Taking my Showjumper XC should I?

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claire_p2001

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Hi All :)

I've had this sudden urge to take Jack XC schooling, he is having a little break from SJ until the winter qualifiers start in October and thought it would be nice to try something different. Just wondered how your showjumpers have taken to it? Should I avoid the water jump so he doesn't learn to ride through water? I don't want it to send him loopy when I SJ again, do you find your horse is any different to ride over SJ's after you have been XC? We are planning on going to Milton Keynes they have a huge range of jumps to if i am really scared I can stick to the little ones! Any advice and tips most welcome :)

Thanks

P.S - For those of you that are interested Scope report is on the way just waiting for pic's and vid's to finish uploading :)
 
I find this really tricky! My heart says 'Yes go for it - its great for them to have some fun' but my hindsight says 'eeeek be careful'!!

My Darco mare enjoyed it and it did her no harm, my big TB who had previously evented loved it but it took me a week or 2 to regain his SJ canter after, my current boy just blew his tiny mind (! never again!) and my friend who also SJ's and had worked really hard to stop chasing down to SJ fences for 12 months also undid a pile of work by galloping round an XC course!

You know your horse though and I still maintain its great for them to go and do something different (and for you) and my experiences may be more a reflection of my (feeble) ability than purely going to play XC!

Hurry up with the scope report - there has been a sad lack of them!
 
L loves it, and she has won classes SJing the day after going XC schooling as it made her open her stride and stop bouncing!! Popping over little XC fences will do no harm, but I'm not a "proper" Sjer or "proper" eventer, so probably am not the best person to ask... ;)
 
My boy loved it, and is much more forward going into a fence after a blast around XC with his amigos. We don't jump the massive fences or anything, but for a horse that I usually have to drive to a fence, he was really taking them on once his blood was up! Obviously it makes them flatten a little, but You can probably do some jumping exercises to get them back in the air.

That said, I am not competing to any great level right now, so am trying to just enjoy my horse as much as possible. I am not sure about the water jump - I wanted mine to get over his irrational fear of water, but we are unlikely to ever have to jump a water tray!

I will say one thing though - I felt more confident sitting on a horse that I know can SJ, because I figured he was likely to be a bit more careful and not leave a front leg dangling! I have sat on some other horses with less talent than he has, and would never have the nerve to take them schooling over even the smallest xc fences!
 
It completely depends on the horse, I have had some that have loved and some that have hated it!

My one boy loves and has actually started eventing as he seems to love XC so much whereas my other boy HATES it, won't go near a ditch/step/water or anything slightly weird unless following another horse.

I think you should take him but if he starts getting worried and nervous leave it at that and bring him home as you don't want to ruin his confidence showjumping also.
 
Going through water has never made my horse not jump a water tray (although I have only done up to Newcomers - nothing bigger!) and it certainly hasn't made him any less careful when it comes to leaving the coloured poles up.

I think you know your horse though, if you think they will enjoy it I would go for it :)

ETA take a good nanny horse if you think he might need one :)
 
Thanks for all your advice I think I will take him and see how he feels, if he hates it or gets very strong I will just take him home. My SJ trainer will be there so i'm sure she won't let me do anything that will ruin all our hard work.
 
We take all ours, always took the ponies and now take the young horses. We go XC sort of showjumping style so we don't gallop round but nice steady canter to everything, all of them love it.
 
Why not if you feel it will do your showjumper some good. A little bit of 'downtime' does us all good, and having a blast around a nice course I am sure wont do any harm, so boot up, get your bp and scull cap out and have some fun. However, I am no expert, but my daughter does own an eventer and after she has either done xc schooling or ridden around an actual event, she always has to do some exercises (normally bounces work well with her) to shorten up her mare, and also de-flatten her before she either goes showjumping or eventing again, if that makes sense.
 
I would say go for it, esp as your SJ instructor will be their. You dont have to jump the big fences, just have some fun popping round a few smaller ones.

My old horse was an eventer- but swayed more to xcountry, our SJing was all over the place, she had the tendensy to rush and knock but xcountry she would never touch a fence :rolleyes: But she competed xcountry for years so was in that habbit.

Taking your boy just for 1 session wouldnt do any harm, you both may love it :D

Good luck and hope you have fun :)
 
Cross Training!!! Go for it!!

I would be careful of the water, however. Many (!!) years ago, a friend had a big Quarter Horse - who had grown up on a ranch going through streams, etc, and that horse NEVER jumped over water - always landed in it. Never refused, either, just treated it like a stream... Won a lot of money, but had to pick their shows.... ;)

But that all depends on the horse!! :lol:
 
I've done it the other way and taken an eventer BSJAing - he was always bold into water XC but when faced with an open water in the SJing ring (not a tray under a fence, but a 'proper water') he only ever jumped over it, not into it so I think some of them know the difference.

I guess they're all different though.
 
I have taken both my sj xc. Very different experiences. My first, Fly Boy checked himself before a jump no matter how much I pushed on and NEVER touched a stick, galloped on in-between jumps and was always in the top 3, gave me a fantastic ride, my second, Wallstreet, frightened the hell out of me! He was the bigger jumper but was not so clean and although more honest tapped a few and actually fell over the trekhana managing to stay upright thank god! The water was funny, Fly lept into it after trying to clear it so we did create a real splash! Wallstreet accepted it for what it was and was honest enough to jump into it on a normal stride. I suppose what I want to say is, they are all different but I found Fly (who was the horse that would rather stop than get it wrong) was the better horse xc and filled me with confidence. I am taking Wallstreet to a HT next weekend and am already having the heebie jeebies about it!
 
I reckon it depends on your horse! If your horse tends to rush and flatten anyway, it would probably do more harm than good. If, however, like my SJ (sadly now also turning to the dark side of stressage ;)) who is super careful and backs off his fences, xc schooling has made an amazing difference. He now "locks on" to his fences properly and opens out much better which he struggled with before, going up rather than forwards over oxers. He certainly really enjoys it as a day out doing something different :D If I was riding something I struggled to hang onto or tended to have a pole SJ I might be more tempted to avoid it or just SJ a few for fun :)
 
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