Better Over Bigger Jumps...

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Forget_Me_Not

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Pulling my hair out over Dermots pants jump efforts. Then today decided to put a big bold jump and after schooling pop him over it....WOW my horse can jump...And my god I got my position back. I think from now on we're not jumping smaller then 2'9ft. Pre this he was going so actively in his flatwork. Grinning from ear to ear. Maybe I might have a showjumper afteral. Any body else find this?
 
Yeah I do ben is 17.2 so anything smaller than 2ft9 is bit pathetic to him really, I would say 2ft 9 is pathetic, He only jumps properly over 3ft 3 and you still dont get it, Its like a trotting pole to him.
 
yup anything small he will just sneer at and race over-bigger jumps are the only thing that he slows down to and gives some respect!!(has to be 3'6 or above though....which can be annoing!!!!)
 
I didn't want to over fence Dermot so kept them small till today. *well only jumped him twice before* He just doesn't try unless there big and bold. What I love about him is he would never stop, or runout and best of all never shys at the scary colours unlike others I ride.
 
That is great though hes so good, He sounds like my ben hes a dude, dont get me wrong ben jumps lovely but you feel like he dont hav to try over so small jumps, He really lifts up though when hes jumping over 3ft6 feels amazing. Ben has never touch wood felt like he was going to run out but I dont give him much chance to, I am too determined to get over.
 
I have this exact problem - small jumps Murphy just crashes through them or jumps them like a fool - as soon as I put them up his ears go up and he really jumps them well...
I think its a thing with big horses that they think "Oh well its only tiny I'll just anhialate it instead of jumping it"...
 
Yes, William pooh bahs at anything under 2'9,
this is a bit cack for me though as i no longer enjoy huge jumps so get my brain dead friend to jump him.
He is fully awake at 4ft, and anything over that he sees as a challenge!
I can almost hear him shouting "bring it on"!!!!!
Jo
 
yeah, we no longer try and jump Tara under 3ft as she just jumps like sh!t to be brutally honest, she rushes the fences and doesnt respect them at all, so they need to be big to back her off abit, jumps SO much better when we put it up to 3"9ft at home last week!
 
Murphys the same with me, anything under 2ft6 and he just takes the mickey and doesnt try at all.
Also.....plastic poles, murph sees them and usually knocks them down but put a wooden pole goes up he jumps nicely.
 
have only just started jumping bigger than 2'6 again after a fal (Hemir and I!) it knocked both of us and we lost our confidence jumping big!! but when i put up a 3'6 jump he jumped it properly and it felt like we wee flying!! ANything under 2' gets knocked down because he doesn't pick his feet up!! but definatly agree the bigger the better!!!
 
It's logical really that a horse will jump alot better over a higher fence. If you have a 16h2" horse, he will probably be 2'09" from floor to belly....he can step over a 2'09" fence, he doesn't have to jump. When you put him into a 3'00" or more than he actually has to jump so you will see & feel the way he should go over a jump. He will be more fluid & will have to use himself.
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yes!! my mare can jump, but i can't!! if i ride her over poles she treads all over them, fences under 2' get trashed, but 2' up and she jumps really nicely - she's only 14hh so will never be a showjumper, but has a nice pop in her if the fence is worth her effort!!
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I wonder is it the rider though? So many people say this, myself included it used to be, but now I ride all my fences the same, and yes, e doesn't have to put as much effort to anything under 1m, but he doesn't rush unless I let him, and it's my riding controlling this. I personally don't think that anyone should go bigger until they are jumping the smaller jumps perfectly every time. Just my opinion though, I am surprised to see so many people saying their horses ignore smaller jumps, but I know once I started riding them, so did the horse
 
I sort of agree with what you're saying about jumping small fences well before moving on to bigger things, but sometimes it just doesn't work like that. My trainer advised me to stop competing in the smaller classes that I had been with Bo (1m and 1.05m) because he was getting bored and starting to work out ways of mucking about rather than doing his job. I am now jumping the 1.10m and 1.15m classes with him and looking to go up to 1.20m soon. He's been a different horse since we've done this too....much less mucking about and jumping much better
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I guess it's no different to a kid getting bored in class when they know the subject already...
 
My trainer said my horse doesnt even start to jump properly untill it atleast 3`9 when he puts then to above like 4 ft i can then really feel my horse using his body really jumping and thinking about what he is doing ! Thants when it feels good!
 
No absolutely not......
My view is that with young horses you can do an enormous amount of damage jumping 'proper' fences before the horse is correct into a fence.
With only two jumping sessions under his belt, Dermot will be far from correct into a fence.
He is happily jumping larger fences because he trusts you. When he gets it wrong - which he will, and crashes through a fence, he will stop trusting you and you'll spend a year getting back to where you are now.
Having seen this time after time, I would stongly advise you set a limit of about 2ft 6 and work on gymnastic exercises and pole work, and most importantly flat work for a good few months.
 
I have to agree, it so easy to scare a young inexperienced horse
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It can happen so easily and you may have to spend many months building that confidence up again. If this is only his 3rd time jumpin as other have said he won't really have any technique but it will come with time.
In my opinion its better to let him make his mistakes over smaller fences...
 
Sorry but I agree,
He wants to do well for you and its great that you have that bond with him. But I personally wouldnt even consider anything over 2ft 6 with my baby. Only my opinion, I am sure you can increase his scope with small fences, by making him think through intersting grids and taking strides out / in, mixing it up to keep hjim interested. I dont think it should maktter how big the fence is - good technique is good technique.
I do appreciate that some horses to jump better over more substantial fences, but am sure that by making it interesting you can improve his technique
Good luck- he is a lovely boy.
 
My older horse always goes much better over bigger fences, anything less than 1m and he really can't be bothered. BUT he is now an experienced horse and when I was first training him I kept them small until he gained his confidence back and gradually built them up bigger. With young horses I always keep them small until they are consistent and confident jumping. I know my young mare can jump 1.30 easily (loose schooled) but there is no point in frightening her or overfacing her. For her first couple of shows we did crosspoles as she had enough to worry about without being overfaced with the jumps and she could afford to make all the mistakes she wanted to without frighteneing the pants off her. She's now comfortably jumping a course of 80cm so will build up from them. Of course horses are going to make more of an effort and a better shape over bigger fences but it's not the way to bring on young horses when they're still learning and you're trying to build up their confidence.
 
Interesting post. Ty is having to start from scratch - our YO has jumped him and also thinks he hasn't done much.

Jumped him in the jumping paddock and he naps and runs out when he looses his bottle but now we're coming together on the flat I thought I'd give it another go. He was jumping 2ft 6" easily but he then ploughed through it and lost his confidence - got him back over but then called it a day.....

Baby steps i think as you don't want him to loose his confidence in you! x
 
Before I got Flash he was jumping BN as a 4yr old, I took him right back to smaller classes to improve both of our confidence, and because I didn't want to put to much strain on baby legs and brain. He jumps everything exactly the same, whether its 2ft or 4ft, same speed, gives them the same amount of room (about a foot!), but when it's bigger you can really feel how much power he has, he jumps better, but because he has to.
 
Dont get me wrong I do believe that some horses respect bigger fences, I myself only jump Pride over a certain height anything less and he just gets bored and acts up.

However the main difference is P is 16.... hes been there done that and has the expereience to get himself out of trouble
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