jumping frequency

[Summies182]

I have always been told to jump twice a week, which is all that I have ever done on my horses. I have been thinking though that this might not be enough. I know that if I only did dressage twice a week that I wouldn't get very far. Would jumping more frequently over low jumps be better than 2 relatively hard jump sessions a week? my horse is 13 and going prelim so wear and tear is a factor, would jumping lightly every other day be too much?? He gets very excitable about jumping and i am thinking that if he did it more often he might be a little more laid back about it.

[Cheval Gris]

I have only competed through training level, schooled prelim, so I am no expert, but I have always felt that a horse has so many jumps in him. If he is going well and not having any problems in particular with jumping, I would not jump every other day just to make him more quiet. I think flat work two to three times a week, conditioning once a week, jumping one day and a relaxing hack one day seems to have always been ideal for my horses without unecessary wear and tear. Unless there was an issue in particular with his jumping, I would not school that often, and I would not think that jumping him more often would 'settle him jumping' unless he was green, which does not sound like the case. JMO

[NRB]

first of all I can't really and truely answer your question. I;m not qualified as I compete at novice. BUT I like to keep MY number of jumping days limited to 2 per week. B/c 1) I am paranoid 2) I plan on riding THIS particular horse when he's in his 20's all be it just for casual trail rides and what ever he's game for. So I'm not moving him on to anyone else and I want him to be sound forever.... and 3) he's got really rotten front leg/foot conformation, hence the reason for my paranoia. he's sound for his job now. Vet approved and etc.

BUT he and I rush our fences and tend to get overly mental in front of simple straight forward fences. SOOO I do incorperate cavaletti work into my dressage or flat routine. I will set up raised end cavaletti on a 20 m circle, practice w-t-c over them. Change the canter strides by jumping the inside of the pole and etc. I'll set poles at intervals along the fenceline and canter til I get the natural feel of the distance, then shorten then legnthen the stides. It's really amazing how I can %$#@ up the distance to a simple pole on the ground, but I do.

[Mach Two]

My opinion is, at 13, your horse would be jumping plenty if he jumped once a week...but 3-4 Dressage schools a week would be of benefit. That being said, there is no reason you could not do your fittening work, and then hop over a couple of low fences...and then trot another set. Perhaps by incorporating a jump or two into the trots sets, or slip a fince in to pop over doing a canter set, you horse might take things more "in stride" rather than getting stirred up.
Just an idea, and something that worked for my horse that had some 'wear and ter" and did not need to jump often.

[Summies182]

yea that is what i was thinking of not an actual real jump school like cavaletti or a gymnastic thrown in more often I should have clarified light jumping. we have a set weekly jump lesson where he usually jumps 3'6 and then I do another jump session at home, so everytime he jumps its very exciting for him! so i was thinking of doing what yall said about a cavaletti thrown into a dressage session or a small gymnastic when we are doing fitness to make things a little more boring and scrap the set 25 min jump session that he does at home.

[PNWjumper]

I think it totally depends on your horse's natural fitness level and the level you show at, not to mention the horse's inherent soundness.

I have one horse that I show in the level 6/7 jumpers who is naturally a fairly unfit horse. Conditionwise, two weeks off affects her like 6-10 weeks off to a "normal" horse.....she just falls out of condition SUPER fast (she and I are alike in a lot of ways :lol:). During the show season I jump her almost every day. I keep the sessions short and the fences low (typically we jump around at 3'6"-3'9" on a day to day basis and 4'6" once a week or once every other week). I do lots of gymnastics and other "condition-building" exercises. The bulk of what we do is flatwork.....lots and lots and lots of stamina work and lots and lots and lots of dressage, and then I throw in 5(ish) jumps at the end of the ride. She also gets ridden 7 days a week and I go for as many two-a-day rides as I can get in throughout the show season. In the winter she still gets ridden 5-6 days a week and we jump a few times a week (typically over much lower stuff.....around 3', though still lots of gymnastics).

I have another horse (an OTTB) who is naturally super fit and tends to not lose condition regardless of how much time he gets off. I focus on the flatwork more with him and jump rarely....once a week during the show season and once every few weeks during the off season. I may change that as we move up through the levels (he has only shown through 3'6" at this point and jumps around at 4' at home).

I had another mare who I showed at 3'6" and 3'9" who I almost never jumped. She was so broke and so good at her job (in addition to being naturally fit) that she didn't need any extra conditioning work, and her jumping form was never anything that needed work.

I have and have had other horses at every point in the spectrum. I personally feel that a sound, fit horse shouldn't have a problem jumping around lower fences on a regular basis. And I definitely think that jumping a few fences every day is better in the long run than jumping hard twice a week. I think of it the same way as my own fitness. When I haven't jumped for a while and I go out and jump around a bunch of hard, big fences, it makes me sore. If I keep doing little stuff every day the big fences don't make me sore. There may be no direct correlation to the horse in that comparison, but I feel that the same holds true in general. And boy did I notice a difference in my big jumper when I moved from a twice-a-week jumping program to an every-day-on-a-lighter-scale jumping program. Suddenly she had more stamina and stayed energetic through even the longest shows.

With all of that being said, I have to state the obvious that jumping regularly is only a positive thing if the horse's state of mind and health is kept in the forefront ALWAYS. I ALWAYS quit the minute my horses do something good, even if it's over the first or second thing we jump. I also don't stress them mentally on a regular basis, and even the tiniest bit of soreness equals NO JUMPING (even if they work out of it) until it's totally resolved.

And, BTW, I HATE HATE HATE the saying that "a horse only has so many jumps in it." Technically, yes, of course that's true. It's also true that "a human only has so many breaths" or a "heart only has so many beats," but what you do with yourself can radically change that number. A body that's kept fit and healthy will last a LOT longer on average than an overweight couch potato.

[open oxer]

I don't think you need to be jumping in order to maintain condition. There are other lower impact ways to do that. If the horse doesn't need the fine tuning over fences, I would personally add in a few conditioning hacks each week, and limit the number of jump schools.

[Coppers mom]

At his age, I think it should be more about preservation and correct riding.

I really wouldn't "jump" more than two times per week, but throwing a cross rail into a dressage session is a good way to let him know he can indeed go over a fence without it being all that exciting.

What I usually do is a day of gridwork, and a day of course work. The grids are usually pretty low, much lower than the horses showing height, because it is harder work for them to go through a grid. Grids could also help slow him down, as there are a lot of exercises you can do that are specifically designed for rushers. Plus he just has to wait, there's no running off unless he wants to crash through 3 more fences. Course work usually focuses on one thing, such as bending lines, combinations, etc. Again, the courses are lower than the showing height.

He already knows what he's doing, so I don't think you need to jump him that high that often. I would work over lower jumps perfecting things and getting him to slow down, rather than jumping him 3'6" once a week and a schooling session at home. At his age (both because of his experience level and for joint preservation), he really doesn't need to jump his show height but about once a month or right before a show.

[Hey Mickey]

well I have a 10 year old OTTB, we're dabbling in prelim.
I try to jump 1 a week during the summer, but it usually ends up being more like 3 times a month outside of shows.

He can be very excitable about jumping, more so away from home. At home he's easy. He would win any hunter class the way he is at home. Away is another story...

Generally we incorporate some gymnastics into coursework, and focus on getting him lazy.

I personally wouldn't jump more than twice a week. but adding a jump or 3 into a dressage lesson isn't a jump schooling... Which might be beneficial to your horse.

[Bobthehorse]

My horse is 18, going Training and schooled prelim. I jump him once a week during the on season (gridwork one week, courses the next), and about twice a month during the off, only gridwork since we dont have the space for courses. He knows how to jump, he's already built the muscle, its just about KEEPING it. 95% of our problems over fences are flatwork issues, so why jump him more often to try to fix something that is fixable on the flat? With the golden oldies, its all about maintenance. Maintaining the fitness, the training, the strength. It requires much less work than building those things in younger horses.

[NeverTime]

I can think of several horses that got over-stimulated by jumping who benefitted greatly from jumping 4-5 times/week for several weeks. Not big jumps, but cantering around and around over an 18-inch or 2-foot vertical (until they did it without rushing, inverting, squirming, etc.) before heading out on a trot set or gallop, throwing single small fences into dressage schools -- that sort of thing that's low impact but still incorporating all the cues (rails, standards, flower boxes, etc.) that get excitable jumpers revved up.
Getting an excitable horse to stop seeing jumping as an occasional activity that demands a yahoo-response can be one of the single most beneficial things you do for their jump training. If you can finally get him to tune in over an 18-inch fence, those weekly or bi-weekly 3'6" schools will be MUCH more productive.

[Kcisawesome]

My horse is a thirteen year old thoroughbred and we are competing at Prelim And we just finished our first one star.

I belive it depends on your horse, but I only jump my horse in lessons once or twice a month. I have found that the dressage work keeps her well musceled for better "spring" and trail riding keeps her quick thinking and light on her feet. So the only jump work we really need is making sure that I am riding her correctly.

There are only so many jumps in your horse. If you are jumping every week or more, I'd be careful about the height and stick to low jumps and grids.

[EventerAJ]

If the horse knows how to jump, once a week is usually plenty. If you have a particular issue to fix, then maybe twice a week. And by "jump" I mean competition-size fences for your level. An UL horse schooling 2' is more like a flatwork session. ;)


A young horse learning to jump may pop over fences more frequently-- perhaps 3 or 4 times a week, over tiny crossrails or baby logs on the trail. This is just to get the horse comfortable with the effort of jumping, his technique, and overcome any "spookiness" of new fences. Once jumping becomes "yawn, no big deal," back off to once/twice a week.

Flatwork is SO much more important than actually jumping. Creating and maintaining a good canter is 90% of your successful jumping round. As you move up the levels, this only gets more vital. Time spent cantering rails or flowerboxes, improving adjustability of stride, flexibility and suppleness will make your once-a-week jump lesson a lot more productive than multiple jump sessions. :)

[Bobthehorse]

I NEVER want my horses to think jumping is boring, no big deal. They are both extremely careful jumpers, allergic to wood, they try their hardest, and are always alert and hunting for the next fence. I never want to ruin that lovely enthusiasm they have towards jumping.