This question might seem really stupid....?

Question

alright know how do you jump a horse i have always wanted to know but i ride western... i might want to start ehglish but i am alittle afraid of jumoping a horse any helps or tips.....

Answer 1

THIS IS NOT A STUPID QUESTION! I KNOW THIS IS SOOOOOO LONG BUT I PROMISE IT WILL HELP!PLEASE READ!

Ok well I will tell you my story. I started riding about 4 years ago and did a few Western lessons. I decided that since I love looking pretty on a horse (lol) that I would switch to English. (You know you get the breeches and half chaps and shiny boots etc...)  So I stuck with it.  Ilove doing English. I have been jumping for 2-2.5 years. I love it. I never really wanted to jump! I just wanted to do some flat work and maybe Dressage. So one day my instructor said "Ok well we will start jumping in a few monthes!" And I was excited and scared at the same time. So to answer your question, GO FOR IT! Learn the basic English flat work. Do some trott poles (set up pulls about 3 ft apart or the length of one big step). I would definatly have an instrucotr for learning a NEW dicispline. But just be confident and have fun! Trust your horse is the best tip because I am sure you know that they can sense scared riders and take advantage. So how you jump a horse is basically pretty easy once you do it quite a bit. First you start out with cross rails. Then verticals. Then Oxers etc... You need to make your 2 point perfect. Over little fences your chest doesnt need to be touching the horses mane or neck. I would get help from an instructor because it is hard to explain. Now you may learn in a month but it could take years. It took me 2 years because i wasnt sure it i was ready. Well Good Luck!

YOU WILL HAVE FUN GUARENTEED!

Oh and one more fact:

There are 2 types of jumping diciplines.

Hunter- When you are judged for form over the fences. Anywhere from your tack to your hair must be perfect along with your horse. (Kinda judges the horse more than you)

Show Jumper- Show jumping is for speed. You must get over all of the fences in a fast ammount of time. If you knock down a fence, your points go down. Think speed. You may be thinking ahhh I dont wanna do Show Jumpers, but I have to admit I have done Hunters and Show Jumpers and enjoy Show Jumpers a little more. This doesnt mean you have to gallop up to jumps your first time.

Well sorry this is so long!!

Thanks for reading it!!

Answer 2

I switched too about a few years ago...the only thing you need to know is you have to keep your balance...and if you start english, the riding instructor will teach you...its really fun!! I think you should try it!!!

Answer 3

Not a stupid question at all. Ask your instructor these same things and see if she's willing to give you some basics so you can see how it works or if she knows of someone who can help you learn about this. I have jumped Western in Trail classes and also on trail rides. It is not so hard as you're thinking. The best way to learn about it, though, is to see how it's done personally and get some basic instruction in it. The first few times, I jumped solely on what my instructor was telling me to do while my mind was hoping this would work and I'd still be astride on the other side. Then I got more confident because I was still on after getting across, so I started actually hearing what was said and learning.

Answer 4

what you do is start with a pole on the ground first walk over it and say step to your horse and click then troy over thepole and say step and click then when tou have masterd that then tou can do a small x rail so wat you do is first trot then go right in the middle of the jump an make sure you look up when you are doing this so you trot up to the jump then you balance a little bit out of ur saddle like lean forward then kick ur horse with ur feet and then click with with ur mouth then he should jump then when you master that you can canter over jumps and its thesame exsact thing but ur cantering and you also have to measure strids. then you can finally get really good and make ur jump higher and higher.

                    Char

Answer 5

To jump a horse you are to look straight ahead at the jump and go into a two-point position-which is a position where you take your butt out of the saddle and put your hands with the rains on the top of your horse's neck. When you are a few strides away from the jump you release the reins higher up on the horse neck and grip with your legs. Also if you are afraid to jump do not push yourself there are many types of English ridings. If you do not want to jump try a discipline called Dressage this is a english sport where the rider and horse make a team and work as one. Almost looking as dancing the rider and horse memorize patterns and work on equitation positions the strongest bond between a horse and a rider can come from the art of dressage riding.

Answer 6

its scary at first but if you have a synthetic light western saddle you can jump with that the worst thing that can happen is you get a horn in your gut but start off with that since a western saddle feels more secure and work your way up to an english

Answer 7

its not stupid, dont worry. everyone has to learn at somepoint.

Well, you basically need good balance and a good seat in case something goes wrong.

When jumping you should start off with a small fence and trot or canter your horse towards it. as the horse starts to take off, you should take you weight off the horses back and gold forwards at you hips. your hands should go a little forwards, so you dont jab the horse in the mouth. When the horse starts to go back down, towards the landing stage, you should sit up, back in your normal postion, and ride positivly away from the fence.

good luck!

Answer 8

I love jumping and its a great feel once you get the hang of it. You don't hold the mane - well you could at first to keep your balance, but you do lean forward, put your bum back and kind of hover above the saddle. It helps you go with the horse when they jump but I wouldn't worry about this because once you've done it a few times you do it automatically.

If you jump small then the horse will set up the stride for you but when the jumps get bigger you will have to set up the strides by altering the size of the horses strides. This will take longer to learn, like a few years, because you have to learn to judge the distance from the fence and size of the horses strides, but over time, this too will come automatically.

Good luck I hope you enjoy jumping!!

Answer 9

First get used to riding english.  Ask our instructor if she/he would be willing to give you lessons in english riding instead of western, tell her also that you are interested in earning how to jump. if she/he doesn't each jumping they might know a good instructor that you can go to.

Answer 10

Dont be afraid! It's all a fun learning curve and something your instructor will inform you about. First you will do trotting poles and slowly go up to small jumps. These are considered easy and once you get the hang of it, you'll love it!

If you have never ridden english before though, you'll have to practise the basics of that first and then move on to jumping. Good Luck!

Answer 11

i think if you are "starting" english you should do flat work for a couple of weeks first. don't just go straight into jumping. flat work will get you used to the feel of things... than you can advance

Good LUCK!!