{"id":10182,"date":"2020-11-25T19:08:38","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T23:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/equestrianbootsandbridles.com\/?p=10182"},"modified":"2021-07-21T07:12:54","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T11:12:54","slug":"horse-jumping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/equestrianbootsandbridles.com\/horse-jumping\/","title":{"rendered":"Horse Jumping | How to Master Jumping While Minimizing Fall Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Horse jumping is one of the most fun, most freeing things you can do while horseback riding. Watching horses jump at a show<\/a> or in the olympics is mesmerizing as they manage to clear fences with ease and grace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, watching horses jump high is also nerve wracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If any little thing goes wrong, both the horse and the jumper are in trouble. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve also all seen the memes of riders falling straight into stone wall jumps and doing flips right over their horses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning to jump on a horse for the first time is both scary and exciting. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all fallen off and falling off into a jump seems worse. Sometimes, it is worse. It really depends on how solid that jump is and which way you fall into it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I go into detail about the 2 things that have helped me SO MUCH when I was learning to jump in my 100% FREE Beginner Rider’s Ebook: Click here to learn more!<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horse Jumping is All About Tackling Fear<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you’re first learning to jump, or learning to re-jump after a long break, or if you’ve had a bad fall while jumping, jumps can be nerve wracking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know no one talks about it or wants to admit it, but I know I went through a period where I was scared of jumping after my bad fall with Dash. I’ll tell you about that in a second. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I first learned to jump on my black feisty pony, Satchmo and I had absolutely no fear. My connection with him was such that I trusted him absolutely. We were such an amazing team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, I was so young, I didn\u2019t really understand that there was anything to be afraid of. I didn’t understand any of the dangers associated with horseback riding. I also had just such a great bond with Satchmo and rode him for years and years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was much later when I was trying to get Dash used to jumping that I developed my fear (the hot, anxious horse I told you about in the “How to Slow Down your Horse” blog – click here to read more)<\/a>.<\/strong> Dash caught the tip of his front hoof on the top of a cavalleti while I was just walking him over to get used to it and spooked so badly he bucked me off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you can imagine, pushing myself after that to keep trying to get him used to jumps was a daunting task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had ridden plenty of horses who refused jumps. The difference was that they would typically refuse because they were slower to get moving. I was using a lot of leg to get them forwards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I lost some of that leg power as I shifted into two-point, the horse slowed right back down. If the jump was small enough I would walk him over it. Otherwise, I’d circle him around and try again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dash, however, was terrified of jumps. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wasn’t mine, I was just leasing him and his owner didn’t believe that he needed to work on his sensitivity. She was determined to get him jumping and get him jumping fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve all fallen off and falling off into a jump, after a jump, or jumping in general is the worst. We\u2019ve also all seen the memes of riders falling straight into stone wall jumps and doing flips right over their horse<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OUCHHHHH. Am I right? (No wonder non-horse people call us crazy!) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was actually riding Dash and Lucy (the horse who I struggled with flexion with – click here to read more) <\/a>around the same time. I was progressing really quickly with Lucy and was getting close to 4 feet cross-country jumps but with Dash, we were struggling just with poles and tiny jumps because he was so nervous around everything. 
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I wish I knew now what I knew then about emotional control<\/a> so I could have worked on that with him but hopefully it can help you if you feel your horse could use some! At the time, I was told by someone I trusted to keep pushing him with the jumps so that’s what I did. If I could go back and re do it, I would do it differently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just goes to show that if you feel unsafe with your horse or the horse you’re riding, you’ve got to really think about whether your fear is real or whether it’s in your head. With Dash, my fear was real but that fear of jumping translated to Lucy (who was a sweetheart) and that fear was imagined. Trust your instinct and don’t be afraid to ask other people their opinion if you’re being asked to do something you feel uncomfortable with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, I stopped working with Dash because I knew it was unsafe (I had real fear) without doing some serious training with him. He needed to go back to basics and his owner wouldn’t hear of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyways! Side-tangent over now…Lol<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So after Dash’s spook, I started to develop a fear around jumping I had never experienced before and it was SO frustrating. Especially since I had to (or felt like I had to ) keep pushing him with the jumps.
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I had fallen off horses before but I think it was because this fall was very out of the blue for me. We literally were walking over the jump when he spooked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a while after that, I was more hesitant around jumping (with all horses) and every time I went over high jumps just a little bit off so that I would shift in my saddle, or fall forwards a bit or loose my stirrups at all, I would get nervous. So I came up with a few ticks that I use now whenever I’m jumping to minimize loosing balance over jumps and minimize falling risk. Hopefully they help you too! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jumping is a very mental exercise. Whether you’re just learning to jump, re-learning to jump after a long break or you’ve recently had a bad jumping experience, your thinking will really impact your success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it Safe to Jump and Should I be Horse Jumping? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Don’t be ashamed if you’ve asked yourself this question before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As equestrians, we tend to be very stoic about these types of things. It’s only natural to have concern for our own safety! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking of my safety, my mom used to harp on me when I was growing up that I should do more dressage. Unfortunately for her, I just love jumping too much to ever give it up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jumping is safe if you take the certain precautions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re able to answer yes to all the following questions then YES! You should be jumping! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n