Learn How to Stop Circling In Front of a Jump When You Don’t See the Distance

I have a young green horse. He is very soft and quiet to the fences.  I was wondering what you do when you are riding a young horse and don’t see a distance.  My friend, who is jumping
him, will circle in front of the fence. What is your feeling on this?

Phyllis it sounds like you have a very nice young green horse that is quiet and soft to the fences so that’s a big plus!

I am assuming you are not jumping too high yet, due to his age and stage of training as well as your eye being a bit green from your description. This being the case, I’m not a fan of circling in front of fences. First it can become quite habit forming for the rider, and second I don’t like to confuse the horse by taking him off the jump he is focused on just because the rider doesn’t see a distance. That is assuming they are small jumps.

Horses can develop an eye of their own if allowed to. You will find staying relaxed and letting the horse figure out the distance to small jumps is a good thing. Often a rider with a green eye interferes with the horses decision, which may be a better one if not interfered with.  If you are not sure where you are, stay quiet and in balance with the horse in a two point or light seat and be with him at the take off. Since he is so nice to the jumps, his own eye should develop quickly and, in turn, this will help yours.

For the development of your eye, we have several topics on Equestriancoach.com (see links below) that pertain to that. All utilize cavaletti’s and small jumps that your horse can handle at his stage.

If you have a habit already of circling when you don’t see a distance, we have a topic called Help For The Habitual Circler (see link below) than has cured many a circler. Your horse may or may not be too green for this. He has to have a good prompt canter departure and the ability to shorten his canter stride for this to be productive. The good news is, you can for sure improve your eye and develop your horses eye as well!