A riderless sport horse negotiates a series of ground poles and small jumps, finding his wings along the way. This is free jumping, where the obstacles are aligned in a row down a chute positioned on the long side of an arena. It’s fun to watch, yet a bit mystifying too. How does one teach a horse to free jump?

Here, Ciaran Thompson, head trainer at Spy Coast Farm, a sport horse breeding and training facility in Lexington, Ky., shares his knowledge on this subject.

Why Free Jumping?

Thompson lists a number of reasons to free jump horses. These include assessing jumping talent, showing a client how their horse is progressing, as a marketing tool for selling young jumpers, building confidence in an older show horse, or helping a horse through fear of certain types of fences.

“It’s a great way to give a horse time to figure out jumping fences by himself so he gains confidence,” explains Thompson. “Then when it comes to doing it under saddle, he already has a greater understanding. He’s used to it without the influence of a rider, so it’s not sensory overload. It gives him the best chance possible of becoming a confident and capable jumper down the line.”

In the spring of their 2-year-old year, Spy Coast free jumps the colts they are considering as stallion prospects to sort out which will be gelded. This allows them not only to observe the individual colt’s jumping talent, but also assists in evaluating each colt’s temperament and trainability.

“With stallions, you want to be looking to pass on all the best traits that you possibly can,” says Thompson.

In addition to all of these reasons, free jumping can be a fun way to bond with your horse, as long as you prepare properly. Thompson offers the following step-by-step advice.

Study the Process

To observe the process, you can go to breed inspections, young horse shows, and/or clinics on free jumping. Take notes and ask questions. Volunteer where needed and learn by doing.

Pay attention to how horses going through the chute react to different jumps, handlers, the longe whip, and other cues. Observe where their eyes and ears are focusing. Learn to read their body language to predict whether the horse will go through the chute willingly or if he is thinking about stopping before a jump. See if you can tell if the horse feels relaxed and confident or rushed, confused or panicked.

Facilities & Equipment

A smaller arena is better for free jumping so the horse doesn’t wear himself out in between jumping passes. It also makes the horse easier to catch. Thompson says something on the order of a standard dressage ring dimensions (20 meters by 60 meters) would work well. A larger arena can be subdivided for free jumping, and an indoor arena is generally better than an outdoor for this purpose.

◆ You’ll need enough poles, jump standards and jump cups to build the jump chute, with extras built into the count.

◆ For the sides of the chute, additional jump standards can be turned sideways and used with extra rails, or stand-alone fence panels may be used. The materials should be safe if the horse runs through them. Things such as yellow plastic caution tape, carpenter’s saw horses, tall potted plants, traffic cones, or stacked straw or shavings bales may all be useful chute barriers.

◆ Thompson says they use three handlers when free-jumping at Spy Coast: one to lead the horse into the chute, one along the middle of the chute to keep the horse on track and moving through, and one to catch the horse on the far end.

◆ Enough lead ropes and longe whips so that each handler has both.

◆ Cord or leather lace (about 36 inches in length) to loop through the near bit ring to lead the horse up to chute that easily slides away for quick release.

◆ Bucket filled with feed or treats to entice the horse to stop and be easily caught after each jumping pass.

◆ Quick release snaps on rein ends to easily detach/attach them to bit rings. These are great for inspections or any time you are free jumping the horse in a bridle.

◆ Camera or video camera to record the session.

Jump Chute Construction

There are a number of variations on the theme for free jump chute building, but they all use similar distances between poles and jumps:

◆ 9 feet between the placing pole on the ground (which encourages the horse to trot into the chute and sets him up for takeoff) and the first cross-rail fence.

◆ 21 feet from the cross-rail to the first vertical

◆ 22-24 feet to the final fence, which eventually becomes an oxer.

The distance between fences may need to be adjusted for horses with different stride lengths. Watch to see if the horse struggles to make a too-long distance or has hard time fitting into a too-short distance as he travels through the chute.

There also need to be points along the inner jump chute wall that can be quickly opened (to at least 4 feet wide) on the takeoff side of each jump in case a horse gets flustered and stops in the middle of the chute. This allows a handler to enter the chute, calmly catch the horse, then lead him safely out the side. The horse can then be prepared to re-enter for another try.

Introducing Free Jumping to the Horse

Thompson stresses that the horse should lead well, respect your space, and know how to longe and/or free longe before teaching him to free jump. He should know voice commands and consistently follow body language and whip cues.

At Spy Coast, they first lead the horse calmly through the chute (with no jumps up) and reward him with food from a bucket placed at the far end, well after he’s left the chute. He cautions that they don’t want the horse to get used to stopping for a reward immediately after the final jump, but rather the horse should get used to landing and traveling away from the jump before getting his treat.

At the same time, they tell the horse “whoa” so that he can equate the word with stopping at that spot and the reward. They do this with the horse a few times, then trot him in-hand through the chute with a reward again.

Thompson explains how they progress slowly from going through the empty chute at liberty and then introducing ground poles and later jumps in the chute. They start off with just a single pole at the end.

“From there, we build it up to where we have three poles down and maybe the placing pole at the beginning,” he says. “Then we lead the horse over the poles until he is comfortable with that. Then we add a small cross-rail at the end so he moves down through the poles and pops over the cross-rail. When the horse is confident with that, then we make a second cross-rail, then a third. Usually they get the whole idea and seem to say, ‘Oh, I’m popping around and going to the food.’”

Over time and several sessions, they build up to verticals and oxers, and perhaps later the jumps become higher and wider, depending on the experience and age of the horse at the time. The handlers should also be well-versed in helping the horse safely progress beyond poles and cross-rails.

Thompson emphasizes that throughout the process, the horse needs to remain quiet. Don’t rush him through the chute by pushing too hard with voice, body language or whip. If the horse makes a mistake, then go back down a level and start again until he is confident.
He advises keeping the jumping sessions short, no longer than 15 to 20 minutes.

Safety Tips

Thompson says that communication between the humans in the ring as a horse is free jumping is key for safety. If possible, he would like to have the horse track be separated from the middle of the ring all the way around, not just in the jump chute, so that there is a safe place for people to be.

He advises that one person keeps an eye on the horse at all times while others are resetting the jumps to avoid a horse running in before the chute is ready and potentially running over a person or hurting themselves.

Handlers should all have longe whips—not only to direct the horse through the chute, but also to push him away from the handler and other people in the ring. Caution should be taken when catching a horse, since they can sometimes spin and kick out at the last moment.

Thompson uses protective legwear (tendon and bell boots) on horses with shoes, but doesn’t usually use them on younger barefoot horses, since he wants to be able to evaluate their jumping without any effect on style that the boots might cause.

Reading the Horse

Over time, you’ll be able to see when your horse understands what is being asked. At this point, you’ll know you can safely progress.

Some horses need to have the jumps changed more often to keep them thinking about the task and not rushing through the chute. Others need more time to figure things out at a lower level. Some will need adjustment in distances between jumps or extra ground poles placed to assist them in jumping better.

Thompson points out that as a young horse develops, his jumping style may change a bit. He also shares that there are horses that, no matter how carefully you prepare, consistently want to speed through the chute. Those horses may learn more by jumping under saddle.

Find full instructions on setting jump chutes, including diagrams, here.

About the Expert Ciaran Thompson is the head trainer at Spy Coast Farm in Lexington, Ky., in their Young Horse Development Center. Growing up, he was an active member of Pony Club in Ireland, where he received his A rating. He has been at Spy Coast Farm since 2017, starting as Young Horse Trainer, developing 2- and 3-year-old horses, and has been Head Trainer since 2022, overseeing the production of horses from their first rides under saddle to competing at FEI events in both show jumping and eventing.

The post Introduction to Free Jumping appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Although horses are naturally athletic and many can boldly jump over obstacles of astounding heights and widths, there are also those who aren’t quite so sure why they should put themselves in such a compromising position.

A horse may stop at a jump for all kinds of reasons. He may be afraid of the jump itself, or his fear may be more related to what he has experienced from the rider when jumping; sometimes a rider’s lack of confidence relays to the horse, or the horse has been the victim of numerous bad distances.

Jumping from a distance that is too long or too short puts the horse in a physically difficult spot, and he may not want to keep jumping. It’s also common for riders to cause further discomfort to the horse in the air after a bad distance, sometimes accidentally pulling the reins, falling back into the saddle too early, or falling forward onto the horse’s neck.

Allow Your Horse a Thorough Investigation

No matter the cause of the horse’s anxiety, the answer to getting him comfortable jumping again is to go one step at a time, creating enough new positive experiences to outnumber the negative experiences he has had.

Start by allowing your horse to investigate and sniff the jumps. Done at a walk either mounted or unmounted, this is easy to do at home but also a valuable aspect of schooling shows. The horses that benefit from this most are those that hesitate before leaving the ground or that jump with a peek when they do go over.

Once the jumps have been thoroughly inspected and sniffed at the walk, flat your horse very close to the jumps and their fillers. Trot and canter just alongside each jump, never pointing him at the jump, but making sure he feels relaxed having the jump close to him. If not, he may need to stop and sniff the jump again.

Next, place flower boxes or other fillers perpendicular to the plane of the jump in between the standards and off to the sides, creating a chute toward the center of the jump. Trot your horse back and forth through the fillers until he is moving confidently past them.

From there, make a small cross-rail with the rails and filler. At a schooling show, this may be where you need to start if taking out the fillers to trot through is impractical. This is also a good place to start for those horses that are more concerned with the distance than the jump itself.

Walk or slowly trot your horse over the jump so that he can have time to process the idea of jumping over filler and so that you can easily follow the motion of him going over the jump. Be sure to praise him when he goes over.

Once your horse is happily taking you to the jump (this is important—he should be moving confidently toward and over the fence), try cantering it. I would caution against making it any larger than a small vertical, as you risk another setback to his confidence. Remember, you must make a large library of positive experiences.

Stick to Small Stuff

For horses that have stopping issues at jumps rooted in too many missed distances, it’s important to honestly evaluate your riding. Your horse may need a tune-up with a trainer or more advanced rider for a few rides, or you may need to accept dropping down to jumping ground poles and small cross-rails until your eye becomes more consistent.

Adjustability of the canter is also crucial for these horses so that you become more familiar with your horse’s proper jumping canter and so that the horse is well-versed at moving forward off of your leg and coming back to your hand.

Some horses may have trouble with combinations or lines specifically, and the same concepts apply. Small jumps and a patient rider will do the trick over time, and it’s important to keep encouraging the horse to go forward, even when the striding is not quite right, so that he eventually gets the confidence to open up his step.

When the jumps are small, it’s completely fine for a horse to add a step, whether it’s two strides in what should have been a one stride, or six in a five, especially when the horse has a history of refusals.

Eventually, with repetition, he will begin to get the correct striding, but this is another process that should not be rushed if you want the lesson and the confidence to stick. Take the time to meet your horse where he’s at and build his confidence back up piece by piece.

This article about training a horse that’s stopping at the jumps appeared in the August 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Solutions for a Horse Stopping at Jumps appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Picture this: You are cantering around the corner, peacefully counting the rhythm of the canter, when suddenly a few strides out from the jump, your horse takes over. Out of seemingly nowhere, he is scooting toward the jump, the distance has disappeared, and he’s launching himself as if he wants the jump to be over with as quickly as possible. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone!

As with any training issue, it’s important to rule out any medical explanations. These horses should be looked over by a veterinarian and perhaps other specialists, like a dentist or chiropractor.

With pain/discomfort off the table, rushing is almost always rooted in anxiety. Your horse may find jumping stressful for any number of reasons. He may feel overfaced by the size of the jump, by the speed at which he’s approaching the jump, or by the complexity of the course. He may also have experienced a lot of missed distances or a rider who was unbalanced and accidentally punishing his jumping effort.

Keep it Positive

In order to reverse the effects of these negative emotions and experiences, from this moment on, your horse must have a consistent positive association with jumping. This will most certainly take time, and you as the rider should expect to be patient and allow the process to take as long as it takes.

While usually I prefer that horses only jump twice a week, many horses that rush do better jumping five to seven jumps or so every day so that it feels less like a special event to them and more like a standard routine.

The jumps should be low. Even if your horse has plenty of scope, he should be presented with only small jumps until his anxiety subsides. (I consider small jumps to be cross-rails through 2’3″). It’s OK if your horse just needs to go back to ground poles or even trotting and cantering through empty standards.

There should not be any right or wrong in these exercises. That extends to leads/lead changes, breaking of gait, or any of the details that normally would be important when jumping. Your horse is feeling enough pressure from the jump alone, so it’s better not to add any pressure through other expectations. (Many young or green horses are most concerned about the lead change that they know is coming after the jump.)

Gradual Introductions to Start

Begin by walking over ground poles or tiny cross-rails. The slow speed gives your horse plenty of time to assess and negotiate the obstacle. Tiny is preferred so that he has less chance of hitting it and scaring himself.

After he has walked over regular rails, add towels, flowerboxes, or other small fillers to continue to build confidence. Once all is going well, you can move up to a slow trot. If trotting leads to rushing, go back to the walk.

After your horse has mastered relaxed trot jumps from a slow trot, you can test the waters by adding speed with a regular trot or the canter. However, when adding speed, it’s important to also capture the horse’s attention with something other than the jump itself. Give him a job unrelated to the jump that happens to occur near the approach or landing side of the jump. Some examples include circles, figure-8s, and transitions.

The key is to not make this feel like a punishment. Whatever you are asking your horse to do, you should ask about five strides before or after the jump so that there’s space for him to breathe and relax as he approaches the jump, jumps, and lands.

Exercises to Try for a Horse That’s Rushing Jumps

Two of my favorites are a downward transition five to six strides in front of the jump and a figure-8 after the jump, either in trot or in canter, with a simple change.

From here, you can string a course together with lots of circles or transitions interspersed between the jumps. The more turns the better, since long, straight lines are not the best idea yet. It’s hard to influence your horse to rebalance on a straightaway without using a lot of hand, which is counterproductive to relaxation.

Once you have made it to the point where your horse is ready to canter some jumps, a good option is to canter a jump on a circle and allow your horse to fall into a rhythm. By creating the same track to the jump and facilitating the same striding over and over, you allow your horse to relax into a predictable pace and not worry about his takeoff distance.

After your horse has built a confident foundation in these exercises, you can begin to ride regular courses again. Just keep the concept of relaxation at the forefront so you can continue to help your equine partner let go of his anxiety surrounding jumping.

This article about training a horse that’s rushing jumps appeared in the July 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post How to Train a Horse That’s Rushing Jumps appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Many times, I have seen riders canter to the first jump of a course and have it be less than stellar. But then they land, change their canter, and lay down the ride of a lifetime. I have named this “first jump-itis.” The cure is to establish a quality canter right away so that you can approach your first jump with impulsion and confidence, rather than using it as a reminder that you didn’t quite have enough pace.

Mastering the Canter Transition

It all boils down to a need for better preparation. First, examine the canter transition itself. In a lesson, you can’t use the whole ring to get going, as you and your horse are going to be exhausted before you even get to the first jump. In a group, you will get reprimanded for wasting time. At a show, you are only permitted an opening circle or 45 seconds, depending on your discipline.

Before you ask for the canter, be sure your horse is responding to your leg by developing a marching walk. This walk will feel as though your horse is truly taking you somewhere, not as though you are begging him to take each step. If the squeezing leg aid is not enough, don’t hesitate to give him a kick or tap him with a crop behind your leg.

Once the marching walk is established, use your inside leg to step your horse over toward the rail for a few steps, getting him thinking about his hind end.

Next, bring your outside leg back for one or two steps at the walk, then squeeze to give the canter aid. Be sure to sit tall and stay back (not throwing or perching your body forward) throughout all of this. The best transitions into the canter have an uphill, lifted quality to them, and this will be difficult to achieve if your weight is forward over your horse’s shoulders.

If your canter transition tends to involve a few (or many!) trot steps, be sure to do your homework to correct this. Your horse should move directly from the walk to the canter. Should the situation call for cantering from the trot, you can set your horse up to canter in a similar manner as described above but in a sitting trot. The whole process, once practiced, will take less than 10 seconds.

Canter Quality

Now that you have the canter, focus on its quality. It’s always better to have a little more pace in the canter than you think you need, as that will allow for you and your horse to have more options to choose from if you need to adjust as you approach the jump.

If your horse is being responsive to your leg, it will be easier to ask him to move up for a longer distance or collect for a tighter distance while still maintaining a springy energy to the gait. This indicates continued engagement of the hind end, called impulsion.

What typically happens when your first jump goes poorly is that the canter lacks impulsion, so you’re left with only the options of hoping to get to the jump at a good distance or to chip in to a tight distance. The option to move up to a more forward distance is not available if you never tuned up your horse to engage his hind end to be responsive to your leg aid.

Practice Makes Perfect

Remember, there’s no situation where a canter lacking impulsion will be useful. Whether there is a scary filler in the first jump on a hunter course or a tight turn after the first jump in a jumper course, a slow, weak canter won’t help to answer the question at hand.

A great exercise to actively practice building your pace to the first jump is by only jumping one jump: Set up a jump on both quarter lines of your arena, one for each lead (see opposite page). Make the jumps a comfortable height for you and your horse, 3 to 6 inches lower than the highest you regularly jump, or your competition height if you show.

For hunters, practice an opening circle and then head straight to the jump. Once you’re consistently meeting the jump with power in your canter off of each lead, increase the difficulty by adding in some attention-grabbing filler to the jump or make the jump an oxer.

For jumpers, don’t allow yourself more than half the ring to cultivate the canter you need. After being successful with the exercise from both leads, add a cone about 42 feet (three strides plus landing) beyond the center of each jump and turn before it to simulate a jump-off track.

Congratulations, your canter is a success!

This article about canter quality for jumping appeared in the April 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Canter Quality for Jumping appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

One of the biggest challenges you can face as a rider is trying to effectively incorporate your practice sessions while in the ring at a horse show. All disciplines are affected by the heightened energy at a horse show, where the nerves of horses, riders, and spectators combine with an unfamiliar atmosphere to make a very high-pressure situation. Calming these nerves can be difficult given the energy of a horse show.

Every show (and often different classes at the same show) can have different rules regarding whether riders may practice ahead of time in the arena where they will compete. Even if riders are allowed in the ring ahead of time, there are many variables that may affect that practice session, including other riders, a fresh horse, arena maintenance, et cetera.

However, the one thing that you have complete control over is your mental preparation. Following this strategy can help you calm your nerves at your next horse show.

Visualize Success in the Show Ring

One of the most tried-and-true methods in mentally preparing for competition is visualization. Visualization is crucial because it allows you to experience the competition ahead of time in a way that is otherwise impossible.

Something that will greatly enhance your ability to visualize is to spend time around the outside of the arena and soak in the view from all angles. Time spent walking inside the arena is also valuable, but not always possible. This helps your brain build a 3-D picture by taking note of the colors of banners, jumps or other obstacles in the ring, objects just outside the arena fence like seating, landscaping, or judge’s booths, and also getting an idea of the distances and angles between the different obstacles or jumps.

Visualization is extremely effective because when done correctly, it activates and strengthens the same neural pathways as actual physical practice. Visualizing should take about the same amount of time as the actual ride; for example, a dressage test visualization should take about four minutes if that is the projected time for the test.

How many times you choose to visualize the ride is up to you. You may choose to visualize a certain number of times, visualize periodically up until your ride, or continue until it flows very smoothly in your mind.

In the event that you visualize something incorrectly, whether it be an incorrect sequence or an actual mistake, you may choose to “rewind” the visualization and start again just before the mistake, or you can restart completely.

It’s important to recognize, however, that thinking ahead about the small corrections your horse may need, such as extra right leg to prevent a right drift, is a crucial part of the plan rather than a mistake in your visualization.

Feel the Ride

Probably the most misunderstood thing about visualization is that people think of watching themselves ride their class, course, test, or pattern as if they were a spectator outside the arena. This does not serve the same purpose nor provide the same benefits as closing your eyes and truly feeling yourself ride the class, course, test, or pattern as you intend to ride it.

Visualization should be an immersive experience during which you imagine activating the muscles you’ll need to execute your plan. This means dialing into your focus ahead of time and building sensory memory.

It’s important to be as detailed as possible during each run-through so that your mind begins to relate to the class, course, test, or pattern as a familiar experience. Tune in to the feeling of your legs on your horse’s sides, stretching up tall through your upper body, looking ahead to where you are going next, or whatever else you know will need your mental attention during your ride.

Be sure to include all aspects of the arena while you are visualizing so that then the crowd, the flapping banner, or the two jumps that are confusingly placed next to each other are all familiar by the time you actually enter the ring on horseback.

Environment and Routine

It’s important that you maintain a focus-friendly environment while you are visualizing. It’s not a good time for friends and family to be bombarding you with questions or playing loud music or videos right next to you.

You may be able to establish a boundary ahead of time by giving a brief explanation of what you will be doing, or it may take a few shows for your supporters to begin to understand this new part of your routine.

Visualization may not come naturally to you at first, but I encourage you to take control of your mind in order to create a competition environment that has fewer variables and more opportunities for practice and preparation than are available solely in the physical body.

This article about how to calm your horse show nerves appeared in the March 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Calm Your Horse Show Nerves appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Jumping Do’s

If you develop good habits right from the start, there will be fewer problems to fix as you graduate to bigger jumps and tougher courses. Here are a few show jumping do’s to follow!

1. Always wear a helmet.

Even if you feel super confident and you’re only planning to jump a few cross-rails, wear a helmet. Not only can a helmet save your brain in case you take a tumble, it also shows you’re a dedicated young rider. Think of your helmet as part of your athletic uniform.

2. Jump only when a coach or trainer can help you.

A pair of expert eyes can spot problems you might not feel from the saddle, and suggest creative ways to fix them. Plus, it’s much more convenient to have someone on-hand who can adjust the ground poles and jumps when necessary.

3. Start from the ground up.

While it’s true that horses naturally have the ability to jump, they must be trained to jump at a relaxed, steady pace, and to listen to cues from their rider. Spend lots of early lessons working over ground poles and cavalletti so that you and your horse can learn to jump together as a team. You’ll learn about your horse’s pace, length of stride and how to guide him in a straight, direct line.

4. Become an expert at trotting low jumps.

It’s much easier to think about your position and your horse’s behavior when you’re trotting rather than cantering. Gain confidence and master a solid position by trotting over low jumps before you graduate to cantering them.

5. Spend part of your flatwork time riding in a two-point position.

Since a proper two-point position is very similar to the correct position over a jump, it makes sense to practice it frequently. The two-point also forces your heels down, makes your lower leg strong, and improves your balance.

6. Practice over a variety of jumps.

Eventually, you need to move beyond simple rails. By introducing some small yet interesting elements, such as flower boxes or little picket gates, your horse will become braver and you’ll feel what it’s like to sail over different obstacles. Even better, neither of you will be surprised by jumps you might encounter in the show ring.

Jumping Don’ts

Sometimes, knowing what not to do can help you avoid mistakes and bad experiences. That’s especially true when you’re learning how to jump. Here are a few show jumping don’ts that you should try not to do.

1. Don’t hold the reins too tightly.

To jump safely and in good form, your horse needs the freedom to use his head and neck. Reins that are too short restrict your horse’s jumping effort. If you happen to pull back on the reins when your horse jumps, it’s like asking him to halt in mid-air.

2. Never jump ahead of your horse.

As you gain jumping experience, you’ll be able to judge when your horse is about to leave the ground. Don’t anticipate that moment by tipping forward in the saddle or giving an extra push with your body to help him take off. Both bad habits can upset your horse’s balance and lead to a refusal.

3. Don’t jump a horse that feels too fast or too strong.

When a horse races toward the jumps, it’s called “rushing.” Such a bad habit usually occurs because the horse is fearful, and wants to get over the scary jumps as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, rushers can be dangerous because they tune out their riders.

4. Avoid jumping a bored or tired horse.

Just like you, your horse will get bored doing the same thing over and over. Be mindful of how many jumps your horse takes during a lesson or in competition. Otherwise, your horse could get lazy and begin dropping rails. If your horse seems tired and out of energy, stop jumping. A weary horse is more likely to go lame or be injured.

5. Don’t try to conquer bigger jumps at a horse show.

Think of a show as a place to demonstrate what you and your horse do best. It’s not where you experiment with something new. Only enter classes with jumps equal to those in your lessons.

6. Never jump alone.

It’s unsafe to jump by yourself, even if your horse is quiet and trustworthy. An unexpected stumble or surprise spook can toss you out of the saddle. You’ll be left in the dirt as your horse gallops off without you. Who will help catch your Pegasus?

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2018 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post English Lesson: A Dozen Show Jumping Dos and Don’ts appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.