Okay, so my best friend is looking to train her 5-7 year old Arabian gelding to jump. He is in shape, and very capable! Knows all the basics, and is reliable - she can canter him around the arena with no tack. If you’re wondering, his name is Mirage! 
So, I was wondering, what would be the best way to introduce him to jumping? Obviously starting with lots of pole work, but then what would be some of the next steps? They’re looking to only jump around 2’6" max…
Thanks,
HunterJumper<3
Oh - and my friend has lots of jumping experience, both on experienced and green horses… 
He is a rescue and she did almost all of the retraining herself, so both of them are definitely ready for jumping!
Singles with take off and landing poles are a good start. It really helps them figure out their arc. Start very small.
Trot-in, canter out lines are a good next step once the horse has figured out where all of its body parts go.
Enlist the help of a trainer. If you don’t know where to start…then you should probably not be starting the horse over fences. You need an educated seat, hand, and eye to train a horse to be a confident jumper.
Get a trainer! They will help your friend through tons of great Gymnastic exercises and other “greenie” exercises that are great for your everyday jumper too. They will also be able to see on the ground what she can not.
[QUOTE=Jealoushe;7180653]
Enlist the help of a trainer. If you don’t know where to start…then you should probably not be starting the horse over fences. You need an educated seat, hand, and eye to train a horse to be a confident jumper.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. If your friend had lots of jumping experience on green horses as you claim, she should know what to do.
Find a trainer. Even a very experienced rider can become unseated by a greenie giving an enthusiastic leap, chipping, leaving out a stride, etc. A good trainer can quickly provide a safe and solid foundation on which your friend can build. It is so much easier to build off of a good foundation than go back and try to fix holes.
Even before a trainer, start him jumping unmounted. I had it drilled into my head eons ago that horses should learn balance and body control over jumps without a rider in the very beginning. You can do that with jump chutes and longeing and long lining.
I like the idea of jumping him on the ground first! She probably knows what to do, I’m just thinking of extra ideas and tips to help her out. The trainer she is using right now does not jump, but she might move to her old barn, where the focus is hunter/jumper and eventing.
