What is your opinion on it? If you breed or have bred horses that are destined for an over fences career do you put them through a jump chute to gauge their natural talent? I was just asked by someone on another BB why I would jump my 2 year old. I posted this same question there, but felt this might be an even better place to post this question since the majority are sport horse breeders. For me if it is not part of a regular training program, the grid is set properly, and I have wrapped their legs to help protect them, I don’t see the problem. All the buyers I have come a cross that were interested in a young horse that was destined for an over fences career wanted to see them put through the chute. I know I wouldn’t buy a 2 year old without seeing it. So for all that bred horses destined for the jumpers/hunters/eventing. Do you put your young horses through a chute? If you are a buyer of a young sport horse do you want/expect to see it? I thought it would be an interesting discussion.
I put my 2 year old through the jump chute a few times. She is mostly Dressage bred, but I just did it for the heck of it. She only jumped up to 2’ or, or so. The last time I free jumped her was at a free jumping clinic at Hilltop.
My answer would be an absolutely flat out NO!
I don’t believe in racing two year olds and really think that jumping should be held off until they are four at least. But then I am old fashioned and also do not subscribe to the European methods.
If a horse is a born athlete, with the body type to run and jump, you don’t need to prove this to yourself by putting the horse in a jump chute at 2 yrs of age.
I don’t jump three year olds either. I prefer a horse who will remain sound into its teens.
Definitely.
We are talking about very small fences and a few times. Nothing more than if there´s a log in their pasture and nothing that will not make the horse “last into it´s teens”.
And, yes I am european.
If it is done properly… why not?
I am lucky… I turn my horses loose in the indoor or outdoor and they jump on their own! 
There is nothing about a properly set up grid, at an appropriate height, done a few times, that is going to damage a 2yo’s body.
If it does, well, that horse has other issues :lol:
Young horses do FAR worse things to themselves playing in the field. If they can stand up to the racing and sliding stops and airs above ground and sudden starts, they can stand up to a few well-done jumps.
Assuming your footing is good and the arena is long and safe for a youngster…
I can’t imagine how bouncing over a couple low jumps once every few months as a two year old would be determintal to a horse’s long term soundness. I would love to hear a vet’s opinion. I think the bigger risk is if the youngster freaks out when loose in there and tears around the arena like an idiot.
I wouldn’t ask them to do a complex grid or anything, because I don’t think it is mentally fair, but I don’t know why introducing the concept at two is bad.
I mean look at what they do in the pasture. I think lunging is much worse. Just my two cents…
Oh and to answer the original question, I plan on introducing the chute to my two year old jumper this summer. Planning on just a few sessions–mainly to introduce the concept of going through the chute with the side barriers, etc.
When we set the jumping chute up we send everyone through. The jumps are set according to the horses age from poles on the ground, to x’s and up from there. Just walking through with poles on the ground gets them used to the chute and when it comes time to actually jump it is no big deal. This is not done on a regular basis and I don’t feel it harms them in any way. The best thing I have seen is when we had a small pony that was lazy and a 2 yr old that was full of energy. When they were outside if the 2 yr old was running and the pony was in his way the 2 yr old would jump the pony. The pony would not even look up from grazing!! I swear it got to the point where the 2 yr old did it on purpose. :)
I think it’s a good tool as well…used properly.
I personally don’t like seeing people freejumping in small round pens. Too much potential torque on joints, IMO.
However, a PROPERLY set up chute (not one jump and horses galloping around an arena pell mell) with a calm introduction to it can be very beneficial in gauging a youngster’s aptitude. I like to do one session building up to nothing higher than 2’ and no more than 4 or 5 times total the first time. The second time, usually a few days/weeks later, if they having fun and doing okay, the oxer out might get higher.
Truly talented jumpers aren’t going to show much over low fences.
Most of my youngsters think it’s a fun game!
Of course their sire thinks it’s fun game as well, especially if there’s a catch pen. His favorite thing is do spin around in the catch arena and come back through the chute backwards (he’ll do this up to about 4’). That way he can bounce the set up jumps instead of 1 striding! I’ve seen go back and forth in the chute for 15 minutes (it was set up in his turn out area at the time and set about 2’6") when the mares were gathered up close to the fenceline. He put on quite the show for them!
[QUOTE=alliekat;6048800]
What is your opinion on it? If you breed or have bred horses that are destined for an over fences career do you put them through a jump chute to gauge their natural talent?[/QUOTE]
Absolutely. Mine all start at least as yearlings through the jump chute. Simple training sessions of 7-8 passes total over two “jumps” of either ground poles or crossrails. We repeat this for 2-3 days over a long weekend, three or four times a year. By the end of their yearling year, most of them will have progressed to a 2’ square oxer as the last fence. But really, the goal is for them to go forward and confident through the chute. At the end of the day, yearlings are hard to assess talent (at least for me) - I’m happy with just “forward” and “confident.” None of the yearlings are asked to do more than they do romping in the pastures.
For the two year olds, we add the third “jump” into the chute, but they seldom jump anything more than 2’6". The goal during this year is simply to reinforce “forward” through the chute. At the end of their two year old year with the basics behind them, you can begin to tell which might be jumpers, which might be hunters, or which should be pointed in another direction.
The most precocious jumpers get prepped for their inspections in the fall as late three year olds. These horses start a session jumping crossrails and quickly work up to a 3’3"-3’6" oxer - seldom more - always to build confidence. During one session, around 30 days before their test, the last fence gets raised to 4’+, mostly for me to understand how far the horse can go during the test.
With all that said, I think its really tough to assess a young horse’s talent the very first time in a chute. Done correctly, the horse’s first time through the chute shouldn’t be over any fence of consequence. Tough to make a buying decision based on that.
Bent Hickory.
What do you see in those destined for hunters vs. jumpers?
TIA
My May 2009 baby has been through a jump chute 3 times. First time was dull and only went to 2’. Second time he didn’t want to play, so we called it a day early on. Third time I had to stop him from continuously jumping through the chute, with the last fence at 3’7".
I will probably start him through the chute a few more times every few months, and again before I start him over fences undersaddle for confidence reasons. He was just started under saddle this week, but won’t start over fences for a full year.
I’m definitely of the camp that, if the horse breaks down early because of a few free jump sessions, well, the horse wasn’t going to make it that far anyways.
Thank you everyone for sharing your thought and opinions on the subject. It is always very interesting to me to hear what and why other breeder feel the way they do
since what we do with a jump chute is much tamer than what they actually do in teh field I see no problem with it and we usually just run them through once or twice every once in a while.
weanlings and yearlings go through with just a pole on the ground - just to do something different with them and get them used to it. Much to my disgust I have seen people put a weanling through a chute with 18" jump in it.
2 yr olds get a cavalletti or small x - only one - no grid. 2 1/2 year olds will get up to a 2’ vertical.
3 year old may get a one stride
4 and up get the test grid for han or trak testing up to usually 3’6" or 4’ depending on their experience. Only really do the dressage horses up to 3’6" usually.
Here is a link to a couple videos:
i’m still waiting to see the horse who was made prematurely unsound by freejumping as a 2yo. some of the comments do illustrate the diversity which exists on here. others seem to understand the proven validity of freejumping youngsters as an evaluation exercise. that said, its probably best that those who are not comfortable with it don’t do it.
not all good jumpers freejump well when they’re young. but most do.
i had the great pleasure of visiting with professor dr hartwig schmidt last month. he ‘is’ stam 104a (think retina, corland, acolord, contendro, helen mcnaught’s million dollor class horse caballo etc etc etc) and the breeder of corradina, among many others. he told some wonderful anecdotes about freejumping, including allowing yearlings to run as a group in his small indoor with a single cross-rail at one side. he also told of the time when carsten otto nagel tried corradina, both freejumping and then very briefly over a fence under saddle, which i believe he said was corradina’s first time jumping under the rider. carsten said ‘you’ll see this horse on tv with me’ and indeed dr schmidt has done just that. with much more yet to come from that pair…
i do subscribe to the european approach to this practice. i grew up there and again, have yet to see it as anything but beneficial when done correctly. certainly we get all our youngsters jumping from 2. i just posted a couple of video updates of two 2yo’s (see Foal Crops, 2010… http://hiddenpearlfarm.com/breeding.php)
I find all this talk interesting re. “no freejumping” because it seems we breeders, or young horse raisers, are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
While some won’t touch a horse that has been free jumped or jumped over anything before it is 3-4 years of age… It is well acknowledged that hunter and jumper riders won’t buy anything they can’t see jump! :rolleyes: I mean really? What are we supposed to do?
It’s a loose-loose situation from my point of view; but I find there is much to be learned from the horse and to learn, for the horse, to free jumping youngsters. I have done it and will do it again.
[QUOTE=sporthorsefilly;6048907]
My answer would be an absolutely flat out NO!
I don’t believe in racing two year olds and really think that jumping should be held off until they are four at least. But then I am old fashioned and also do not subscribe to the European methods.
If a horse is a born athlete, with the body type to run and jump, you don’t need to prove this to yourself by putting the horse in a jump chute at 2 yrs of age.
I don’t jump three year olds either. I prefer a horse who will remain sound into its teens.[/QUOTE]
Everyone is being quite polite, but REALLY?!? Its a HORSE not a piece of china. Resonably talented jumpers STEP over 2’6" as two years olds.
Can you provide any body of evidence that shows that a horse judiciously jumped through a chute as a youngster is more prone to lameness than one that is not? (No, jumping the crap out of one for the 4 year old futurities is not the same thing.)
Racing a 2yo is not in ANY way comparable to sending a 2yo through a carefully set up jump chute :no: To be racing at 2, the horse has spent MONTHS with progressively more demanding training, hours and hours of riding and fitting up and running. HARDLY equivalent to what the OP is talking about.
Goodness, there is such a huge difference in the stress on a young horse from putting them into heavy race training and running them in races compared to setting up a jump chute and asking a 2 y.o. to trot through some ground poles, low cross rails and a couple of low fences (in good footing) on a couple of occasions and for short periods, that I really hope folks are knowledgeable enough to understand the difference.
Though we breed primarily for dressage, I get asked often enough by potential buyers to see one of our 3 y.o’s go through a jump chute. Free jump to be specific. Without a rider. And so, rather than ask a 3 y.o who has never seen a fence to do their best on a day that a video camera is running, I have come to the conclusion that it is good training to introduce late 2 y.o’s to the concept with some ground poles, cross rails and a low fence or two. Carefully.
All our mares have some jump blood up close, so it is not unexpected that their offspring will have some talent over a fence.
I like the idea of cross-training in general.
I hope folks will keep the big picture and the way things are done in mind, and that not all programs are equal. By that I mean to say it is very different to introduce a youngster to a jump chute vs. “OMG, they JUMP their two year olds!!!”
That said, we have a coming 3 y.o. (still a 2 y.o.) that we plan to have all joints radiographed this Winter, and if all is sound, we will be introducing her to a jump chute to assess her ability in the early Spring before she officially turns three.
Much to my disgust I have seen people put a weanling through a chute with 18" jump in it.
My weanlings have done the following in the last few months while playing in their field:
- leaped over a water tub rather than go around it (it’s just a 20 gallon plastic tub-less than 2 feet wide and quite easy to dart around)
- done dramatic airs above the ground
- jumped over a sleeping companion
- reared, spun, slid, bucked, and jumped into the air repeatedly
When I see them doing this I SMILE, knowing that they are building healthy little bodies.
I would be horrified to see young horses going over huge jumps repeatedly or with weight on their backs but a few times through a carefully laid out chute with small jumps is nothing that I feel harms the horse. I do not like to see a horse jump under saddle before the age of 4 and am pretty conservative when it comes to introducing “work” to youngsters, however I think all you jumper breeders should feel just fine about a few trips through a proper little chute. I can’t fathom any serious buyers (the ones truly capable of assessing real talent) being disturbed by a horse having done this.
