Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[keep_flying]

@OmgItsPattie
Honestly we just decided to jump her because the owner BEFORE us jumped her at two, which I don't think that that was smart, but oh well. Anyway, thank you so much for your advice!!

[.Scarlet.]

@keep_flying: I have an old barn acquaintance dealing with that right now. She just wants to jump and was jumping her 3 year old at the old barn, but now with her new barn and trainer, she's not allowed to jump. She's just turning 4 and her bones need to fuse. Horses need time to grow and learn where their legs are. Now she has to shell out for x-rays to make sure she can continue jumping her. Jumping more than 18 inches could do damage you don't want to deal with.

But she isn't standing still? I know some horses i've ridden don't like to be standing still when mounted or once we're done working. Maybe she's cold backed? I knew a horse like that. She would come an hour before her lesson to prep her horse for mounting. But try working on standing and if she doesn't listen, tell her to back up and then try again. Don't let her bully you, show her that you are the boss. She could also just be having hyper baby moments. Do you lunge before you ride?

[APH Italy]

Has anyone adopted one of the wild mustangs-?

[Rising]

@OmgItsPattie
Honestly we just decided to jump her because the owner BEFORE us jumped her at two, which I don't think that that was smart, but oh well. Anyway, thank you so much for your advice!!

I don't think jumping at two or or three is a good idea to be honest. I'd suggest giving her a total break from jumping, full stop, until she is going really well on the flat. In fact I don't think most horses are ready to be jumped until the age of five.
That wasn't meant to sound like a personal attack on you, I just think that a lot of people try to get too much too young.

[Dizzy socks]

^ I'm sorry, but I don't think if be riding at three, let alone jumping, I just don't think they're mature enough, either mentally of physically. And no way would I be trying a stronger bit, I think that would just exacerbate your problems. Personally, I'd turn her away for a year or so, then start again cx.

In other news, Aero's now been here for about three weeks, and we had a dressage lesson today, which went pretty well. Working on collecting him a little more, and bring him right back off his forehand, using lots of transitions and lateral work, especially shoulder in. He's going really well, so pleased with him - even if it's taking me quite a while to get used to his height...!

[inkyy]

@keepflying i agree, dont jump your horse before 4/5 or even later if it has matured slowly. be patient, its better to wait now and not give your horse lots of medical problems. despite them being big, young horses muscles and bones arent fully devolped!! jumping them (especially at big heights) can put too much strain on them .

mhmm, just came back from a showjumping. im super sore but let me explain what i did!
i entered in three classes, the 45cm, the 54cm and the 60cm novetly class. i usually enter in the 54cm, never entered in the 2 foot before. she was super in the warm up, had a lovely rythm and popped over everything. the warm up arena was pretty boggy tho so she was skidding around alot. i forgot to walk to course, but thankfully i had helped set it up and it hadnt changed. We got a double clear (first ever jump off) but we had a really bad rhythm, she kept going back into trot and trying to stop before jumps OTL
there was only 4 in the class and i came second!!

uhh then the 54cm. she refused to go into the arena but then got a really lovely canter and jumped the first 3 really well!! idk what happened but i ended up on the ground?? it was in the middle of two jumps across the arena. have a really bad quality picture http://orig06.deviantart.net/832b/f/201 ... 9j7tzi.png
it hurt pretty bad, i slammed my chin and my tailbone into the ground (idk how) i didnt get back on to complete the round, i was too sore. there was only 5 of us though, so i got a rosette!!

i had already paid for the next class and i thought why not. i popped her over a couple practice jumps and she was fine. took her into the ring however and we got about 4 refusals and at one point i just went around a jump. however i kept going and finished the round!! came 6th out of 6 xD
and then, because i had tinsel on her i came 3rd in the fancy dress.

i am so sore oops.

[ShortyTheHobbitess]

@keep_flying - I agree with others, 3 is way to early to be jumping while riding, maybe the occasional free jumping to get the horse accustomed to what you'd be doing later on in life, but that could cause a lot of damage to joints.
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R wanted to have a play date with all of us who come for lessons in the summer, it was SUPER fun. Unfortunately for us, the diesel pickup has a hard enough time starting in the summer, it's dead as a door-nail come winter, so my ponies had to stay home and we rode R's horses. I rode Tamale/Te, R's 17yo bay gelding. We had a little obstacle course to play on. R & I played soccer & it got intense, while I lost, Te LOVES the giant ball. R got herself a flag - a flag on a line with a mechanical pulley system to train cutting horses on cow work, thats the most fun on a horse I've had in a while. I rode both Te & Jazz on the flag; Te has had a bit of reining/cutting training, Jazz is R's cutting/reining horse. Jazz is a high-end cutting/reining horse & so was a bit out of my league, but Te & I clicked on the flag. He would cheat a little bit, because when you're tracking the flag you have the horses' eye parallel to the flag & are supposed to back a step then turn into the flag, Te would like to just turn right into the flag & dash off. I think the highlight of the night was when R really started moving the flag back & forth, with Te dodging right along with the flag with only a little help from me. I've ridden Shorty on a flag before, but she's just not super motivated & doesn't have the previous knowledge like Te does. I'm still giddy about tonights ride it was so fun.

[LissaJo]

@crazycrankycritter
She is quite inexperienced. I'm guessing it has something to do with that, since we had someone come and do a custom fit saddle for her. She does it mainly when jumping, but yes, occasionally when we are working on flat work as well. The no brakes thing is both jumping and flatwork, so we tried using cavelettis to slow her down, and that worked a little bit. I talked to my trainer(because of your comment:D)and she says that I may need a more powerful bit. So thank you so much for your help!!

a more powerful bit is generally a bandaid to the underlying problem.. I would go back to basics and work on half halting and asking for a slow down before asking for a stop.. start slow.. walking.. when she excels at stopping at a walk, move up to trotting, when she excels at stopping at a trot, speed up.. you say she is inexperienced so someone may have rushed her training - I would not personally jump a horse with no brakes you could also try a hackamore to assist with the slow down

EDIT: also at 3, she still has a baby mind and a fairly short attention span.. dont do the same thing every ride and remember EVERY time you handle her, you are teaching her something - it may be a good thing or it may be a bad thing..

after reading back, I would start with the ground work basics and do minimal riding until she has mastered those.. a young horse takes time and patience, so train the horse in a way that you will love to ride, not one that you will start dreading to get on!

[crazy cranky critter]

@keep_flying: Obviously your coach knows you best, but personally I don't think a stronger bit is the best possible option. The stronger bit may stop the problem (by giving you brakes) but it probably won't solve the cause, and may create further problems by making her hard in the mouth. I understand how exciting it is getting a new horse and wanting to progress, but it sounds like she could be trying to tell you she isn't mentally or physically ready yet. If you want to fit in extra work on finding brakes without overdoing time in the saddle, you could start adding ground work to her routine. This is a great way of building a trusting bond and getting your horses respect, so should translate into your riding, where she is likely to respect your signals more.

____

Does anyone here have much experience with Appaloosa's, in particular using them for jumping? I've heard they can have a bit of a deer leap or pick up habits of knocking rails, but I'm not sure if I buy into that story. I guess the best way to find out is to go test ride one (I've got my eye on one that based off the photos appears to have a by the text book bascule, tucks its knees really well and clears with scope to burn).

[Kestrell]

@crazy

My last horse was an appy so I have a bit of experience with the breed. Dempsy (the appy) had amazing jumping skills. He had plenty of scope and loved to jump. But, on the other hand, it usually boils down to the individual horse. Appys are usually more talented in western events as a whole but again it always comes down to the individual horse.