Critique my Ponies Jumping for a beginner?? Tips, Help, Advice??

[HorseyStar]

Hi All
I have a Welsh D gelding 14h/14'1 ish- was 6 yr old last week - i have weekly dressage lessons etc on him and hoping to get his showing and dressage shortly when i feel were both ready - over the yrs i havent done a lot of jumping - but have started to gain an interest into doing it with my boy - i ideally want to do Working Hunter with him - but he is a beginner jumper and iv not done much jumping :/

today he was learning how to jump on the lunge, however he didnt seem to have a problem with it? infact he absolutely loved it? and got all excited and although i only put a cross pole up he seemed to think he needed to jump 5ft apprx!

any advice, tips, help you could give us? he is a very sharp frwd going pony but i love him that way!

and im 27 now so getting on a bit!!!

help tips and advice or comments, opinions all welcome? do you think he could do well in WH?

Thankyou

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[HorseyStar]

forgot to say i am not a beginner rider, the thread title meant my ponies a beginner at jumping .....and i have no experience in jumping. thanks

 

[LaurenM]

I may get shot down in flames but I would start with pole work and rhythm before jumping. If you were to jump him this way again I would freeschool him (no lunge line) with an alley of 1-2 jumps. My view is that jumping on a lunge doesn't help with straight approach and get away. Correct me if I'm wrong!

He looks like he has a lot of scope. I'm sure you'll both be able to do WH/hunter trials.

 

[HorseyStar]

I may get shot down in flames but I would start with pole work and rhythm before jumping. If you were to jump him this way again I would freeschool him (no lunge line) with an alley of 1-2 jumps. My view is that jumping on a lunge doesn't help with straight approach and get away. Correct me if I'm wrong!

He looks like he has a lot of scope. I'm sure you'll both be able to do WH/hunter trials.

thats great - it all makes perfect sense!

i was doing join up with him today but just put a cross rail up out of interest - i only asked him twice and left it on a good note, tried to free school but menage huge and he just runs into the corners before getting anywhere near the jump - done quite a bit of pole work on and off over last yr but defo agree need to work on rhythm so thanks for help! x

 

[Business]

If you were to jump him this way again I would freeschool him (no lunge line) with an alley of 1-2 jumps. My view is that jumping on a lunge doesn't help with straight approach and get away. Correct me if I'm wrong!

He looks like he has a lot of scope. I'm sure you'll both be able to do WH/hunter trials.

Agree, but I would work up gradually to larger grids. Just add a fence at a time and start afresh every session, just add fences faster. Don't overface him with big fences or anything too complex. Always make the first fence a small cross pole so he aims for the centre and it should put him on a good stride for whatever you put up behind it. Make the distances between fences perfect for him. I think it is ok to jump on the lunge later, esp if you want to showjump. If you are going to do bounces teach him by putting the poles on the floor first. He is lovely!