how young is too young?for training jumping?

This is a very complex subject. As different horses can achieve/understand at different ages. Also some horses mature faster/slower than others.

So this must be taken into account.

Well, I would show them poles at 4. I'm not into age classes, so our youngsters aren't pushed too early. But start teaching them as 5 year olds.

I wouldn't want to start teaching a horse to jump past the age of 9. Thats my personal opinion. However, one of the best SJing mare's I had, was broken in at 10. She was a machine ;) Strong, clever but the downside was she exhibited extreme willfullness. She would have been a GP prospect had she been trained earlier. :( :)
 
i wouldn't start jumping at the earliest until age 4..poles and small x's and maybe small simple cources once in a while. very lightly though. then do a little more at five. but nothing to hard or high until age 6.
of cource this does very from horse to horse as does what age is to old.
i know horses happily and easily jumping 2'9 cources at age 25. some ponys are still jumping at 30!
 
my friends horse turned 4 at the end of june , he trains with a good jump trainer who says she is now ready to bsja , & will start with the aim of some double clears at bn to get her going

she is a bit of a star though , & progresses really quickly , she learned counter canter in one session!!

having said that he is trying to be careful not to overdo her workload
 
I don't know when my boy first saw poles/jumped for the first time. When I viewed him they were jumping pretty high (silly boy rider didn't help) and he was just under 4.5 years old. My instructor wanted to see what he was like to jump a few weeks ago and so we showed him :D He is just 5 years old now and we were jumping a spread not very high at all. Instructor was trying to get him to stretch his back so we were asking him jump longer - he can definately jump my boy :)

Will probably have a few jump lessons this year and will enter a small clear round jump comp next year at the local show when he'll be turning 6. I'm definately not pushing height or frequency because I'm so worried his riding life will be cut short by going to fast at a young age. xxx
 
casey said:
I wouldn't want to start teaching a horse to jump past the age of 9. Thats my personal opinion. However, one of the best SJing mare's I had, was broken in at 10. She was a machine ;) Strong, clever but the downside was she exhibited extreme willfullness. She would have been a GP prospect had she been trained earlier. :( :)
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We have a 14yo mare who has been a broodmare up until this summer.Unbroken for all of her 14 years,though we did very lightly back her two years ago when we first bought her. This year I didn't cover her and decided as she wasn't going to foal next year she should do something useful.As she'd taken to backing so well we decided to fully break her so at least she could hack out rather than stand in field doing nothing. That was about 3 months ago. She took to breaking so well, my daughter wanted to see if she'd jump so she could do some WHP with her...Well we were astonished when she showed a real talent and a love of jumping.She's now easily jumping 2' 9" (she's just under 12hh). She's been showjumping at a few local shows and has been in the ribbons everytime, and she's loving every minute of it :) She's a natural.
 
I like to introduce my youngsters to the "concept" of jumping within a few weeks of being broken to ride, usually at about 3 and a half years of age. When they can trot and steer at the same time, I will casually trot over a pole on the ground from time to time during the schooling on the flat. Once they get the hang of it, popping over a tiny cross-rails once in a while is also included.

The idea is that jumping is just a part of the new experience of being ridden, when they are learning what to expect from the rider. I don't like to leave it to be a late surprise, after the horse thinks it already knows what it needs to do.

Once jumping little obstacles has become simply part of the horse's basic schooling and while the fences are still so small that the horse can just step over them when in doubt, I would add more variety, like a brightly colored plank on the lowest setting or plastic barrels on their sides.

I wouldn't increase the height or ask for anything strenous until their knee joints have closed and they are nearer maturity, which will depend on the breed of horse as to how quickly they mature. Warmbloods mature very slowly and need more time while quarter horses are often full grown by three.
 
How old is too old to jump? I think that depends on a lot of factors. Health, especially the health of the legs. I wouldn't start a horse that was past twelve unless it was extraordinarily youthfull and fit. My mare jumped until she was 14 but then had arthritis in her hocks. I won't start my yearling over anything until she's four. At four, we will stay small, even though she'll be able to do more. Maybe that's a warmblood breeder's caution though. We don't start lounging until 2 and a 1/2! Ack!
 
i think it really depends on the horse to be honest!

some are ready at 4 and some arent! the best thing i have found to do, is just take it steady, show the poles at a young 4, and if the horse isn't ready take them away. if it is, continue, but if theres a problem take it back a stage.

its difficult, as every horse is different and theres no set way to train a baby!
just wait for your horse to let you no! and good luck!
 
yazmino palomino

The correct age for a horse to start jumping is 4 but you cannot compete them BSJA untill they are 6 i think properly to :p also just because they can jump at 4 doesnt mean you can make your baby jump 1.60 or anything because its cruel and messes up their joints etc before they start and if you do that alot they will b a criple within a year .Negative i know but i hate it wen you c ppl duin that hope i helped sum how u probs got the answer sum time ago but oh well lol bixx :)
 
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BSJA at 4 years

It is true that horses can compete BSJA at four. There are four year old style and peformance classes that are judged rather like showing classes and not against the clock which is rather nice, in addition to your normal BN, Discovery etc. There are five and six year old classes as well.

The baby I have bought (10 weeks) from Belgium is intended to be a performance stallion, and his breed society insist on three year old loose jumping and ridden work in order for him to be graded. Indeed, where I bought him (usual on the continent) they loose jump foals to see if they have technique and therefore worth keeping.

As many of you have quite rightly said, it is the individual horse and it depends on you as well. I would love to agree and say I would not jump my horses until they are four, however rules and regs mean that I will have to have this particular one prepared. Having said, any young horse I start always combines polework and flat work after backing and riding away and are jumping small courses in their fourth year anyway.

When jumping young horses always try to make sure they are on a good surface. I prefer to start competition jumping BSJA rather than unaffiliated anyway because the courses have to be built properly, and only indoor on a good surface in the winter of a horses' fourth year.
 
i have no personal experiences with breaking horses or schooling jumping, but I knew of a horse who did a lot of jumping. He was bought by a girl of about 10/11, he was only 5 and she pushed him A LOT. She was already taking him into novice and intermediate classes when she'd had him for about 2 weeks. The yard she and I kept our horses at held unaffiliated and affiliated shows every week. When I first got my horse, which was around the same time as her, I took him in the clear round a couple of weeks and then the novice, however he struggled a bit in the novice so didn't proceed any further from there. When I did take him in the intermediate class he didn't like it at all so I didn't take him in it again. My horse is just 6, so I knew not to push him too hard otherwise he'd get sick. The girl was pushing her horse MUCH harder than she should have been. If the horse didn't perform well, she'd hit him with the crop and take him for a gallop evern if the sweat was dripping off him. If your wondering why I'm telling you this,then its because I think this horse will be sick of jumping by the time hes 6(hes 5 now) because she's pushing him. I'm saying you could train at 4/5 and if the horse enjoys it then keep going and maybe you could be competing by the time hes 6/7 but if he doesn't enjoy it then stop, for his sake and peace of mind.
 
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