“Ten Steps to Teach the Horse to Start Jumping”
About Jonna
– If you would like to know more about Jonna then listen to his previous chats
First Chat – 042 – Jonathan McLean
Second Chat – 144 – Jonathan McLean 2 – “Ten Tips for Initial Foal Handling”
Third Chat – 172 – Jonathan McLean 3 – “Ten Steps for Further Foal Handling”
Listeners’ Choice- 211 – Listeners’ Choice Chat (042)
Fourth Chat – 292 – Jonathan McLean 4 – “Ten Tips on The Weaning Transition, Safe, Horse Friendly Ways to Interact with Young Horses”
Fifth Chat – 318 – Jonna McLean 5 – “Ten Training Tips From Weaning to Yearling”
Sixth Chat – 348 – Jonna McLean 6 – “Ten Steps To Starting The Young Horse Under Saddle”
Seventh Chat – 378 – Jonna McLean 7 – “Ten Points to Remember When Training Your Horse”
Listeners’ Choice- 394 – Listeners’ Choice Chat (172)
Eighth Chat – 543 – Jonna McLean 8 – “Ten Essential When Breaking In/ Starting Young Horses”
Ninth Chat – 556 – Jonna McLean 9 – “Ten Tips on Proofing the Riding Aids (From the Round Yard to Open Spaces in Walk, Trot and Canter)”
Tenth Chat – 568 – Jonna McLean 10 – “Ten Things to Remember About Proofing the Aids”
Eleventh Chat – 580 – Jonna McLean 11 – “Ten Potential Problems When Riding a Young Horse Outside for the First Time”
Twelfth Chat – 592- Jonna McLean 12 – “Ten Questions To Ask About A Potential Horse Purchase”
Thirteenth Chat – 606 – Jonna McLean 13 – “Ten Questions to Ask About Training Direction”
Fourteenth Chat – 619 – Jonna McLean 14 – Case study 01 “Frankie”
Fifteenth Chat – 631 – Jonna McLean 15 – Case Study – Ten Steps to Train/ Retrain Benny, The Retired Racehorse
About This Episode
“Ten Steps to Teach the Horse to Start Jumping”
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“Ten Steps to Teach the Horse to Start Jumping”
1) Once line and tempo on the flat are in self carriage, we can begin jumping and this starts with poles
– Place some poles on the arena not too close together, and see how confidently he/she are able to negotiate these at walk
2) The next step is to repeat this without sacrificing too much of your line or tempo (this is the basic benchmark for training), and begin to close the spacing, suitable for trot i.e. approximately 1.3 metres.
3) When they are able to negotiate a series of poles four or so, we can introduce wings with a cross-rail that is very low. It is usually at this point you discover their reaction when they either hit a pole, or stand on a pole, in which case keep repeating the same line with good straight approaches until he doesn’t make the same mistake.
4) Because his line is very easy to manage and also the tempo of his walk and trot is simple to maintain, you should find he is starting to lower his head and neck through the poles and over the cross-rail.
– Once relaxation has been achieved with a long neck, and it is repeatable on both reins, we can begin to raise the poles off the ground
5) It is at this point when he begins to make mistakes that trial and error learning is taking place, and they are working out exactly where he can put his feet or not? He should be able to get at least five or six repetitions without a mistake before you change it.
6) Once trotting over cross-rail we can then not change the height, change the aspect of the poles so they are horizontal, maybe with a ground line.
– At this point we are really looking for him to be able to step easily over the rails, not leap or jump too big, this means he’s still a bit scared, trot is the best measure for this.
7) Now we can introduce a series of jumps at this point, remembering to change the visual impression of the jump and experimenting with colour, texture and shape, before we get too excited and make the jumps bigger and wider.
8) Now we can introduce some related lines that are at a comfortable distance from one another preferably with at least four or five strides between (each stride is approximately 12 feet depending on the height and confirmation of the horse.
– So now if he begins to canter after the first jump, you can allow him to quietly roll towards the second fence and then trot again after the second fence.
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9) The preservation of relaxation is the most important thing, and this allows you to feel this, whether he speeds up (including gait increases) before or after the fence.
10) Practice on the flat having your canter at about 105 bpm???
– We can begin to apply this to single fences in a wide open area that don’t involve sharp turns. If you can keep his tempo at this rat and the fences have no effect then he truly is becoming relaxed in his canter jumping state.
– The tempo will be adjusted later for when the fences get higher and wider depending on the horses canter.
REMEMBER
- The self-carriage of your tempo and line are crucial to creating a relaxed horse
- If he gets it wrong then repeat exactly the same approach same line same temp until the mistakes are not made because he’s in a learning phase.
- The ability of the rider to ensure no massive adjustments with the reins are made two or three strides from the jump, let him make the mistake and make the correction on the far side of the fence not before the fence
- Using the rein two or three strides before the fence, will change his stride length his tempo and his ability to be able to focus on the task, thus this will make him more scared, and probably you! We should really only be using a little bit of leg at the base other jump not rein.
- When you have your line and tempo in order, sit as still as you possibly can, and facilitate the jump by giving him the necessary rain so he can develop a bascule over the jump.
- Give plenty of walk breaks between tasks so that he can refresh his energy mentally and physically and you can get time to review the strengths and the weakness of previous task.
- Change the appearances of the fence before we change of height, so that he can make the mistakes when the jumps are low not when they are big
- Practice as much as possible up to a metre in height at trot because this enables you to feel any tension because it will usually result in canter and or speeding up in some way.
- Try to make the whole experience as relaxing as you can and have eyes on the ground to help you see the things you can’t feel.
- If you have got this point this will be one of the best jumping horses you’ve had, he will be quiet, relaxed, powerful and predictable.
Time Stamp
02:34 – A well trained horse is the best horse
04:14 – 1) Once line and tempo on the flat are in self carriage, we can begin jumping and this starts with poles
06:34 – 2) The next step is to repeat this without sacrificing too much of your line or tempo
09:08 – 3) When they are able to negotiate a series of poles four or so, we can introduce wings with a cross-rail that is very low.
11:08 – 4) Because his line is very easy to manage and also the tempo of his walk and trot is simple to maintain, you should find he is starting to lower his head and neck through the poles and over the cross-rail.
13:50 – 5) It is at this point when he begins to make mistakes that trial and error learning is taking place, and they are working out exactly where he can put his feet or not?
13:50 – 6) Once trotting over cross-rail we can then not change the height, change the aspect of the poles so they are horizontal, maybe with a ground line.
15:17 – 7) Now we can introduce a series of jumps at this point, remembering to change the visual impression of the jump and experimenting with colour, texture and shape, before we get too excited and make the jumps bigger and wider.
19:12 – 8) Now we can introduce some related lines that are at a comfortable distance from one another preferably with at least four or five strides between
20:30 – 9) The preservation of relaxation is the most important thing, and this allows you to feel this, whether he speeds up (including gait increases) before or after the fence.
21:44 – 10) Practice on the flat having your canter at about 105 bpm???
24:27 – Metronome app
25:10 – Recap
28:05 – Training the horse
29:53 – As a rider keep the line and tempo
30:30 – Limit breaks
32:14 – Different types of jumps
33:55 – Having eyes on the ground watching
37:47 – Contact details see below
Jonna’s Contact Details
Phone: 0417 116 471 or +61 417 116 471
Email: jonamclean@gmail.com
Website: traintowin.com.au
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/jonna.mclean Train To Win Facebook Page
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