Janet L Jones, PhD

Gymnastics used to be very popular in teaching horses and riders to jump. I like them still and recommend Jim Wofford’s classic book Gymnastics: Systematic Training for Jumping Horses. The most recent edition is dated 2001. In this post, when I mention one of his exercises or page numbers, I’m referring to this classic book.

A newer version is out now called Modern Gymnastics (2013), and it’s good too… but for young horses I prefer the original. One word of caution: gymnastics are physically demanding for the horse but less so for the rider, so be careful not to overwork your equine companion.

As you know from previous posts, True has learned to negotiate any type of flat or raised ground pole or pole pattern at a trot, how to negotiate simple canter poles individually and in short sequences, and how to trot or canter in to a low jump, hop over it, and canter out on a straight line. Most of the time, I am able to keep him calm and forward at a steady consistent pace without him rushing on approach or exit. None of the obstacles are over two feet high. True also approaches novel obstacles well and has never tried to refuse or run out from a jump. We’ve over-practiced these foundations to build his confidence, and he’s more than ready to move forward.

As is always the case with brain-based horsemanship, it’s important to teach one simple step at a time. So I begin gymnastics with a simple exercise True has done many times: a set of four trot poles on the ground followed by a low crosspole set 9’ away on standards. As we approach, I can almost hear him say, “yeah, yeah, let’s do something new.” So I set two standards 15’ past the crosspole. There’s no rail yet; I want True to simply canter across the sand between these two new standards.

We do that twice. “Yeah, yeah, what’s next?” Now I place a ground pole between the second set of standards. He trots in, hops the crosspole, and sort of canter/trots out over the ground pole. He feels a bit confused, like he’s not sure what to do. Nor should he be sure—this is his first try at a combination of any kind. The second time through, he tries the canter stride. The result is clumsy but better. I praise and stroke as usual, and let him walk for a minute. On the next few tries, True does well--he lands off the crosspole, canters one stride, and over the ground pole. By the way, 15’ is a short distance suitable only when the pole is lying on the ground.

When he’s comfy with that, I set the ground pole up on the standards so it’s about one foot off the ground. I add two feet of distance so this second jump is 17’ away from the first. By the way, any time you’re working gymnastics, measure the distances. All of them. With a tape! As we continue with gymnastics, these distances become increasingly important. An error of only a few inches can make the job much more difficult than it should be, leading to mistakes and sometimes fear. We always want our horse to succeed, remain brave, and build confidence. It's much more important for a green horse to jump low and succeed than to jump higher and fail.

My job as rider through all gymnastics is to remain balanced, steady, and confident with soft hands, deep heels, and a strong back. Riders need to show horses what we want them to do, and give them no reason to feel frightened or unbalanced. If you need to get a better understanding of how easy it is for a horse to feel unbalanced by a rider, tie a heavy pack to your back and jump some hurdles. It doesn’t feel good when that pack slip-slides around!

When True was steady and comfortable with that 1’ pole, I raised the second jump to about 2’ (just a horizontal pole) and increased the distance from the crosspole by another foot. Now the task is similar to Wofford’s Exercise 2 (pp.45-47). True trots in over four trot poles, then hops a crosspole which is about 18” high at the center, takes one canter stride across a distance of 18’, and hops out over a 2’ horizontal pole, and canters away. This is probably the most common and easiest jumping gymnastic you’ll see. There are many others, and most of them will fit into a small arena easily.

That’s enough for one day. True did well, only faltering the first time he had to hop the crosspole, then canter one stride, and hop the ground pole. After that, he blustered through, then nailed it on most of the latter tries. If your horse has trouble, go back to the point in the exercise where he was succeeding and practice that. End on a good note. You can always proceed further tomorrow or the next day.

Those of you who read the True Training blog regularly know that I insist on calm steady approaches and exits to even a ground pole. If your horse gets nervous or speeds up—as True sometimes does—or perhaps sucks back in mental retreat, go back to an earlier stage of the exercise and correct the problem. It’s more important at this stage that the young horse builds confidence with a steady correct pace and a calm attitude than that she jumps higher or wider.

Good luck!