Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity.
This week’s question posed is: How do you train a horse who is confused by or doesn’t know how to chip or jump from a short distance?
Here are their answers:
“Flat work is the short answer, for both the horse and rider.
A jumping exercise that is very helpful is a 72 ft line that you trot in, canter out in six strides. The coordination of horse and rider in the exercise off of a left turn and right turn will help the rider practice placing the horse at a deeper distance.” -Diane Carney
Read more from Diane and listen to her on The Plaidcast here.
“Horses who do not know how to jump from a short distance struggle with shortening their stride. With this type of horse, I spend time working them front to back. I practice lengthening and shortening their stride at the walk, trot, and canter on the flat. Then I do this type of work over poles and jumps.” –Johanna Hyyppa
Read more from Johanna here.
“With a horse that has a hard time with short distances, I start by walking small fences. Keep the fence very low in the beginning, maybe even starting with a pole on the ground, and no fillers underneath that the horse could get tangled in. Make sure they walk all the way there (no cheating and breaking to trot a few strides out!). It’s important that the rider stays with the jump once it happens, so grabbing a neck strap or a handful of mane is a good idea one or two steps out.
I gradually increase the size of the fence to .70 m or .80 m (or whatever is appropriate for the horse). This helps them understand that they don’t need momentum to get over the jump, and helps them focus on their technique and “rocking back” at the base. Once they can do this in a relaxed way at the walk, start doing the same thing in trot, again, no cheating and breaking to canter on the approach.
Once they understand the trot fences, come in a slow canter to a small fence with a 7 ft placing rail. Gradually increase the size of the fence to whatever is appropriate for the horse’s level of training. Once they have the idea with a single fence, you can also practice through gymnastics that are set a bit short, still using placing rails before each fence to show the horse where to put their feet.” –Allyson Hartenburg
Read more from Allyson here.
“One way for a more experienced rider to help a horse better understand ‘chipping’ is to strategically find the short distance to a variety of fences in a practice course, gradually teaching them how to mentally and physically handle jumping from that position in relaxed and educated hands.” -Jaden Perry
