Jumping at night in outdoor floodlit arenas?

georgiegirl

georgiegirl

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Does anyone else do this?? Does anyone elses horses not like it?

Our outdoor school is fairly well lit and due to my stupid working hours and getting the message through that Bishop BE is more than likely to be running this weekend I felt I should pop Autumn over a couple of fences.

Cross pole and upright fine and then built a parallell - nothing huge think it was about 3 foot (just 2 straight bars across and 2 poles flat on the floor so I could jump it from either direction but in hindsight this may have been a bad idea as could have been causing shadows) and Autumn stopped. Twice. She NEVER stops at anything and LOVES jumping so it was a bit of a suprise :( 3rd attempt we had a very ungainly jump over it so I stupidly came round again to try and give ourselves a better experience now she knew it was 'safe'. Cue dropping her back end and taking it all down, she had clearly lost confidence. Decided to sack it there and then and popped the cross pole 3 times no bother at all and made a big fuss of her.

Im a worry wart at the best of times so feeling pretty **** about it all tonight and hoping Ive not frightened her :( I have the day off on Friday so plan is a nice hack out and just pop a cross or two in the daylight when I get home - sound a good idea?

Argh I feel like such an idiot!!
 
I jump under my flood lights but they are very bright and don't create shadows so not really an issue. Some horses do find it spooky though as I wouldn't worry too much she will probably be fine in the light :)
 
Depends on the horse, doesn't it? I always have, because neither of mine have ever seemed bothered by the lower light levels or shadows. But then, first time doing it I would probably keep them small and not push my luck! Don't beat yourself up, these things happen...
 
I know Im just all in a panic because autumn is usually incredibly bold and doesnt stop Im just worrying myself over why?!?! The only thing I can presume is that it was caused by the shadows under/around the spread - the cross pole and upright (which was about 3 foot) was fine :(

We have only just moved her up to BE100 which she is more than capable of and the run at allerton the other week went brilliantly so Im pretty sure shes not scared herself there
 
My lights are fairly crap and I didn't ever jump in the dark. Then I started doing a bit of polework and the horses coped fine, then sneaked a jump or two up and still the horses seemed to cope fine. I do position the jumps in the best lit areas, use bright stripy poles instead of natural ones and limit it to about 1m but I'm quite surprised by what they manage in the gloom.

Eyesight's a funny thing though and if Autumn's not confident she'd not confident. There's lots you can do with poles, raised poles and X-poles that she should be happy with without having to tackle anything to worry her (or you).
 
i very nearly created a major issue with my horse jumping under floodlights last winter. fine over a small x-pole and upright but then put up to bigger parallel and he totally misjudged it and knocked it really hard - he hates knocking poles and is normally super careful. Came round again and he stopped (he very very rarely stops at anything), tried again and he stopped so hard I came off. Put it right down to tiny x pole and he stopped again but made him step over and then called it a day. Several jumping sessions after that he was stopping with me. It took me weeks to regain his confidence and I'm convinced it was the floodlights that must have cast a shadow and then knocked his confidence. Wont jump at home under floodlights ever again - he's fine in a lit indoor school but will be avoiding floodlights at all costs.
 
my horse hates jumping under floodlights, back at port royal BS in jan where i met the lovely Gamebird, my horse stopped and got us eliminated in all 3 classes we were entered in... I was so embarrassed. he loves jumping, but was terrified of the shadows, hence i avoid jumping in the dark like the plaugue. It just isn't worth knocking his confidence, he wasn't right jumping wise after port royal for a good month or two...
 
i think it depends on how good your lights are.
i dont really jump at home anymore unless im having a lesson because mine jump enough out competiting and they arent youngsters anymore, they know their jobs now.
But we're lucky enough to have an indoor

Personally, i think if you can jump in daylight then you should.
but there are venues that jump outside in the dark under flood lit lights and there are indoors that have lighting that creates shadows aswell
its pointless avoiding jumping because of shadows because you will jump at venues that have shadows created by light
if your horse has an aversion to shadows then work them over poles and then popping a smaller fence building their confidence

but personally i dont jump mine under flood lit at home, when i can jump them on weekends or days off if i need to in day light.

:)
 
Thanks for the replies folks it really is awful when your horse does something like that completely out of the blue!

I think a couple of teeney tiny fun jumps on friday on returning home from our hack might be the thing to do! Hopefully I haven't frightened her and as I say she sailed the cross pole a few times feeling confident before we finished tonight so hopefully its just a little confidence blip due to the dark and shadows.

I guess that's the one bad thing about having a hugely generous horse who loves their job so much. The second something goes wrong its panic stations for everyone involved as no one is used to it!
 
My daughter used to jump both her horses in a floodlit arena, usually kept the jumps low, neither had a problem with it, guess its down to individual horses
 
We have crappy lights that leave the corners dark - one pony hates it, the other couldnt care less! It's great practice for when we go to night time shows at our local venue who never put all their lights on in the collecting ring :D
 
Mine is also a nightmare with shadows, even indoors where the lighting is great he spooks at shadows, I agree with what gamebird said about just trying pole work etc, can you loose jump her? Mine is always better when Im not on his back and doesnt seem as spooky!
 
I'd never jump by floodlights, too many shadows and false lines to confuse the horse. I was at a comp many years ago with floodlit outdoor and my mare (usually 100% reliable) started spooking and stopping, I learnt my lesson, she didn't trust her eyes, she couldn't see what I could see. They focus differently to us and I think sometimes we forget that...
Funnily enough I'll jump in dusky light (not towards the low sun though, and nothing huge just in case) since horses have better eyesight than we do when the light is failing, but it has to be uniform natural light iyswim.
I bet your girl will be absolutely fine when you jump again in good light, OP.
 
Oh K im glad you think so Ive been stressing myself over it as she is a horse that doesnt stop at all and I got myself into a right panic over it. Fingers crossed it was the wierd shadows caused by it - she jumped the upright etc fine so Im hoping it was the shadows thrown off by the square parallell that are the reason rather than anything else going wrong.....In hindsight thinking about it I dont think Ive ever jumped her in the dark at home before but at the time I didnt think about that - like I say, very annoyed with myself!

Ive got bishop be100 on sunday so was thinking it might be a good idea just to pop a cross or two tomorrow in the daylight and then go for a nice chilled hack - sound a good idea anyone?
 
georgiegirl said:
Oh K im glad you think so Ive been stressing myself over it as she is a horse that doesnt stop at all and I got myself into a right panic over it. Fingers crossed it was the wierd shadows caused by it - she jumped the upright etc fine so Im hoping it was the shadows thrown off by the square parallell that are the reason rather than anything else going wrong.....In hindsight thinking about it I dont think Ive ever jumped her in the dark at home before but at the time I didnt think about that - like I say, very annoyed with myself!

Ive got bishop be100 on sunday so was thinking it might be a good idea just to pop a cross or two tomorrow in the daylight and then go for a nice chilled hack - sound a good idea anyone?
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Yes, good idea - largely because YOU need to know that she is absolutely fine, which it sounds as if she is!! Go and have a nice jump and put your fears to rest; you will ride far more confidently at BB if you know that all is ok, than if you stew and worry. It doesn't sound as if you did anything terrible, unfortunate that she stopped, but it doesn't sound like a horrid, scary experience for her. Perhaps think twice before jumping her in floodlights again, it sounds as if she may not like it, but for now move on and don't dwell on it! Good luck and remember to post a report!
 
teamdizzi said:
its pointless avoiding jumping because of shadows because you will jump at venues that have shadows created by light
if your horse has an aversion to shadows then work them over poles and then popping a smaller fence building their confidence

:)
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This! Why avoid a problem when you can work on making it better?

I've always jumped under floodlights, but then the yards I've been on have had 8 round a 20x40m school so always quite bright and I never go over 2'9. However if you're eventing then there are going to be times when you get shadows - a bright, sunny day will create shadows in the SJ phase and you'll end up going from light to dark XC at some point, if you never create shadows at home then you'll have problems when it counts IMO.
 
For me it would depend on what type of lighting. If sodium lights that do not cast shadows set at lampost height then yes I would, but if the more common 500watt security sort you can buy in B&Q etc then no I probably wouldn't, especially if they're not very high up.
 
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