shortbacked horses why do people say my horse will be a good jumper because of this

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inmyownlittleworld

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Over the time i have had my boy,and just before i bought him a dealer looked at him, hed come to look at another horse and said ,"short backed , hell be a good jumper " , he then asked to buy him.well he didnt. ive had these comments a few times over the years ive had him, he does have a nice jump , i havent seen how high im in mid fourties and jumped little ones , i had this comment again today can my learnerd competitors explain why is it a fact or fiction ?
 
hmm interesting thread :)
Ive always been taught:
high bum = good jumper (jumpers bump)
long back = bad jumper
short back = good jumper

I had a mare that was verrryyy long backed...she was 14hh and popped 1.25 with ease.

so tbbh im really not sure :)
 
hmmm, short backs are stronger, less likely to get injured ('order of levers' and all that apparently) and perhaps you could argue that a shorter backed horse will have less distance to swing its hindlegs right in under itself to really jump UP very high... (but I don't think I agree with that, fwiw, so many other factors come into play!) but, the best jumping horse I've ever sat on was long in the back. Clover Hill (Irish Stallion) was famous for throwing long-backed horses with phenomenal jumps.
so, overall, i don't think it's a saying I believe in.
 
Short backs can make it easier for a horse to sit and therefore have power off the floor with less work than v.long backed horses. However, I have heard several jumping people go for longer backs due to them having more scope for wider fences! However, there is no hard and fast rules, and its more to do with natural balance imho!
 
As said, short backed horses tend to be able to sit more, makes them have a more powerful canter, and great power off the ground. That said, the best jumper I ever say on was as long as a Sunday afternoon. He did amazing things with his hind end to avoid touching jumps, probably because he had so much time to think about what his back end was doing :D:p
 
Two horses I have had - one was short backed, one had a long back (although this was in proportion to the rest of him, he didn't have any confo faults.).

The longer horse was far easier to jump, and suprisingly, he was also easier to steer. The shorter horse was like trying to drive a tank!
 
Lyle said:
As said, short backed horses tend to be able to sit more, makes them have a more powerful canter, and great power off the ground.
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I agree. I prefer short backed as I find them much easier to keep together and make nice and bouncy. Mine is particularly short in the back and he's far more agile than most IMO, so ideal for eventing or jumps offs.
 
Some shorter backed horses can lack scope to stretch over a big spread.

Most of the top SJ'ers will be longer rather than shorter backed but I think jumping ability has more to do with the hind leg than the back. I've noticed straight shouldered horses can be quicker in front too.
 
Kal (aka The GreyDonk) is very short coupled and he has an amazing pop in him . . . has hunted, evented and SJ'd . . . has an uncanny ability to spring off the floor and get himself out of trouble in front of a fence . . . thankfully he doesn't buck (well, not under saddle) so I can't comment on those, but from what I've seen in the field, I'm very glad I don't have to sit to them! What he can do, though, is rear rather impressively - perhaps that's down to that ability to "sit" . . . ;)

P
 
I guess mine was short backed and like a bouncy ball - god did he buck !!! !

Another one for you all my horse has a white eye - always been told that these ones are going to be jumpers ??????????? x
 
Shorter backed horses are more compact and therefore can have a more powerfull canter. My horse has quite a short back, and she can manage to pop over some very badly approached jumps (my fault haha) , she also like to buck... alot!
 
georgiaziggy said:
Shorter backed horses are more compact and therefore can have a more powerfull canter. My horse has quite a short back, and she can manage to pop over some very badly approached jumps (my fault haha) , she also like to buck... alot!
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But this depends on the horse! I had a short backed horse who was massively long striding but not at all powerful. I've now got a long backed horse with a massive "engine" and also bucks like stink, and is quite often described as a little powerpack, as people don't realise how long she is until they see her untacked ;) Also has very good back end technique over a fence, when she fancies it ;)

It's massively dependant on the horses way of going, back conformation and strength, and schooling I think :)
 
AdorableAlice said:
Isn't there a thought that short backed horses pack a good buck ?
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perhaps because they're more likely to have kissing spines, though.
my buckaroo mare is long backed. never seen anything buck like her other than at a rodeo with a bucking strap on...
as KatB says, it's massively dependent on a whole host of other things.
i've known cat-like long-backed horses, and short backed horses who couldn't get themselves out of trouble. i don't think there's a rule at all... other than the one about the length from hip to hock... ;) ;) ;) (which I do believe in, fwiw!)
 
I think it's a combination of traditional saying and what appears to make sense to the eye, rather than anything completely conclusively scientific. A short coupled horse with a good strong back end has the conformation that appears to the eye to 'make sense' when it comes to jumping well - the leverage principle Kerilli was on about, plus longer backs have more back with little underneath it to support it which gives a suggestion of less strength... And shorter backs give an appearance of neatness and power: a short backed horse has less horse in front of the back end, so proportionately more of it's at the power end. This is probably more of an optical impression than anything else, there just seems to be a logic to it. People say it about my mare all the time - she has a good strong butt and is very compact and short coupled, and as it happens she has a very powerful jump. But there are just as many horses who seem to prove the opposite which is what makes me think it's more a matter of us trying to make sense of what we see than a definitive rule. There's much more to jumping well than the back and bum, they're just the bits that look powerful or don't.
 
Good jumpers have come in all shapes and sizes. The key to soundness is correctness and moderation but that's not even the key to ability! It's more about how strong the bits are and how well they fit together.

Horses bred to buck though, tend to be on the moderate to long side. Since they breed on performance it would suggest there's something in it. (And yes, they do breed bucking horses!)
 
I saw a program on breeding bucking horses and it was very cool. They don't analyse conformation as such but they know what lines tend to produce the goods, just like sport horses.

The best job is bucking bull at PBR level though - 8 seconds (or less if you're really good) of work a few times a week. The top ones apparently even have physios etc. No idea on optimum back length though!
 
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