Jumping a 4 year old.

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gemmagallagher

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As some of you may know i have been riding a 4 year old lately and i was wondering if anyone could advise me when i should try jumping her and the best way to go about it. Unfortunately we dont have a school of any kind but we do have lots of fields and miles of common land. Thanks in advance.
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4 yr old what? I would be cautious and do very little, we dont really jump the babies much until they are five. Big hairy cobs mature fast though and cope better as do pure TB's. Warmbloods are slow to grow and easy to damage
 
i would just start with trot poles, and canter poles. for a good few months untill she can do it with her eyes closed. then introduce a small cross after 3 trott poles. stick with small jumps. the more you do it slowly the more confident she will be in the long run.
 
Lunge her over crosses, loose school her more as she will sort herself out when she is loose. Pole work is essential and rised pole work even better.
Take your time, take it slow and if necessary get a lead off another horse.

You cans tart jumping her now, we start to jump our young horses loose from around 3 and a half and ridden from four.

lou x
 
With our 4 year olds we pop little logs and things when out hacking. They also do clear round and by July British novice. There are 4 year old classes that we are aiming at later in the year. It does depend on how mature your horse is.
 
I jump them as 4yo's, but very gently. I would introduce polework and then basic tiny fences with the aim to keep it all fun and very casual. Depending on how easily they take to that, I usually take them out to very small local jumping things were I know the courses are well built - usually on a proper outdoor surface (just so as to keep them confident especially during their first few outings). I usually would warm up at these competitions in a very relaxed manner and pop them round a very small course (like 2ft). I wouldn't tend to jump much bigger than 2'3 for at least a month.
 
Thanks for all the replies, they were very helpful. I'm not in a rush to jump as i'd like her to grow up a bit and learn some manners, i really dont want to rush her. She has attempted to jump a tiny ditch whilst out hacking (I didnt intend to) and she seemed to enjoy it. I think i'll carry on with the hacking and schooling and then see how confident she is. Thanks all!!
 
There is a horse at my yard that as jumped a lot from age 4 as in hunted loads, and showjumped loads, he has HUGE problems with tendons and various other jumpung related things he is only now 7 years old!
 
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