Scared Youngster Free Jumping

[SarahS]

Long time lurker, but I never had a need to ask those here for any advice. I finally found a reason to start an account now, so hopefully I can get some advice!

I have a 3yo homebred that I have been free jumping here and there to add variety to his limited regime. This was his 8th time free jumping and he has been fairly game about it the whole time. He knew how to walk calmly down in hand to the beginning of the jump chute, would eagerly trot in and jumped in a relaxed and elastic fashion. He liked it and had fun with it.

Today, he was going through a cross rail to oxer two stride. After gradually working up to it, the back rail on the oxer was up to 3’6" for the last run of the day (of only a dozen or so?). He had gone through the chute just fine all the other times.

This time, though, he went in and stopped immediately because a horse outside of the arena was throwing a fit and he decided to watch. I starting walking to get him to restart, when he decided to continue down the chute at the walk/jog and attempted to jump the oxer. He landed on the backrail, stifling himself decently.

I checked him over. He stung and skinned himself, but was trotting out sound.

After that, I immediately brought it down to a small vertical (2’3"), which he proceeded to refuse. I then got him to go through in a decent fashion just crossrail to crossrail with coxing and called it quits for the day.

Did I just sour my horse to jumping? How do I proceed from here?

[SarahS]

Is this not the right place for this? Where should I put this to get some advice?

[KBC]

May not be the right place being the breeding section;) I’m not sure where the right place is.

I read it but I haven’t answered because I am ultra conservative and would not be jumping a 3 year old over a 3’ 6" oxer.

As to if he is scared then you won’t really don’t know until you put him through the run again.

Once again personally speaking, after a scare I go back to basics. Run through the chute with nothing, if that is good put down trot poles, if that is still good then small jumps. If his foundation is solid then it shouldn’t been an issue.

[Edgewood]

[QUOTE=KBC;6518697]

Once again personally speaking, after a scare I go back to basics. Run through the chute with nothing, if that is good put down trot poles, if that is still good then small jumps. If his foundation is solid then it shouldn’t been an issue.[/QUOTE]

I agree with what the previous poster said above. Many young horses will get a bad distance and scare themselves; best to return to a nice easy chute and build their confidence back. I have yet to have one permanently scarred, as long as you go back and start building up slowly again.

Also, jumping once in a while in the chute up to 3’6" won’t hurt a late 3 year old. Many mares and stallions have done that preparing for MPT and SPT. I wouldn’t do it regularly under saddle at all, but I will do it to prepare them for their testing.

[lauriep]

Youngsters don’t need to free jump on a regular basis to enrich their lives. It is too much for them to be doing, and can enourage poor form and habits. Wait until it is time to jump with a rider. Set him up for success with accurate rides.

Free jumping is a useful tool to get an idea of what a horse’s form might be, or to do a quick video for a sale horse. But not for a regular part of their routine, IMO.

[Equilibrium]

While I agree loose jumping shouldn’t be done frequently, it is a very good way of letting a horse learn how to handle themselves jumping. A hunter that’s only ever gonna plod around a max of 3ft of 8 fences at accurate distances can deal with being told when and where to jump. Since I’m raising jumpers they also have to be able to think for themselves a bit. I don’t know one single producer over here of eventers/ jumpers/ and or chasers that doesn’t incorporate proper loose schooling into a program. All for getting horses to think for themselves.

Yes, your horse did indeed get a fright. You need to take him back to basics. But I’d be giving him a couple of months break from loose schooling. As of yet I haven’t had a horse give themselves a fright loose jumping. So I can’t tell you how it will go from experience. But even ridden and getting a fright could mean a horse that’s always apprehensive and not putting their best foot forward or they can learn and continue on better for the experience.

If this was a horse with a bit of Irish draft in him I’d say don’t worry as clattering poles seems to be the norm the first few times! LOL! We have one here now that is finally learning he has to pick up the front ones. Hind is good. But Irish horses just don’t scare easy. They’re like terminators!

Terri

[ise]

I agree on the height of the last fence. The point of this is not to see the max they can jump when they are 3 yo’s - it’s to get them familiar with the jumps and let them start to think about the task at hand. I’d definitely not “stop” here - just start with the basics and keep the 3rd fence the same as the 2nd for awhile.

[TKR]

I don’t know much at all about free jumping, but I just want to interject this – maybe he is hurting a bit from the fence in which he was entangled. Just because he looked ok, doesn’t mean the jump exertion isn’t a bit painful. Write it off, give him some time and just do some cavellities and an x or something to end on a good note and maybe lay off the free jumping since he seems to have mastered that and it’s served the purpose.
PennyG

[ise]

TKR - if the horse is injured that should be determined but the issue here is to give him a “good” experience going through the chute again afew times and THEN give him time off.

[showjumpers66]

3’6" should be no big deal for a hunter/jumper bred 3 year old. We typically free jump ours maybe 2 or 3 times just so that we can judge scope and technique and heights are 3’6" to 4’6".

Sometimes they make a mistake and sting themselves. It is very important that they end the session on a positive note even if they just canter through the grid with the poles on the ground.

[SarahS]

To those that think that 3’6" is too much, I really doubt that. While this one was bred with eventing in mind, he has jumper lines on top (Trakehner A line) and bottom (French TB, maternal great grandsire stood at the Hanoverian Verband). In no way was this even trying to reach his scope limits. With a 2’6"-2’9" oxer, he is just sloppy/loose up front; not something I wish to perpetuate. A well set-up jump chute on good footing isn’t going to cause horrid arthritic changes. I do think it gets the youngster thinking for themselves and getting themselves out of tricky spots without the rider’s intervention.

Anyway.

So far, this guy has been the careful type and quite easily getting himself out of other situations. I think this incident would have been his second rail down out of maybe 50 jumps. I’m just a bit worried about that distinguishing line between careful and too careful…

It seems like we did the right thing by bringing everything back down to cross rails and ending on a positive. Next time, probably in 2-4 weeks, we will see what damage has been done, I suppose. I checked him over again today and he is still sound and happy.

Thank you in particular to Equilibrium and showjumpers66.

[HyperionStudLLC]

We send our babies through the chute with the mothers, then in pairs or groups from weaning time through yearling stage. Nothing more then letting them go around with nothing on the ground to a small cross rail (as yearlings). We instill a routine for free jumping early on so as they get older it’s more comfortable for the process. Once they are two we pull them in individually and build from there.

If you ever get to a point where the horse gets nervous jumping on their own. Start from scratch… No poles, just the chute and finding a rhythm. Then build again. Horses are clever and they will figure it out. He/she will tell you when they are ready for more.

Free jumping does give them a foundation in body awareness and future expectations. It also allows you to see how they behave mentally, and offers you an idea of their future ability. When done appropriately, your horse can gain knowledge and so can you.

Don’t stress yourself over this one incident. Next time you try, make sure there are as few distractions as possible. Make it as positive as you can and always offer a reward.

Best wishes

[Equilibrium]

I really like what you said there Sarah. The difference between careful and too careful. Showjumpers can’t be “too” careful either. Definitely not wanting to touch a pole but having more than ability. Hitting a pole and learning.

Maybe the next time just keep his session to poles on the ground and a few run throughs as such. Then increase the next time.

I also don’t see the issue with the height. 1.10m isn’t going to ruin a 3yo. Hunter under saddle classes at 2 with rider on board are defended. 3yo hunters over small fences with full size adult on board are defended and 4yo’s(that are mentally and physically mature) jump 1.10m with a rider on board. Obviously if people are chasing their babies around at warp speed a couple times a week they’ll end up with issues which has nothing to do with fence height. That’s clearly not the case here.

I remember a photo from my Irish breeders group in which a filly came down to a 90cm easy oxer. She cleared it miles with a leg in every corner. That caption said “this is why I loose jump first”. They do need to be able to figure out how to do things on their own. It was just a picture taken at the one time everything was everywhere. Probably didn’t look like that while happening in real time.

Terri

[Equilibrium]

Woops, just wanted to say something about distractions. I do somewhat agree with Hyperion about his next couple of times being distraction free but not a bad thing for them to have distractions about. Since I’m always getting on breakers I quite like as many distractions as possible for the babies. I’m usually riding while my husband is doing groundwork on one. Plus I keep the other horses next to the arena when work is going on. So nice when you’re riding a new one and they all decide to act like goofs in the field and the youngster never bats an eyelid. I used to love no distractions and then realised it wasn’t much help.

I still go over a few times a week to help the girl who we broke a pony for and it’s really refreshing to see him trotting around their arena with tractor trailers passing by, cousins who just have to play on the trampoline at that moment, and grandma being wheeled up to the arena in her wheelchair. Then cue mare and foal galloping by at warp speed. Gordon just keeps on trucking. Not bad for a pony that came to us and nearly lost his life when he first laid eyes on a horse with a rider on it’s back. He spooked that badly in the field he tripped and fell down.

Terri

[_Tradewind]

[QUOTE=HyperionStudLLC;6519752]
We send our babies through the chute with the mothers [/QUOTE]

This is a good idea, I had not seen/heard of this before! :yes: