Friday, May 17, 2019

When It Comes to Jumping

Whether you keep your own horses at home, have a small training or boarding facility, or run a facility that hosts multiple horse shows a year you want to make smart choices with all your purchases. When adding horse jumps the first question you may have is whether you should invest in wood or vinyl. There are several reasons why wood horse jumps are the best choice.
Horse Jumping

Training
While some horses are chronic overachievers, many are, like many humans, a little lazy. Using vinyl horse jumps teaches your horse that he doesn't need to respect the jump because it will come down easily at the lightest touch. A few times of this and he will quickly learn he doesn't need to be particularly careful with what he does with his legs when jumping. Hanging his knees or not tucking up tightly has no consequences. These bad habits are more than frustrating, they can prove dangerous as he continues to get more sloppy with his front end, or when he faces a more solidly built fence.

Durability
Another reason you should consider wood horse jumps rather than vinyl is that wood fences are made to last. Wood fences just look good. While vinyl fences may look nice when brand new, they quickly show signs of wear. If damaged, they cannot be repaired but must be replaced. Wood fences are much tougher than vinyl, but even if they are damaged, they can often be repaired. If they start to look a little worn, a fresh coat of paint can have them looking just like new.



I just finished a very lovely book - The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - in which the young girl at the center of the story learns to ride a pony (after never being out of the city or even the room her family lived in), and she works really hard to be able to jump. There's a lot more to the story, but the relationship between the girl and the pony was really special. I never really thought about whether they were jumping wood or vinyl, though because the story was set during WWII, I'm thinking it was probably wood - with a few logs and then a couple stone walls thrown in for good measure.