Help on jumping

Help on jumping?

I'm starting to jump my 5 year old Paint gelding and I want to know if there are any pieces of advice you could give me? We've never jumped but when my trainer jumped over a little pole he didn't over jump or take off after the jump.

Other Answers:

I have a paint too!!! When I got mine, he was a big greenie, so the best thing to do was constantly work with him so that he became used to it. Also, if there are "scarier" jumps just let him sniff them so he can see that there's nothing to be afraid of. Another thing I did, was ride up and down hills/the pasture (basically any piece of non-level terrain) and did lots of work with transitions to build up his stamina and coordination.

Be ready for work and progress! Listen to your trainer! I taught my paint horse to jump (he jumped a pole like it was a jump and was pulling the reins out of my hands. Later he started to refuse at freaky things. Now he jumps up to 2'9" and has the potential to go a lot higher.)
Just be ready for anything. Your horse will most likely over jump everything or jump crooked or have an awkward take off spot. It helps you to learn tons too.

yes start off with natural obstacles. Horses have been in the wild for centuries and before they were caught by men they would jump anything in there way all of it being natural obstacles. I recently trained my thoroughbred to jump and he wouldn't jump poles so i took him ova wood jumps and logs and he went well then introduced him to poles and he flew over them. :)

Goodluck

do what your trainer says, they probably know whats best. good luck with your training tho! and have fun!