Teaching a Horse to Jump

QUESTION:
Hi Shawna, Just a quick question don’t want to take up to much of your time. Do you have any info/videos pertaining specifically to training young horse with clicker to jump. Have put my fellow on the lunge over a cavaletti the other day and used the clicker over the jump to show him that is what i was after. Just not sure the path to take from here?? It sure stops them from thinking go crazy after the jump but also don’t want him thinking we come to a stop after every jump so let him to 2 rounds sometimes and clicked if he was steady and jumped it with out fuss??????? Any reading resource on this would be great??????? Thanks and have a nice weekend.

ANSWER:
Jumping is one of my favorite things to teach horses. I am working on a DVD for teaching free jumping and addressing jumping issues. Positive reinforcement training with jumping just hasn’t been done too much. It is amazingly effective for horses of all levels. It builds such confidence in the horse. Like you mentioned, it helps them to settle and not get overly nervous or excited. Getting them started right helps to prevent issues from coming up later. So I am very excited about helping horses (and rider’s) learn how to jump.

I don’t know if you have the ability to teach him free jumping at liberty but it is a great tool. Not everyone has an open arena to work a loose horse or a second person available to help. You can teach them to jump with one person but there are a lot of other components to the one person behavior. This results in more attention to maintaining the other elements of the behavior and less on the actual jumping. The free jumping allows them to completely make the choice to jump, and it also helps to teach them about finding a distance. This latter skill comes in handy and helps to avoid some jumping issues down the road. If you can and want to teach this part let me know and I will tell you more about how to proceed. Also, I have some videos and blog posts on jumping that may give you some more info. They are not all perfect but the mistakes they make a part of the learning process. Here is the link if you want to take a look and haven’t seen them already: http://shawnakarrasch.com/blog/category/jumping/ (These are under the jumping category on this Blog)

It sounds like you are doing great. I recommend adding to the duration. If I click I anticipate them stopping. When under saddle I teach them to continue but that is a different scenario. We can discuss that another time. :0) So like it sounds like you are doing, I would ask him to jump then remain supportive with your signal that asked him to jump in the first place. When he accepted and jumped the next jump well, I would click and reinforce that. In the beginning this click is coming, mostly, for his continuation. As he grasps this concept and is jumping two jumps confidently and consistently then it is time to add another. continue on this path until you have built it up to where you want. Here is a caveat, I recommend still occasionally clicking and reinforcing the early jumps. If all of the clicks come at the latter jumps he will tend to put less effort into the early jumps since it seems the last jump is the only one that will get reinforced. It keeps it things from being too predictable.

When he is doing this well it is time to add more height. Go back to simple one jump at first. Then progress through the training exercise. When you change an element you want to recognize that this one little change maybe a huge change for your horse. You will then progress through the exercise. Remember to keep things short and positive by doing small, short session rather than long sessions. I have found things move faster and the horses stays interested.

Next thing I would consider is introducing the weight of a rider. You want him to keep the same mind set as the earlier exercises. We don’t want the rider to be giving any signals at this point as this may be distracting. We want to allow him to get accustomed to the new weight and balance. Still focusing on the ground person reminds him to practice his familiar exercise. Again, progress through the steps. Next add the rider’s cues (softly) while still on a lunge line. The ground person should still be doing the clicking but have the rider do the reinforcing from the saddle. We are slowly shifting the focus to the rider so we can fade the ground person out. Next the rider does the clicking and reinforcing. Then remove the lunge line. These small steps, that may not seem like a big deal to us, help ensure a smooth transition for your horse. This kind of process helps to set them up for success. It also sounds like a long drawn out process but it usually goes pretty quickly. I just like to be sure that I cover them all.

Alright, let me know how it goes and if you have more questions. It is an exciting time for you and your horse and I am glad to be a part of your journey!

REPLY: (to my response)
Wow Shawna Thanks for such a HUGE reply.lol You are obviously very keen on jumping and clicker. I was having seeds of ideas of how it could get the horse so much more confident about jumping. I want to really be able to let him know that was how you do it as you can’t really do that in the air over a jump! I do have an area that is big enough and, at present, my neighbour could help me a bit (she may be moving ??) She is also a clicker person ( you answered her question about her horse in the washbay. Leone) It would just be getting it set up right and if I have enough gear to do so?? I will look at the links to see if that helps me with the set up! This fellow is bred to jump but that does not mean he will love to jump. I think by doing as you have outlined above and clicker jump training him it will avoid the all to often situation that the horse gets scared and doesn’t enjoy the situation. Then only a strong jump ridder can get them around the course. I want the both of us to love a little jump course with a relaxed mind. Thanks and will be looking forward to you proposed jump DVD!!

RESPONSE: (from me to Sharon’s reply)
Beezie Madden, who is a two time olympic gold medalist, is who worked with when I started applying clicker training to horses back in 1994. She and her husband had a famous jumper named Judgement. He had a huge water jumping issue and clicker/target training helped him to overcome his fear. So it really works for every level. A little addendum…Remember to click on the behavior what you want to see more often. For jumping it is when they commit to leaving the ground. They remember what earned them the click. Since the it is uncomfortable for them to come to screeching halt so they figure out to come to a normal stop on the other side of the jump after they hear the click.

Ask Shawna: Horse Refusing to Jump at Shows

Video answer: I address a jumping issue. This mare who is great at home is not so good at the shows. When we are at shows things are different. Our horses are acutely aware of subtle changes in our behavior. They are probably more aware of it then we are! Sometimes it is our nerves or excitement that can worry our horses. But sometimes they can begin to recognize that they can get away with more at shows. After all, we don’t get to keep jumping the course and schooling in the ring until we get it right. Sometimes it can just be sensory overload for our horses. They have so many new things to watch and worry about that they have a hard time focusing on the job at hand. In any case we can get this straightened out with the use of positive reinforcement. By building a strong reinforcement history(with jumping) she will look forward to jumping.

I recommend starting at home since that is where she has success. Free jumping(no chute or whips) is always a great tool for building the horses confidence, if confidence is the issue. This is also great for teaching the young horse and to correct stopping. This helps the horses learn how to figure out their own distances. It is uncomfortable for them to take off from a bad distance. They learn to adjust and take care of themselves in this process. It allows them to really focus on jumping with out the distraction of the rider. You always want to click on the action you want to see more of so in this case it is when they commit to jumping the jump. In the beginning it may be for stepping over the rail! I am going to recommend some really fun footage which will show you this process. In this blog go to the catagory: Jumping. I suggest watching “Bugs Free Jumping a Line(at liberty)” and, this one is really fun…”Free Jumping From Mint’s Helmet Cam” That’s right, Mint is wearing a helmet cam and so am I, so you see it from my view and his!

Linda, back to your mare. I think you might do just as well to start clicking as she goes over jumps with her rider at home. I know this isn’t where the problem happens but she will start to put a MUCH higher value on jumping as she realizes it may earn her a reward. You can do this over itty bitty cross rails to start. The point is the committment to jumping, not the height of the jump. Reinforce well for each jump. She will put this together. The next step may include reinforcing her for responding to the rider’s adjustments before and after the jump, this will help her to listen to the rider but it still serves to reinforce the whole process. Don’t worry that you are clicking over the jump, she won’t slam on the brakes as soon as she lands. Just come to your usual stop. Next do lines and then courses. At this point I would mix it up, sometimes reinforce the first jump, sometimes the third jump, sometimes at the end of the course.

Now that she has a new perspective it is time to go to a show. Now, I suggest you go to a few schooling shows with the point of truly schooling. I would click and reinforce often in the warm up area. She has new elements to contend being away from home so I think it is best to start way back in the beginning of the training process. Reminding her that jumping here may also be reinforced. I think at this point she will probably be performing like she does at home. But don’t take her good attitde for granted, reinforce the heck out of it! When you go in the ring if she jumps the first jump I would click and feed. Go onto the next 2, 3 or 4 jumps, if things are going well click and reinforce again…etc. Do a few classes like this, change up which jumps you decide to click and reinforce. Sure this is not going to win you the class but it will help you to win plenty more later. I would do a few shows like this at different showgrounds, if possible. You could also trailer to someone else’s arena and school there as well. Like I said in the email…I know with 100% certainty that you can get her turned around. I have done this with cases that were much more extreme!

I could go on and on but I think I have covered what you need to know. If you have questions please feel free to ask. Please keep me posted on your progress!

Bugs Free Jumping a Line (at Liberty)

This is Bugs first line free jumping at liberty). It is taught through positive reinforcement. Bugs is a green horse who is just learning to jump-both with and without a rider. Jan who is working with me is new to the process as well.

A High Point (but not too high!)

January 25th, 2011
 
Bugs and I have been focusing on our flat work. I am working on his progress while also working on my own position and getting all my parts back under control. Riding horses is definitely not like riding a bike. My position and balance have improved drastically and Bugs is also coming along nicely. We seem to be having a great conversation. We listen to each other and work together well. Have I mentioned how well he is doing? Oh yes I have, about 87 times!!
 
One of my goals is to get back to jumping. Since Bugs is green and done so little, it is kind of a hope as well as a goal.  Let’s be honest, Mint didn’t turn out to be a good jumper for me. He likes to hang his legs and crack his back and that makes him difficult to stay with. Therefore,  I focused on jumping with my other horses as Mint shined in his role as the star of On Target Training.
 
It is uncertain how Bugs will handle all the challenges that jumping brings, let alone with someone who hasn’t jumped in quite a while. I am learning too. Im sure you’d agree its not always the best combination.
 
Marcy, who rescued Bugs and is also my Hunter/Jumper trainer, is a great trainer, she is well educated and very experienced. She is good at minimizing risks and making sure that we don’t move ahead too fast. This is good for me since I have a tendency to be a little too game. I make a point of trying not to set goals as jumping goes, but simply put my progress in Marcy’s capable hands. I try my best to be a true student, listening and learning. This is a funny mix since on one hand I am a teacher/ trainer in my own right. However, my expertise is from the behaviorist perspective, utilizing positive reinforcement. Marcy embraces what I am doing and we work together well to blend the two methods.
 
During my lesson today, Marcy asked me to jump the little “x” in the ring. Uh Oh!! My eyes got pretty big, but I have to confess so did my smile!  That “x” seemed kind of big, but of course, it was barely bigger than a rail on the ground.
 
Bugs had jumped a little bit with Jenn, who works for Marcy. We knew he was relaxed, game and capable. This also gave him some good rides since… well… at this point he wouldn’t be getting them from me. I had also taught him to free jump. This is with positive reinforcement which means no chute or whip, just him jumping an obstacle in the middle of the ring completely loose. This goes a long way toward building a horses confidence over fences. I will tell you more about that process on another day.
 
It can be a little daunting to jump for the first time on a horse. Especially one who isn’t well versed in this area, not to mention when you add a new rider to the equation.  He went boldly to the jumps (well, it was barely a jump) and I didn’t feel any hesitation or apprehension on his part. He seemed to be responsive to every adjustment all the way through. We had a great time together as he handled it really well! He didn’t get flustered or nervous. He was totally listening and would return immediately back to our flat work between the cross rails. He built up my confidence today. It was a huge step for us both and the beginning of the next chapter. I can’t seem to wipe the smile off of my face.

Free Jumping from Mint’s Helmet Cam

I have started filming, well actually Mint started filming from his helmet cam. It is a fresh perspective on training. I enjoy seeing where he is looking and his view of things. This is only the beginning of many more clips from Mint (and eventually Bugs). The audio is a little quiet since I am not always right beside him.

I have posted the video from my helmet cam first so you can see my perspective and hear the audio portion. The second clip is from Mint. I hope that you enjoy this and I would love your feedback!

Clicker Trained Horse Remembers After 7 Years!

After almost seven years apart, Shawna and her horse Mint reunite. Watch how much Mint remembers his On Target Training on his first day back with Shawna.