# Those "Scary" Show Jumping Jumps.



## RaiRaiNY (Feb 19, 2010)

Our barn has jump painted neon orange with a big pointy sun on the side of it - most show jumps are not too bad compared with that. Do lots of practice with "over the top" scary jumps.


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## AfterParty (Jun 4, 2010)

Make up the craziest scariest jumps you could think of at home , get some random things together . Go to the dollarstore and buy some of those fake flowers and anything really. Start out by letting him go up and sniff them , play with them if he wants to . Maybe let him free around the ring so he can go to them on his own comfort level. Then ride him to the jump at a walk and let him look at them then a trot and canter and so on  

Hope this was helpful and good luck !


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I agree with above post.

Get lots of brightly colored, insane looking jumps and desensitize him to those at the barn. My mare Annie had that same problem for a while.


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

i like to put a tarp over the jump or even a horse blanket or jacket. a lot of horses are spooky at that


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## eventerdrew (Mar 13, 2009)

I agree with the other posts. Make the horse's home experience scarier than the show experience. That way, he will get used to the home jumps and not be so spooky at the show jumps.


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## speedy da fish (May 7, 2009)

at the stables we have a white fill plank with scary eyes on it, it scares me, let alone the horses!
my horse is the same with fillers, we have some at home so i put them together and led him though them on the ground, it helped actually!
also try very, very small ones to ride over, then work you way up. if Chinga stops let him have a good look at it, then ride him away positively and really ride him over it the second time


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## ChingazMyBoy (Apr 16, 2009)

Thanks guys. Im going to hopefully create some scary jumps this weekend,
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I'm going to disagree with the other posters.

There is no way you can imitate everything your horse will encounter at the show. Even the same thing you practiced over at home will look different and much like a horse eating monster in a different environment.

I think what matters most is building trust between the two of you so that he is confident in your decision to ride the jump. You need to learn how to become an effective and supportive rider and help Chinga and support him to EVERY fence.

I don't have ANY jumps at home and the only time I jump apart from competition is once a month at PC - And we have no fill. Yet I take my horses to SJ competitions and they go over even the scariest jumps.

The key is that I have worked on teaching my horses that they can trust me not to put them in a dangerous situation, and I support them with my seat, leg, and rein all the way to the base of each jump. I have also taught them that even if they are worried, they need to keep moving in the same direction and at the same speed and nothing will happen. 

The work I do out on the trail to avoid spooks is the basis of how we perform in the SJ ring.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

wild_spot said:


> I'm going to disagree with the other posters.
> 
> There is no way you can imitate everything your horse will encounter at the show. Even the same thing you practiced over at home will look different and much like a horse eating monster in a different environment.
> 
> ...


Well said.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I have to agree with wildspot on this one; that's not to say that practicing going over jumps at home won't help, it's just that you need to do it with building his trust in your guidance, rather than simply 'getting him over it'. You can get him over a million types of jumps at home and still have the same thing happen at the next competition...have trust building in mind, rather than the actual jumps, and he will do much better.


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## ocalagirl (Mar 31, 2010)

Practicing like you play will make the difference between a surprised horse at a show and a confident horse. He should trust you, and I assume that he does if you take him to a show. However, it is important that you do your homework over practice jumps, like some have said. It is very hard to go to the next level without consistent practice and an understanding. Don't lose hope, it happens to the best of us! I commend you for working to correct the issue at home instead of working it out in the show ring.


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## darkwillow (Apr 12, 2009)

Remember to always be confident. Your horse judges your emotions and looks to you for leadership. If you are confident about going over the jump, then the horse is probably less likely to make a fuss. This also comes from trust. If he doesn't trust you, all the confidence in the world isn't going to make him jump.

My horse is like that. She'll jump every jump no problem, but only if I'm confident about it. If I hesitate, she stops. Guaranteed. =)


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

I think a combination of the two should work. The horse is going to have no need to see confidence in jumps they're used to, and just "getting over" random jumps won't do. You need to teach the horse that if you're legging on and looking forward and feel confident in your seat then the jump is okay, no matter what dollar store junk you throw on it!

I did this with my horse, and no matter how confident we both were, she was scared ****less of this one bit of shiny streamer on a jump and would always take it a foot higher than it was. Led to a fall. Sometimes, you just can't predict horses. You can try really hard, but they will always have a bit of unpredictability in them.


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