Showing fences to green horses when schooling

[pony_grandma]

@Fruehling

I think I’ll use the approach/retreat type method when I go to introduce my mare to the fake ditch/trekhaner type jump I’m going to make.

I am of the opinion that it bodes well to place a small jump a few strides before a ditch (standards and cross poles to start) then the horse is thinking ‘jump’ ‘jump.’ The first xc school one of ours did I bribed the park guy on the tractor with a cold beer at a local event to drag a smallish log in front of the ditch line after the show so we could return to school it that way. Worked like a charm, right over the ditch, first time ever. Of course gymnastics always help teach this premise of going forward first and foremost.

[findeight]

@Jealoushe

Blyth Tait made it very clear in a clinic that we absolutely SHOULD show the horse the fence and allow it to sniff it, turn away etc. Riding beside it also is OK but that actually is more likely to teach the horse to go around it. The horse is not thinking “well last time I got to stop and look and sniff it so Im not jumping it this time”. The horse is thinking, “last time I saw it was nothing scary, and I trust my rider”
If Blyth Tait says its OK, I am going to continue on thinking its OK LOL

Ohhh, I don’t disagree with this at all. But they are talking about YOU deciding to take the horse up for a look and keeping it between hand and leg with attention still on you until YOU decide to move away and control how it does so. Not standing there staring off into space or trying to suck back and spin off while you pet and coo at it. Or getting off to feed it a treat…

My concern is many at all experience levels on all sorts of horses at all sorts of training levels (or lack thereof) read this and much as we hate the “It depends’” or “hit the flatwork” answer, we hate hearing " I read it on the internet so it’s OK" even more.

[yellowbritches]

First off, for those saying that if the horse is spooky walking up to it that you should definitely show it first, well, that’s not always a good indication. I have groomed many UL horses that would not walk past, let alone up to and sniff the same thing that they would gallop down to and jump. Horses are ridiculous creatures sometimes.

I may show baby baby horses jumps, and often will lead them around the ring while other horses are being ridden, showing them jumps, walking them over tarps, making little jumps we can step over together, usually with flower boxes or painted panels. I’ve been known to do similar things with xc jumps, leading them through water and over ditches. I find that if you take the time to play with them like that, they don’t need much convincing once you start taking them out and about. I don’t LOVE letting them walk up and sniff things, but will make circles around questionable things, or casually hang out next to something if no one is jumping it before we actually jump it. Most of the babies I’ve started have been very relaxed about new jumps, for the most part, and even when faced with something spooky, have gone down and done their job, usually with a cute baby deer leap.