Interesting horse fact

[JuniorxMyxLove]

I never knew this until someone on another forum pointed it out to me in an attempt to help me with Leo's refusing problem.

"When you are about 5/6 strides from a jump, the horse see's it in 2
When you are about 4 strides from a jump, the horse now see's it in 1
When you are 2 strides from a jump, the horse can no longer see it."

Isn't that neat? The horses are basically jumping blindly...

[Miss Z]

I've heard that before, but I'm not sure exactly how much truth is in it. I realise that because of the position of a horse's eyes in its head that it has a blind spot with things directly infront of it, but I doubt whether they can't see a jump, which is pretty large, from a few strides (unless they're really chucking their head up like some horses do on an approach). Otherwise, how could they jump a bounce fence? I know that I don't jump an awful lot, what with dressage training, but from the times I have jumped I'm pretty sure the horse is locked on the fence right up to take-off.

Still, doesn't lessen the fact that horses are still incredible in every way!

[JuniorxMyxLove]

hmm I see your point, but it makes some sense.

But when I rode with that in mind (plus other things that person told me), I got leo to jump 9 times out of 10.

That person was full of interesting and useful tips, haha. All of which proved correct when I put them to use on Leo.

[Husky_mom]

I´ve also heard that... and also that´s why they really need to trust you... so when you ask them to jump they should do as they are practically not seeing what they are jumping...

not sure how true it is but it kinda makes a bit of sense...

[Miss Z]

and also that´s why they really need to trust you... so when you ask them to jump they should do as they are practically not seeing what they are jumping...

Yes, that is in part true, especially with very large obstacles in which the horse cannot see what is behind it, then he definitely needs to trust his rider that he can get over the fence safely.

However, a horse will jump on its own; many horses, before and after they are broken to ride, are loose-jumped. The horses work out the stride pattern and point of take-off for themselves - in fact they often do it a lot better on their own than with a rider on top!

Plus, there is no exact command that says 'jump' to a horse. Yes, it's your job to get the horse into a good rhythm leading up to the fence, and to balance yourself accordingly to allow him to clear it, and I suppose in a way that is how we show a horse we want it to jump, but you couldn't do the same thing with most horses and make them jump thin air. The horse decides whether or not it's going to take off, whether that's because the stride pattern's wrong or if it spooks at the fence. The rider cannot attempt lift a horse up with their position when they think it's the right time to jump, doing so would make it much harder for him to jump as the rider needs to move with the horse to keep him balanced. So, basically, if the rider wants to jump at a certain point, they have to do the maths and find the stride pattern to that point, then present it to the horse to jump the fence.

JuniorxMyxLove, it's great that this person's tips are helping you ride better, although I wouldn't let him/her take all the glory for it - you are mainly improving through experience and are getting more results with the horses that you ride!

[JuniorxMyxLove]

Miss Z - I think that the reason it's so important to ride the horse correctly and set them up right is because they can't see the jump for the last two strides.

Horses free jumping would do the same thing, judging the distance before the jump and the effort needed. I would think that they could still jump it even if they couldn't see it for the last step again.

It is possible to teach horse horse to jump on a command...otherwise blind horses wouldn't be able to jump. I remember seeing this video of this girl and her blind mare jumping. So obviously they can jump blind.

As for them jumping bounces...I think that they judge the jumps before they reach them, so by the time they're jumping the first in, say a 4 jump bounce, they're seeing how far it is to the 3rd/4th one. Maybe. haha i just confused myself.

I know it's partly me, but we had such an improvement in one lesson that I do owe the person some help. Their technique really helped me keep Leo from popping his shoulder out, and reminded me that "you're not there till you're in the air" haha

[Miss Z]

As for them jumping bounces...I think that they judge the jumps before they reach them, so by the time they're jumping the first in, say a 4 jump bounce, they're seeing how far it is to the 3rd/4th one. Maybe. haha i just confused myself.

Hmm, possibly, but I know on the odd occasion I've popped over some bounce fences, assuming they are all the same height and shape, I myself can't see how many there are until I get close enough to within 2 strides of the first fence, so if the horse couldn't see them either by that point, I'd be pretty scuppered!

The case of the blind horse is very interesting though. I suppose, in a case like that, you can teach a horse to jump on command, although I doubt you could play around with many different heights and widths of fence other than what the horse gives naturally since the horse cannot comprehend how it has to jump the obstacle. Maybe, since it is blind, it becomes more sensitive in other senses, and that is the reason why it responds to some sort of jump command. All I know is I couldn't be cantering along on any of the horses I ride, then suddenly take up jump position and expect them to leap into thin air as if they were popping a cross pole. That's sort of what I was getting at when I meant there is no jump command (other, I suppose, than in high school, which is not the same sort of jump a horse uses to clear a fence anyway.)

I guess I'm just not convinced, I just believe that with a horse being a prey animal, its vision would not be so limited as to not see what's two strides in front of it. Not really being a jumper anyway, I suppose it won't matter to me whether they see fences in ultra violet, as long as they can lengthen and collect and stay on the bit I'll be happy.

Happy riding!