How old before a horse should be jumping under saddle?

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wattamus

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Personally i would say 4 for small jumps and around 5/6 for bigger jumps to wait for the joints to fuse etc. However just watched a video on youtube of a rising 4 year old jumping 1m30 under saddle! :eek: am i too soft or does anyone else agree that it is silly and irresponsible to jump a horse this high at this age, I feel it leads to so many problems in later life, my horse was worked hard (in a cart) when she was young, she ended up with arthritis at ten and retired at fifteen due to injury on her right fore due to being hammered when she was young.
anyhow just me or do you feel the same?
 
Couldnt agree more . People expect too much too soon and sadly this often means the horse does not lead a long and sound working life. My youngster will not be backed till next year when he is 4 and wont be out jumping till he is at least 5. People just dont have the patience to wait and sadly its all about selling horses and making money . People want to see something jump and the bigger the better .
 
I'm not comfortable with horses of that age jumping that high or frequently. I did some raised trotting poles-height "jumps" with mine at the end of his 3 y/old year and very small jumps as a 4 year old, popped him over up to 90cm max uprights as a 5 year old. Didn't do proper gridwork or anything really substantial till his 6th year. Dar won't be jumped till he's 5 I doubt.
 
I had a lesson with a top show jumper on my husband's four year old, and he said he should just be playing and enjoying himself over small stuff at 4, when he turned 5 he wanted me to ask him more questions and not let him get away with anything. Trouble he is still enjoying himself and just playing now at 8!!
 
My horse turn 5 in feb and just started jumping a month or two ago. Still small fences , will amto get him over a BN but end of year but really not rushing the boy.

I see horses at my local show ground that are the same age and they flying round discovery courses - personally I would not be doing that as agree it wreaks there joints, I understand why people producing them for sale do it but don't understand why others do unless they only want the horse short term, my boy I want to hopefully be sound free for years to come.

Why is everyone is such a rush these days..?? Let your horses mature - slowly...!
 
If things had gone to plan this year I would have intriduced my 4yr old to jumping - small xc enviroment typw jumps such as logs etc......will start this next year now as a 5 year old :)
 
I think the age of 4 is a good time to introduce to jumping.

So many people start them too early, I know people who literally affiliate them the day they turn 4 (jumping unaffiliated up until then).
 
I'm not comfortable with it either. I think 5/6 is early enough for decent size tracks. Jumping a single of a good height at rising 4 probably doesn't do any harm. But I'm very much of the opinion a horse should have consistent flatwork before jumping bigger fences & courses, so I would worry at that age its either a) been hammered to get the flatwork in, or b) doesn't have the basics, leading to bad habits & future re-schooling.
 
Introduce the concept at 4, small stuff though and just linking a few easy ones together. At 5 just add a bit more still small though and small clear rounds. Mine didnt compete sj until he was 6 as he wasnt ready before. Now at just turned 8 I'm pushing him more but wouldnt have done it if he was younger.
 
Somebody on my fb broke her 3 year old and was jumping it within a week. Post pictures and the way people commented it was apparently ok by them. Seeing the other videos they have posted its not surprising.
 
When I was starting horses I would loose jump over small fences twice at the end of the backing. At four they started a little low impact jumping at five weekly sessions working up to small ,competions, cross country schooling ,light hunting personally I prefer them to start BE at six but understand why it's done at five
 
Personally I would wait - I have done trot poles with Darcy and that's it, he's only just 4 and bum high, so hasn't fully grown yet and he's unbalanced. What is the point of doing it before your horse is fully grown and aware of their own space?

Boris (from what I can gather from his chequered history), had been jumping before he was brought over to the UK in Ireland, the bloke who imported him was jumping huge with him and then someone else in Kent was jumping at least 1.20m with him and this was all before he was 6 :mad::mad: no wonder his suspensory ligaments were shot to bits by the time I got him :mad::mad:
 
My horse was doing high level competition (1.30/1.40) when he was four and five. I got him as a six year old with 'head issues' (he had started to refuse a lot) and cankles. Now we are jumping 80cm - 1m no more than twice a week and he starting to look more comfortable. I just wonder how well his poor head and legs will heal with a few easy years. I don't care if we never jump a 1.40 course, but I would like to think that at 6 he still has some time to repair himself :-)
 
I'm going to get my girl's basic schooling, hacking and general bomproofness good this year and leave jumping until she's turned 5 next spring.

I got so fed up with seeing 4 and 5 year olds advertised as having hunted in Ireland.

Paula
 
Paulag said:
I'm going to get my girl's basic schooling, hacking and general bomproofness good this year and leave jumping until she's turned 5 next spring.

I got so fed up with seeing 4 and 5 year olds advertised as having hunted in Ireland.

Paula
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Often they hunt them as three year olds .
 
And there's hunting and hunting a little light hunting can do a four yo a power of good if done gently and carefully at the back.
 
The trouble is, in the age classes they are expected to jump courses of 1m-1.10m as 4 year olds, 1.20 as 5 year olds and 1.30 at 6 yo. So if you want to take a young horse through the grades, that is what it needs to do.
I have to admit I haven't taken interest in the age classes in UK, but that's how it looks on the continent, so I presume it is the same at BS.
 
Paulag said:
Somehow I suspect it isn't a little light hunting they are getting.
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I've got one of those! Bought him earlier this year as a 5yo, he's just turned 6 now. From what I know he had tack thrown on and was hunted, definitely wasn't started properly. When I got him he'd done about 5 weeks worth of formal schooling / proper work so I'm really starting from scratch, except that he thinks he can whizz around everywhere with his head in the air. It's taking a lot of work to convince him he doesn't need to go around in a stonking great trot at 100mph all of the time, and that he can slow down, stretch his neck and generally chill out a bit! He's basically been taught that any sort of leg means "GOGOGOGO" and any sort of rein contact is a reining stop!

Getting there slowly but he's difficult because he doesn't go around like a nose-pokey baby who is unbalanced, he just wants to curl his neck up, head into chest and bog off!

And judging by the amount of little scars, scabs, knocks and grazes he came with, I'd say he'd done more than a little light hunting in Ireland too!!
 
I won't do any jumping until 4 at least, and even then they will be tiny things, and maybe a small log out hacking.

There is no reason for my little lad to be jumping at 3, no matter how much I think he is going to enjoy it! So I'm hanging up my jumping boots until next summer.

He has walked over coloured poles, found them too boring, and that's it. :)
 
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