17 May 2012

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HORSE Magazine



Features : Train your horse to jump…. SKINNIES

Tuesday 16 August 2011

By following Mark Smith's fool-proof method, you can train your horse to jump narrow fences every time

Mark stresses that training over narrow obstacles needs to be carried out in an arena on a good surface, rather than on a cross-country course.

“It's all about repetition, and you seriously risk your horse's legs and soundness if you repeatedly jump on hard or boggy ground in a field,” he says.

“The fence becomes narrower and the wings gradually disappear until the horse and rider are left with one barrel and two flags to jump. The horse learns, by repetition, that he is expected to jump between the flags."

By doing this training, you will find that, on a cross-country course, the horse will seek out the flags and jump between them."

Before progressing to the next step each time, Mark recommends that both horse and rider should feel confident enough that the rider can let go of their reins on the approach and jump the obstacle holding onto nothing or the neck strap for balance.

"It's not about pulling and pushing your horse through the narrow gap, it's about training him to believe that the only route to take is the one between those flags," he says.

What you will need
2 flags
2 blocks
4 Jump wings
2 poles
2 barrels