Particular risks of free jumping 2 year olds

[HicksteadFan]

Well its right in the title: what is the risk that concerns people about free jumping 2-year-old horses? Is it the risk of imminent injury as the horse is actually jumping (e.g. on landing or take-off)? Or is it the risk of permanent damage even if the horse has never shown outward signs of an injury? (For example joint changes that could lead to premature arthritis.) I’m not looking for a debate on “To Jump or Not To Jump”. There are lots of threads on that.

Backstory:
I’m currently searching for a 2-4 year old unstarted horse that will eventually be a low-medium level event and dressage horse. There is a nice 2-year-old mare I’m going to check out. Great conformation (at least it appears so from the pictures but I’ll take a closer look in person) and the best movement of all the horses I’ve checked out or been offered. Part of my criteria (which I kept to myself so no one would lie) was that the horse had to have never been free jumped because of potential injury. However, this young horse has been free jumped. Not particularly high jumps but she seems to jump them like they’re at least 3’. The owner has also said that she often jumps a 4’6" gate to get into the hay field. I will casually ask exactly how much they have jumped her and how many times she has jumped the gate. I will also ask my own vet (would not be the one doing the PPE on this horse) what he thinks.

I presume the horse has never had a major injury, I’ll definitely ask. But do you think there is still a chance permanent damage has been done and what kind of x-rays would you get? (Navicular, hocks, stifles, knees?) I probably wouldn’t even get x-rays for an unstarted 2 year old if the vet thought they weren’t necessary but with this much jumping I am definitely considering it.

Thanks for any incite. Vets, vet techs, high-level competitors, and breeders especially please chime in. Even if I don’t end up buying the horse I hope this thread will still be interesting and informative.

[oppsfelldown]

I think you are going to have a difficult time finding a 2/3/4yr old prospect that has not been free jumped. That’s how you see if they have any sort of talent over fences. Majority of trainers will ask for a jump video before setting an appointment to see the horse.

I really don’t mind a young horse free jumping a couple if times a month. Within reasonable heights of course.

Most young horse injuries happen because they are acting like a doofus out in the field their buddies

[NancyM]

If a person is an idiot, they can do damage to a young horse by over doing work. That includes free jumping. But if a young horse is free jumped in an intelligent manner, there should be no damage. If damage occurs from light work with a young horse, including intelligent free jumping every now and again, then there was probably a pre existing issue, joint surface problem or growth issue or pasture injury that was going to come to light eventually anyway, no matter what training schedule was or wasn’t employed.

Doing one large jump, like jumping a 4’6" fence into a hay field, should not be an issue. For one, it’s done on a straight line, which is easier on the body. For another, it’s only one jump, not 50 jumps. The negative that I see with this issue is that it is a huge PITA to have a horse who jumps pasture fences at will, and there is risk that he will jump into an area where he will hurt himself on things that are not supposed to in the vicinity of horses. Things like vehicles going down the road, or harrows or tractor implements being stored in a “safe” place. Horses need to stay in paddocks or fields where we put them in order to stay safe.

In my opinion “intelligent” free jumping of a young horse is done to simply see what his instincts are, see what he thinks of jumping, see his basic form. A one foot cross rail will do that for you. Hugely over jumping small jumps is not something that you want to see in a young horse, he should scope out the jump accurately, and jump economically, using himself well but NOT over jumping. Jumping substantially higher than he needs to is going to be hard on him in the long run, and can indicate that he is terrified of making a mistake (afraid of the jump). All jumpers eventually make mistakes, hit jumps. When they do, you want them to learn from that, but not panic, and not want to not go back to jump the jump again. You do NOT need to jump him to test his bravery and find his upper limit of ability when he is only a baby. To do so would be foolish and risky for injury, both physical and mental injury.

Do whatever vet checks you like, that make you feel better about the purchase. Won’t make much difference to the horse’s potential soundness. There are no guarantees.