Loose jumping

[Rosiefan]

Sorry - lots of questions about loose jumping in particular but also loose schooling in general.

If you do it with your horse(s), why do you do it?
Do you only do it with youngsters?
What are the benefits?

TIA

 

[Lolo]

Reg was lunged over jumps, because he proved a little too dim to grasp what was needed of him without someone giving guidance, but for I think a similar effect to loose jumping. It was done by Al's instructor so she could see how he jumped without any help from his rider, and to allow him to work things out himself in his own time. He's not a youngster, but he was still very green over SJ. Did it benefit him? Yes, his jumping afterwards became so much more confident as he'd had time to figure it out for himself. It also gave Al something to work off- he wasn't naturally prone to rushing and he wasn't naturally careless so with the help of her instructor she could work on how to change her riding...

Don't know if that counts as it was mainly trotting poles to small fences and grids- nothing over 2'6 or so!

 

[BombayMix]

Lolo - did you find he was much more careful loose jumping? I have been wondering about trying it with my horse but I'm not sure if he will just crash through them (as he sometimes enjoys )

 

[Lolo]

Well, it just let him see his fences from a totally new perspective, and you can probably see how much calmer and happier he is SJ since the week they had. I really couldn't recommend something like that enough- Reg is a horse who really tries, but he just didn't know what he was trying to do. If you see the vids I linked you, they pretty much focus on what the lunging session covered only getting Al to recreate that on top.

 

[Festive_Felicitations]

Loose jumped Beau on the lunge as we never had an arena that was safe to jump him loose in.
Initially we did it so that he could work out what to do with his legs with out the complication of having a rider on board.
Then later on we did some bigger stuff and simple doubles (involved the lungee sprinting after him ) so that he could 'get his eye in' and develop his own ability to see a stride and also for confidence.
Several times when upping the height if he felt uncertain ridden we would lunge him overbigger stuff loose. He seemed to gain confidence once he realised he could work it out and do it himself.

Also I think that the fact that he would go round on the end of the lunging rope and jump anything (like the odd barrel, other fences etc) he could that got in his way rather than going round them suggested that he was having fun so we used to let him have the odd hoon round over stuff on the lunge

 

[ellie_e]

I started with mine firstly at my trainers indoor school, now even doing at home in the outdoor, Zu loves it! Main reasons were to let him get all his excess engery bucking galloping around like a mad man out of the way before I rode, however i am now doing it as a training session without riding at all. I loose jump him too, this builds his confidence which he lacks alot, also we have exercises from the physio which need doing so we can do these at the same time (it envolves raised poles) I will normally loose school once every 10days, works well for him.

 

[longdog]

We took Scarlet to a local trainer who had a jumping circuit set up in a small indoor school as Scarlet will put the brakes on VERY sharply if you so much as change a pole! Putting her round the jumping circuit let her work it all out for herself & she picked it up pretty quickly. We had her over bounces, spreads & a few soft toys!!
She gained confidence & it also gave her rider the opportunity to watch her jumping as she is usually on top. Thoroughly recommend it!

 

[TarrSteps]

I've done a fair bit of loose jumping for testing/educating horses and for inspections and competitions.

I really enjoy doing it and find it very useful. But, like everything else, it can go wrong and I've seen horses end up with issues, although almost always because they've been rushed or scared, so that's just bad handling. Even just "encouraging the horse into the air" well or badly can make a difference! Also measuring distances correctly and having a really safe place with good footing to do it are important, especially if you want to jump sizeable fences.

It can help a horse with confidence issues, it can also be really useful for assessing a horse's form and helping the trainer maximise ability. I find it also helps riders to see how well a horse can jump, as it makes them more confident in its ability.

Loose schooling is very useful but it seems very few places are set up for it here. A round pen can be good for conditioning, balance work etc. - we used one a lot at a rehab yard I worked at - but I think I actually prefer an oblong track, as the horse then has to continually adjust its balance. I am not really a fan of jumping in round pens, although it can be useful for just introducing the concept.

I don't tend to use it for getting the bugs out - I'd rather just turn the horse loose on its own for a play after a longe. Too much risk, especially jumping, of a fresh horse not thinking before it leaps!

 

[Rosiefan]

Thanks all - very interesting. I can see how it would give the horse confidence if done well and I know R and her Mum have done it (jumping that is) but never thought to ask why. Don't think that they've tried loose schooling ever but I should think you'd need to be very sure you know what you're doing or you might simply confuse the poor creature.

 

[kit279]

Tarrsteps, I have a bit of an idea. I'm very very keen to do a little loose jumping with my 3 and would really like to do it in an environment with someone who knows what they're doing. Would you be interested in getting a few folk together and running a loose jumping day? We could hire out the indoor at the British Racing School and maybe even cobble in a few racing folk

Anyone interested?

ETA - dangerous things, ideas..

 

[TarrSteps]

Oh no, I'm always up for a good idea!

 

[cyberhorse]

I loose jump my horse probably about once a month and he is 13 so not a youngster. I do this to keep him "jumping fit" and work on his technique. He has tonnes of scope and at the level I am happy to jump him he does not need to work that hard or throw a proper shape. The loose jumping allows me to watch his technique and work on it as required e.g. add V poles to get him to use his back. He also gets practice and exercise at clearing larger fences which helps his confidence (and also mine). He loves doing it if I boot him up and put him in the school with a grid he does not need inviting!! However not all horses benefit from it. I know a top 1.45cm SJ who never stops and loves jumping under saddle who won't loose jump above 60cm so it does not follow that the two go hand in hand. See how you get on and you'll know if it will benefit your horse or not, they are all individuals.

Loose schooling I prefer to do in a lunging circle with good footing, they tend to work well and concentrate in this environment rather than in a large school. I also tend to use a lunging circle loose for working with a pessoa to rather than have him on a line.