Jumping ... what is the appeal ??

[Pluto]

I have always been more of a dressage, hacking person but as I am now on a super Eventing yard I have been watching the people training at the yard and jumping seems to be such fun I was wondering what the appeal is?

I feel really nervous about trying out jumping but it looks such fun that I really want to give it a go, especially as I know my horse (ex national hunt horse) loves to jump but I haven't had the nerve to do so yet. I am 40 and have 3 children so I think that's what's holding me back ...

 

[blood_magik]

the adrenaline rush you get when you get over that one fence that's been scaring you
you don't have to start off big - a pole on the first hole of the jump wing is a good height to start at.

my dad was 50 when he learnt to ride. he's 60 next year and is keen to go bigger
then again, he doesn't have to worry about not being able to go to work/look after kiddies

 

[Miss L Toe]

You don't need to jump big jumps, you can just do little exercises as are found in 101 jumping exercises, 25 of the exercises do not involve leaving the ground!
It is nice to join in with the others, maybe you get a few lessons, it is fun and as long as your riding is up to it, you will enjoy it, but if you can't keep yourself in the saddle, you are going to struggle, try it and see how you go.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Quote "I have always been more of a dressage, hacking person but as I am now on a super Eventing yard I have been watching the people training at the yard and jumping seems to be such fun I was wondering what the appeal is?"

That's the appeal....it's fun & exciting.....specially in competition when jumping against the clock & obviously other competitors, cutting corners, turning in tight etc etc etc. Your flatwork has to be good aswell though because you are only in the air for 5% of the time the rest you are on the floor & trying to get your horse to the fence balanced, on a correct stride. If you are quite good at dressage then you are well on ther way to doing well jumping.

 

[tinap]

I don't ride - I don't have the bottle at all, but the daughter does. She does a lot of puissances on her pony & she says its the adrenaline rush!! Coming upto a fence & being absolutely s**t scared but she says that rush is ace!!! & even better when you clear it!! She's done dressage & eventing, enjoyed them always goes back to sj - its her love !!!

 

[CrazyMare]

Its the days you jump something you didn't think you could!

I love jumping, have jumped most things, but never a gate - Yesterday I ticked 'Jump a Gate' off my list of things to do - by jumping a 5 bar gate out hunting. SUCH a buzz!!

 

[crabbymare]

Its fun to do, so if you want to have a go start with doing poles on the floor and work up to tiny fences that you are happy doing, you don't have to jump at all if you don't want to if you do find its not fun for you! Its a bit like asking you what the appeal is in hacking or dressage, you do it because you enjoy it but someone who is nervous could wonder how on earth you could think its fun cantering around on one of those huge scary beasts
Could you perhaps get someone confident to pop a few very small fences on your horse so that you can see that there is not going to be a huge leap or anything silly before you start, that way you will have more confidence when you first try it. Even if you never jump more than 18" at least it will mean if you meet a little branch thats fallen down on your hacks you can hop over it confidently.

 

[Queenbee]

It not just the 'planned' jumping sessions that are appealing though, its the sneaky impromptu ones that I love the most. The river that I jump out on my favourite hack (I will even turn around and take it 2/3 times more or the long thin puddle at the begining of the gravel carpark (where the cars dont normally park) that we take at a trot before we walk sensibly through the car park as if butter wouldn't melt

Its also the jumps that we do at the end of a schooling session, we do flatwork and then we get to pop a fence or 2 as a treat at the end of it all.

Jumping, in whatever form you do it is a fantastic buzz, I love to 'jump proper' but I find that the little jumps on hacks are almost the best, I am suddenly a teenager again

 

[JFTDWS]

It not just the 'planned' jumping sessions that are appealing though, its the sneaky impromptu ones that I love the most. The river that I jump out on my favourite hack (I will even turn around and take it 2/3 times more or the long thin puddle at the begining of the gravel carpark (where the cars dont normally park) that we take at a trot before we walk sensibly through the car park as if butter wouldn't melt

I used to hack for hours to get to the little stream on the by way to jump it - now it's 5 minutes up the road and I'm in it every day And the practice fences up by the race track, and the branch jumps in the woods - honestly for the past 10 years or so I've navigated the entire area by where the best little jumps are I love jumping properly, competing, schooling over fences, hiring courses, xc, etc, but finding an unexpected jump out on a hack still makes me go all silly like a teenager