it is right for us to be buying a horse that doesnt jump when my mom and i both love to jump? im haviing doubts. answer ASAP!!!! thanks for reading this!!!!

Answer 1

In the buyng process you two will have her vet checked for jumping, so any physical reasons for not jumping well  will show up.Target her shoulder problem and get answers. If she pases her vet-out for this sport, yes start grabbing those fun classes!  A good trainer can have her over 2.6''  course in three weeks,which is hardly very high jumps. I totally think this is great unless you think buying a established career horse is a better bet.

  For her tense shoulders, video you'r practice, then play back and see if everything is OK. Are you camping her shoulder or neck? Picture phones and digi cams are super for telling you the whole story/.

  And  hey..all horses are a bit of a gamble.Call your local Pony Club and have her evaluated by a BHS (British Horse Socioty) pro. You'll have more information to make a decision that could well last 20 years.

Answer 2

i wouldnt get her. it depends on the breed but if you want to jump better sooner than i would suggest getting a different horse 4 now

Answer 3

I have only one piece of advice for you- read all you can about the basics of teaching horses to jump, and then go out and apply what you have learned to your mare. There are several excellent books on the subject, but the ones you need to pay attention to are the books that were written by George Morris, America's show jumping guru. George is the current coach of the US team, and if you aren't familiar with his history, he is renowned as a coach, trainer, and competitor in the sport. When he was just 14, he won the Medal at Madison Square Garden in New York- and set a record that stood unchallenged and unbroken for over 30 years. At 18, he rode with the Team in the Olympic Games- and has repeated that many times since then. George is also famous for his coaching and training skills-there are many, many, top athletes competing today who either are or were students of his. So I would buy and read his books, if you want to learn to jump correctly and safely.  I can't address the issue of your mare's tightness in the shoulder- except to say that this needs to be checked out by a good vet to find its cause. She may have a physical or medical problem that needs to be treated- it may be that she has suffered an injury there . Good luck.

Answer 4

Starting over poles, crossrails and cavelettis is a great idea! When she is comfortable with those, slowly start making them bigger. She is young, and she will learn.

Start with just a couple jumps with a straight approach. When she is comfortable with that, add a couple more jumps closer together to work on combos. Then you can add turns and slowly develop a mini course of jumps!

Is she lame from her shoulder? Or are the muscles just stiff. Before jumping any horse, make sure that they are fully warmed up. I always do walk/trot/canter before I attempt anything like jumping. If you are concerned, have you vet check her out. She is young and you do not want to do anything to hurt her as she is developing.

Make sure you get a vet check (by a vet not associated with the horses owner) before buying!

Answer 5

shes young she'll learn. as long as her body type (pasterns aren't too long etc) fit then everything should work out.

you didn't say her breed, that would have helped a little. try jumping her over what she knows, and see what you think. then push her a little more each time.

practice alot even over ground poles and cavaleties* just to get her used to it. it shouldn't take her too long to be able to do a little showing with easy stuff, maybe 2 months if that. you'll get to know her strengths, you'll know how far to push her and you know how to jump so you can help her. just start low and gradually get higher.

I'm the same way with horses. i just got a new one, an off the track race horse absolutely love her, but i wanted a little barrel racer, but ins ted i got a big hunter prospect. but its the horse you have to love, then you train them to do what you want.

Good Luck and dont get discouraged!

Answer 6

Well, you can't really set a concrete timeframe for teaching the horse to jump; you can set the training schedule, but there is no guarantee a horse will be trained in anything by a certain date that you give them.  Horses, like people, are all individuals and learn at different paces.  Patience is key in any animal's training.  If you want the immediate satisfaction of a trained jumping horse, this mare is not for you.