At 20:55:17 on 10.07.11, izzbu wrote:
hey i have a 4 year old(5 in october)16.1hh warm blood. ive jumped him over small jumps biggest 2ft3 but im scared to jump him any higher as i do not know how high he could jump? ive jumped him round a small course but id really like him to progress as he has the potential? any ideas or advice of what to do and ways in which i wont scare him or push it too far?

At 23:47:19 on 10.07.11, ToriSilverson wrote:
id say you are better staying small while he is still young-ish, and then when he gets a bit older and a bit more mature he will be confident for when you jump bigger.

At 08:08:48 on 11.07.11, izzbu wrote:
ok what hight do you think would be the maximum?

At 13:19:29 on 11.07.11, kibby wrote:
Personally I would say 1m but up to 1.05m thats where I would draw the line. And that's the end of there fourth year.

At 20:06:16 on 11.07.11, izzbu wrote:
ok and also hes VERY lazy do you think it would be a good idea to use spurs on him or not? he might be too young i dont know?

At 03:11:52 on 12.07.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
you have to keep in mind some breeds mature slower than others, i would wait until 6yo to test abilities :) and i don't like spurs, easy way out lol i would say go to your local tack shop and buy the longest dressage whip you can find to get him listening, you will find it difficult to jump with it but it will help get him moving off you leg before you take the jump. When warming up ride with it, use your leg once to ask for a active pace of choice, no responce or pace not positive enough give a flick with the whip on his rump, if he speeds up suddenly in shock then slows again give a nudge and flick at the same time so he knows backing off is a no no, you want to ask once and that's it, same goes for transitions, ask once for upward transition, no joy then flick with the whip, if you just nudge all the time he will get bored and ignore your leg, grenville is very very lazy doing flat work and at first took quite a few flicks with the whip to get him to understand now i just flick once or twice and that's it he knows that a flick means 'get on' and i will do it again if he doesn't listen, gets him going nicely but if i forget my whip and he doesn't get the wake up he knows and will be totally lazy but if i carry it for 5 mins then put it at the side while i jump or continue flat work i no longer need it. Good luck :)

At 03:14:23 on 12.07.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Forgot to mention the roma dressage whip is the cheapest and one of the longest i have found, i use it and it lasted 2 years of abusing friends on the farm before it broke haha so i would recomend that one, i find a lot of the expensive ones are too short

At 03:27:17 on 14.07.11, kibby wrote:
dressage whip definitely. when you are jumping I'd prob get a normal whip as controlling a young green horse, jumping and controlling a long whip can be a lot! all you have to remember is use your short whip behind your leg, never on the shoulder!

At 08:55:24 on 14.07.11, NMH wrote:
Why is that Kibby? I hate to have to take a hand off the steering in the last stride or so & have often used a slap down the shoulder (& it has worked lol), but I've heard it before, & wonder what the reasoning is?

At 09:11:32 on 14.07.11, Flicka wrote:
Hi, I'm of the school who don't think you should push for too much too young and I think the laziness isn't laziness at all but a lack of strength and balance. Be careful not to do too much as you can end up with a sour horse and that's where the problems start. The growth plates in the vertebral column don't finish forming until at least five and a half and that's with a small horse with bigger, male WB's it can take until about eight! With good schooling, once your horse is carrying himself properly then you'll find he has a lot more energy and in front of your leg without the need for whips and spurs. Personally I would do some good flatwork, just introduce your horse to small jumps and then give him a break to grow. Anyway that's just what I've found and I'm sure there are others who would disagree with me!