I live in Arkansas and I have just become
interested in jumping. My horse is a Quarterhorse and I want to know if I can use her to
jump. Also, can you tell me where I can find a trainer for jumpers in Arkansas? I have no
idea about jumping, but I'm dying to learn how.I have a very spirited, almost 17-year-old, TB/QH
mare that I bought last May. I have only been riding for 1-1/2 years and she is my first
horse (incidentally, I am 26.) We have come a long way together and she has taught me a
great deal in the past 9 months. We dabble in dressage and jumping (she has more training
than me), while spending most of our time hacking about. My ultimate goal is to get into
eventing. My question, then, is whether she is too old to be considered for such an
endeavor. I really look upon her as my "teacher" and don't want to do anything
to harm her. I just think it would be the most fun thing to do an event with her, not
looking to leave the pre-novice level. I'm not interested in ribbons, just the joy of
getting out there with other people who share the same interests and giving my horse a
change of scenery. What advice can you give in this situation? Thank you for your time! When I get nervous or tense on a horse, I tend to
lean forward and straighten my arms. This also occurs between jumps. How can I prevent it?How do you become an AHSA certified judge?I am in the process of getting a horse, and I had a
woman watch me ride before she helped me look. When I jumped she told me I was too much of
a hunter. I knew I was a hunter rider, but what is too much of one? Also, I am not sure of
the difference between hunters and jumpers. Help! I feel stupid asking.I teach beginning hunt seat riding and I love your
site. The tips are especially helpful. Could you give us any gymnastic exercises to help
strengthen the rider's position? Thanks again for the help! I am always looking for better tips in showing and
I was wondering, is there something I can do about making my fuzzy little chestnut pony
look a little bit more professional? I mean sometimes she looks like one big fuzz-ball!I have a 4 year old, 15 3 h QH mare that I plan on
showing in Hunter Under Saddle classes at QH breed shows this year. I had my trainer put 3
months training on her this past fall and then I took over and took weekly lessons on her.
My problem is that when I started working her I was so busy concentrating on keeping her
light and her head set that I couldn't concentrate on all the other things such as
consistently reinforcing leg clues as fast as I needed to. As a result I made her slightly
dead sided, meaning that I would sometimes have to get somewhat aggresive with my legs to
get her to respond (no spurs). After seeing this, my trainer suggested that I start riding
with either spurs or a whip. I chose spurs because I am not comfortable riding with the
whip in my hand. So, now that I have mostly mastered keeping her light and her head set I
have started asking her to do reverse arc circles and other things that she had been
trained to do. The problem is that she swishes her tail when I ask her to respond to my
aids (legs, hands). I'm just asking more of her than I used to because I know more now and
am an improving rider. Am I maybe getting after her too much with my spurs or is she just
irritated that she has to work harder? She really has a nice temperament overall. Could
this just be a temporary thing (some people have told me that she will grow out of it
quickly)? I am concerned about this because I want to show her hunter seat and her manners
have to be impeccable. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Can you explain the difference between forward seat
and balanced seat? In what situations would it be better to use one or the other?I am working with a 12 year old TB/QH cross
teaching him to be a jumper for local shows (2'9"-3'6"). He is very willing, but
I cannot seem to teach him flying changes. I have tried using poles, which he does fine,
but without the poles, he just changes in the front. I have schooled through first level
dressage and he can get changes over the fence (in the air), but on the occasions he
misses, it really sets him up to be unbalanced for the turns...HELP! I have been doing a lot of showing for a year now
and everything has been going great. The problem is when I ask my horse to canter I simply
can't tell if she is on the correct lead. The only way I can tell is if I lean way over
her shoulder. I definitely can't keep doing that--it is terrible equitation! Also I have
started doing a lot of jumping and need to know in a snap what lead she is on. How can I
tell? Am I supposed to look down, or just feel which lead she is on? Please Help!My pony is so unpredictable when being ridden.I am interested in becoming a catch rider. I have
the money to lease a pony, but only for about 6 months to a year. I have been riding for
4.5 years and I work very hard at it, and I am dedicated. I will do nearly anything for a
chance to ride. I am currently moving into the pony hunters, but I don't have a pony. I
have ridden other people's ponies successfully, but all the ones I have won on have been
sold, as well as the ones I work very well with. In jumping, when does your horse know when to take
off?AJ, I have a 6 year old TB gelding whom I am
training in both dressage and hunters. He wins locally at 2 1/2 to 3' and is schooling 2nd
level dressage movements. The dressage work has helped his jumping out tremendously and he
seems to enjoy both. We're working on more serious collected movements now, though, and I
wonder if I'm going to have to make a choice of which way to go with him soon? He
willingly gallops forward and hacks "huntery" well enough to win under saddle.
How much dressage do you think is too much, or can we just keep on doing both? Thanks for
your input. I'd like your advice about a habit I've been told
is called 'chest biting'. The horse in question is an ex-track Standardbred (she's been
off the track for some years now) who goes quite well when ridden but travels very far
behind the bit (her chin often almost touches her chest). She moves forward willingly,
loves to canter and jump and is overall a nice, kind animal to ride. She is currently
ridden in a pelham (she has a soft mouth but gets a bit strong when she's overly
enthusiastic), and the owner is careful to ensure that people who ride her are good with
their hands (the horse is used in the school for intermediate to advanced riders only). I
understand that she is evading the bit, but how can we help her stop this? She seems quite
balanced and is fairly light on the forehand but will tuck her head down even with very
light contact. I have a horse that is in general well schooled and
obedient. However, when anyone begins to mount, she waits until the rider is half-on, then
calmly walks off, leaving the rider scrambling to get into the saddle. She is trained to
Stand and not move upon a verbal command, which she normally obeys, except when being
mounted. If a helper on the ground holds her or stands there ready to correct the problem,
she doesn't do it. Any suggestions? Also, do you know of any way to teach a really spooky
horse that commonly encountered things are not scary? I would like to learn how to get a horse to stop
properly on the longe line. Thank you! I own a 17 hand Thoroughbred gelding. I am having
trouble getting him to drive from behind on the flat. I am currently riding him in a
broken snaffle. He isn't sore in his back but I can't get him to use it when we jump and
in dressage. I would like to jump him bigger than we are now(3 ft) but am afraid he will
hurt either him or me if we go much bigger without fixing this problem. He's a wonderful
horse with a lot of potential but he tends to ignore my cues. I don't want to hurt him or
me so this is becoming a serious problem! Another problem we have is with our halts. He
won't stop at all! I'd like to achieve a nice round halt but he won't have anything to do
with it! Any suggestions? Help!I have a beautiful four-year-old thoroughbred who
pinned very well at schooling shows, but is not a classically beautiful mover. His bascule
is acceptable, but his trot has too much knee action to be called a "daisy
cutter." He's very well-mannered. If I want to move up to rated shows, should I keep
him despite his lack of perfect hunter-style movement, or sell him and buy a daisy cutter?
Will a well-mannered horse pin better or worse at the "A" level than a daisy
cutter in adult amateur or amateur owner divisions?I've been riding for about 4 months now. I have
recently been in a show where I won 2 first places. After that I've been riding at night
as well as during the day. The horse that I mostly ride at night spooks at everything. So
far I'm the only one who hasn't fallen off (yet). She spooks during the day as well. She
mostly spooks in the larger arena rather than the smaller training one. What can I do to
help stop her from spooking as much as I really enjoy riding her?I own a 13.3hh New Forest mare who has lots of
talent. I have competed at elementary level dressage on her in under 16's. Now I am
seventeen and we both enjoy jumping and would like to compete at a higher level. She's
very fizzy and when in the mood will leap over a 5' fence! Please could you give me some
tips on jumping doubles, particularly when the first part is a spread as she tends to
hestitate sometimes in the show ring at these.Do you have any tips for a horse who jumps fast
over jumps? A horse that I ride has great form, but is getting marked down in her hunter
over fences class. I know it is not me because my trainer said I was doing fine. I am interested in a position as a working student
at a top show barn. I have talked to an international show jumping rider from Europe about
a position at his barn and he gave me his address and phone number and told me to write
him a letter. I have written him three or four letters and have not received a response so
far. I am wondering what a top rider would look for in a letter from someone they didn't
know to determine whether or not they would be a good candidate as a working student. Do
you think that this person was just being nice? I know that he is a busy person, but it
has been four months since I spoke with him at the Spruce Meadows 'Masters'. I am 16 so I
realize that I could be jumping into something totally unexpected here, but I am a very
hard worker and incredibly serious about riding. I am going to make it to the top and I
thought that this would give me a huge headstart. Is there any thing I can do? Do you
think that a phone call would be more effective?