How to teach a horse to jump
So you want to learn how to teach a horse to jump? Well, that’s not a short answer. However, this exercise, or even parts of it, is a great place to start.
This exercise is designed to give you a nice approach to the jump. This will ensure that your horses always takes off from the best place. By placing a young horse in the correct takeoff spot continuously your horse will learn how to jump using the correct technique. Your horse will learn to use his body in the correct way. This will also help develop the correct muscles for jumping.
Young horses are notoriously difficult to find a good takeoff spot on. That’s why exercises like this are excellent for their training. I like to incorporate exercises like this one in all my youngster’s training. However, it’s extremely important to train adjustability in their canter stride. For this is us loads of cavaletti work. These two exercises will certainly help you with that: Canter Adjustability and Introduction to cavaletti work
The video below will show you how to set the jumping exercise, and give you a demonstration of how to ride it.
How to set it up
Jump 1
Let’s start with the line on the top long side of the arena. It starts off with three cavalettis set up three paces apart so they become bounces. Then 17 and a half paces from the last cavaletti you set up an oxer. This line rides through on 4 strides. You then add the placing poles to the line. And you lay them out 3 and a half paces apart.
Jump 3
Next, you set up this little gymnastic down the bottom long side of your arena. It’s a cross, 2 strides to an oxer and then another 2 strides to another cross, with placing poles to help you get a nice easy ride through the gymnastic. These are the measurements. So its 10 and a half paces from the cross to the oxer and then 10 and a half paces from the oxer to the cross for
Jump 2
And lastly, you set up this little line diagonally across your arena. It’s a cavaletti, two strides to a vertical and then another two strides to a cavaletti. These are the measurements. It’s 11 paces from the first cavaletti to the vertical and then another 11 paces from the vertical to the second cavaletti.
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