How many lessons do I need to jump?

As long as you have been able to walk, trot and canter safely you are fine to learn to jump.

You would start with poles then small fences - height of the fences are not the be all and end all. Horses can jump high, but schooling should be done low to work on your position.

You need to shorten your stirrups a couple of holes as your horse's centre of balance moves forward. You need to warm up on the flat to get rid of any stiffness in both you and the horse, to warm up the muscles, to get the horse going and thinking forwards and attentive. Every horse is individual but 20-25 minutes is about the norm.

Then you would start with poles which will help your horse adjust his stride and get him looking at the bottom of the fence. Your instructor will explain this more to you.

When schooling generally you will approach at a good strong (but not fast) trot. You need to keep a contact at all times, allowing with your hands while the horse uses his neck. If you drop the contact, you will give the horse the message that you are not sure about this jump and you will either get a run out or a stop or end up with a lot of rein and no control at the other side of the fence!

You need to stay slightly forward and hovering over the saddle and fold forward as the horse rises, legs on the horse at all times to encourage him forward.

Keep looking forward - you should be able to describe what is on the wall opposite you and ask you come to the last fence, look forward to the direction of the next fence.

As soon as you have landed allow the horse to canter forward, check that you have the right lead and start thinking forward to the next fence aiming for the centre.

Check that your are aiming for the centre of the fence and drive on strongly but do not flap harms and legs!

Something that I only just learned recently is that the horse actually holds his breath from the moment before he takes off, goes over the fence and breathes out and in quickly on landing. This is why jumping is so tiring for the horse and the larger the fence the larger the breath the horse takes in a d hold for longer!

You are not doing badly but it is best to practice the basics and get your style right before you attempt a course, there is a lot to think about. Approach, position, take-off, flight, landing and get away and forward to the next. Five months of riding is not a long time and you should just follow what your instructor is saying.

You have officially hit the point in riding where you don't know what you don't know! Welcome!

Don't be offended, we all reach this point. You have seen others jump and ride at a higher level than you, and you think to yourself "I already know everything that they are doing - I have all the knowledge to do this myself, so why can't I!?!" The answer is muscle strength and balance. As much as you don't want to hear it, it sounds like you have a really good instructor. Before hitting the real jumps, you need to perfect (not improve, not be good, be PERFECT!) your posture and build muscle strength. By teaching you slowly now, your instructor is building your confidence (obviously you're confident - big improvement over being scared to death because you jumped too high too quick!) and creating a solid foundation for jumping. Once you have this foundation down, the learning will go quiclky. There is a world of difference between trot poles and a crossrail. There's a huge difference between a crossrail and a vertical. The difference between a 2' vertical and a 2'6 vertical? Not so much. Between a 2'6 and 3' vertical? Not so much! Between a vertical and an oxer? Just visually different. Trust your instructor. She is building the foundation for you to be a fantistic jumper one day!

Now, you just have to be patient!

It depends. You should be asking you instructor about what he/she thinks of your form and if you should be advancing (Is my seat position right?, Is my length on the reins right?, Am I ready to jump more jumps because I feel more confident that I can?). Also if your taking group lessons your instructor might want the whole class at the same level and confidence before moving on to more or higher jumps. I think you probable would be better with private lessons because the time is just for you and an instructor can will have all their attention on you and your horse. You might advance more with private lessons as well. Never hurts to ask if your doing something wrong or if there are ways to practice to get better on and off your horse.

Well I have been riding for 3 years and I jump 4 foot poles. But you have only been riding for 5 months so just do as your instructor tells you maybe sometimes you can ask if you can jump higher cross poles and when he/she thinks your ready she will let you jump horizontal poles and more poles at a time. Have lots of fun riding I know I always do! And stay with it!

~Horselover~

I would definitely trust your instructors opinion. Getting over confident is always a recipe for disaster. If you have only been riding for 5 months I would say you have made quite an accomplishment getting this far. You need to keep in mind your safety. If you move to quickly and fall or get hurt all that is going to do is set you back. Take your time, there is always room for improvement in whatever you are doing currently.

If you have only been riding for 5 months, then you probably shouldn't be jumping at all. To be able to do a whole course you need years of experience, because it is very hard- unless you are on a school horse.

Honestly, I have been riding for 8 years, and it was 4 years before I even BEGAN jumping. Take your time. People shouldn't judge you because you are taking it slow. I wanted to have a good understanding of horses, and have a good set before I started jumping.

I think you should trust your instructor. Riding isn't all about jumping, you have to have GREAT equitation on the flat. Post a video or pictures and we could give you more advise, either that you should be jumping more or that you shouldn't and what you need to work on.

Good luck!

well i used 2 go horse riding and it took me quite a few lessons id say maybe 2 months depends if ure a fast learner i wasent

your starting out, so thats all you should be doing just for now. you can elevate sooner.