"Giving up" jumping in favor of dressage

i do not feel it is a beneficial endeavour and i don’t jump my horses. Actually never have jumped my horses, and guessing i probably never will.
You like to jump, and it makes you happy to do so, fine.

…and anyway, who cares that some rando stranger on the internet doesn’t like something you happen to enjoy?

Yeah, I find the grid work is really useful for my horse’s dressage. She learns to use herself better, we both have to get out of our heads to jump decently (my instructor despairs, and is glad we focus on dressage, lol). OP, if you can still do some small jumps here and there a) I think you’ll find that dressage improves your jumping and b) you won’t get too rusty in case you decide you want to get back into it at some point. Certainly you can do both, but dressage does take a lot of focus, so why not step back from the jumping and really throw yourself into learning dressage with the horse that you enjoy the most? I don’t see the downside.

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Your lease horse may enjoy cavalletti (ground rail) grids if the owner OK’s it. My old guy was a rehabbed jumper, switched to flat work only dressage due to a back injury. But he still gets exited at the sight of a line of cavalletti. He loves his gridwork! It’s nice crosstraining for him and a break from the usual.

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I feel you. I spent 30+ years in the hunter/jumper ring and I never thought I’d “give up” jumping. I fought with myself over the fact that I just didn’t have the confidence that I had when I was younger (after a few bad falls) and that I was “giving up” or “giving in” by focusing on Dressage (a discipline that I had found incredibly boring and “fiddly” in my younger years). I wrestled with notions of being “that middle-aged ammy” and all sorts of super self-limiting and self-critical beliefs.

However, what I’m finding is that I actually have to be a bit braver to do dressage than I was doing a hunter course. I could dawdle along to a 2’6"-3’ jump course at the pace of a snail, but I really need to have the engine going to get my horse engaged at all. Instead of looking constantly to “quiet him down”, I’m looking at muscling him up and helping him engage his body with the end result that he is more/bigger/more expressive. I didn’t understand that before I really started diving in. And of course, as I ask him for more, I get more (not always the way I want it, but we’re working on that). Not always comfortable, but it’s the right way to progress.

What really happened was that I changed my mindset from “giving up” to “gaining”. Transformed the whole thing for me. I think I’ll ultimately be a better jumper if I ever go back (not sure I will, but if you would have asked me 10 years ago if I’d have been focusing on 20 meter circles, I would have told you you were crazy). And yes, we’ll probably still pop over a fence or two here and there because we’re dabbling in working equitation as well, but this journey has transformed what I think about riding.

You can always, once you’ve spent some time in dressage-land, go anywhere. In my equine journey I’ve stopped off in western-land, saddleseat-land, driving-land, hunter-land and eventing-land. I’ve learned something from all of them :slight_smile: Good luck to you!

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Thank you, @Alterration, for your lovely and thoughtful response!

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My experience was similar to @Alterration. I was riding jumpers when I stopped for a bit for various reasons. We got a new horse, and she was a handful but needed started back into work, so I did that. DD took her and jumped her, but several years later, I ended up riding her again when DD got hurt. I found I didn’t enjoy jumping her, and the dressage ladies rode earlier in the day when ti was cooler. I decided to set a couple of goals (getting her to come round) and we went to a dressage show a couple of months later. I remember, in the middle of my test, thinking how much FUN I was having - something I never did in the jumper ring. I haven’t looked back yet!

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Rocking back before a jump. . . and collecting to the point where a dressage horse’s forehand rises and he bends the joints of his hind legs more deeply, to pirouette, or piaffe - may have some similarities.
However no dressage horse has to land from being completely airborne - with one leg supporting his entire weight and that of the rider. It’s a brief moment to be sure but still can cause stress.
The exception to this would be the “Airs Above the Ground” such as the capriole, however, these movements are practiced by an elite few and are not done in competition.

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On a point on restricted jumping…

The majority of horses I know that have jumping restrictions are primarily due to front end/landing/legs holding up issues. Many have had tendons or splints or something else.

The the ones that have jumping restrictions due to hind end/hock issues also do not do higher level dressage - pretty much nothing about Training level dressage, so they aren’t stressing the hind end/hocks more.

A lot of jumping restrictions I am aware of are over the top purposely because students/leasees/future owners may push the boundaries - as in, if the horse can jump say 2’ comfortably, the person putting the restriction on may say “no jumping” assuming that the rider/new owner will translate that to “oh, he can do some crossrails, though”. The concern is if the restriction really is 2’ and the individual states 2’, the rider/new owner may say “oh, will be fine up to 2’6” and overdo it.

That being said - you want to do straight dressage for a while, have at it. When I got into dressage, I mentioned to my trainer that I didn’t want to give up jumping but I love dressage. That’s when I was introduced to Eventing and I am still stunned at the amount of comments I see over in the eventing forum that are some version of “get through dressage to have fun jumping”. I do love the perfectionist/harmony in dressage. The thrill of jumping is still there, but keep in mind, I just moved up to Novice level eventing with my current horse so let’s not get crazy here!

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I agree the most common valid reason I have seen for a “no jumping” rule for a horse (excluding behavior) is front hoof and leg issues. The extra concussion of landing on that front foot can be counter-indicated for some issues. Navicular comes to mind immediately, but other pathologies may also require protecting against extra concussion. Since dressage tends to emphasize moving the weight back off the front end, a horse with these issues may last longer in that discipline than one that requires landing or twisting on the front end.

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I had one that I had to retire from jumping. Her problem was some old injuries (chips/arthritis) in her front legs that made landing from the jumps hard on her. For any kind of flatwork - dressage, trail riding, driving - she was fine. Actually, correct dressage was probably a big part of how she stayed serviceably sound until she passed from unrelated causes at 26.

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