Jumping exercises for green horses
Jumping exercises for green horses and novice riders
Jumping exercises for green horses are all about building rhythm, confidence, and balance — both for the horse and the rider. This exercise is a perfect example of that. It’s especially useful for novice riders who may still struggle with maintaining a steady rhythm to a jump. If you tend to fiddle or over-adjust your horse in front of the jump — something many riders do — this exercise will really help you work through that.
The setup is designed to guide you to a good takeoff spot for some of the jumps, while others require you to develop your feel and timing. This is particularly useful when riding young or inexperienced horses, as they can be more difficult to find consistent takeoff spots on. By riding this exercise regularly, both you and your horse will improve your ability to stay in balance and approach fences with confidence.
An important feature of this exercise is the introduction of a bounce. Bounces are excellent tools for developing a young horse’s balance, agility, and strength. They encourage your horse to stay light on their feet, push off from behind, and use their body more effectively over fences — all key ingredients for producing a well-rounded jumper.
Before getting to the main part of the exercise, a warm-up over cavalettis is included. This is essential for improving the rider’s accuracy and the horse’s adjustability. For riders producing young horses, jumping exercises for green horses like this one are a must.
Watch the video below for all the details.
How to set these jumping exercises for green horses up
This setup isn’t too complicated, but since there are several jumps close together, you need to be careful that your riding paths stay clear and nothing gets in the way.
- Bottom Long Side: Start by setting up a line with a cavaletti followed by a vertical jump. They should be spaced four strides apart, which is about 18 paces.
- Diagonal Bounce to Oxer: Next, set up a diagonal line across your arena. Put two cavalettis close together as a bounce, about 3 paces apart. Then set an oxer four strides away from the second cavaletti, about 19 paces.
- Diagonal Vertical to Oxer: Now set another diagonal line with a vertical and an oxer, spaced four strides apart at 20 paces.
- Angled Oxer: In a small space nearby, place an oxer at an angle. Make sure you can ride smoothly away from it.
- Corner Bounce: In the corner, set two cavalettis as a bounce, spaced 3 paces apart, with a placing pole 2.5 paces in front of them.
- Cavalettis Across the Arena: Finally, place two cavalettis across the arena so you can ride to both on a gentle curved line.
That’s it — you’re ready to go! Check the link in the description for a JPEG of the course plan to help you set it up easily from your phone.
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