Hey everyone! I have a 3 year old solid flaxen chestnut Appaloosa mare and I wanted to add a discussion on here/seek some advice. So I currently show in western performance like western pleasure,horsemanship, showmanship, trail and And English breed type like Hunter under saddle and equitation on the flat. My mare is out of Lukeing for you and I have not found much information on her dam but she was also performance bred and she is out of Always in the mood who is western performance bred. I have trained Echo myself but have been taking lessons and showing with a trainer... she is started under saddle and we have a pretty good walk jog and in hand foundation. I know there can be some controversy on this but I have not really been able to make up my mind and pick just one discipline I have tried a little bit of everything. I was wondering if I could possibly teach her how to jump... I am not looking to do anything big just local shows and possibly entering just cross rails and Hunter back at some point only going as high as 2'6-2'9. I enjoy jumping but I like the Hunter jumpers better than show jumping and eventing although Echo is not specifically bred for jumping some of her siblings and half siblings have competed in Hunter hack because they are big and lean with a nice stride. Her full brother was state champion in Hunter under saddle and I would like to try and teach her and show her for fun. What age would you recommend starting over low cross rails? and do you think a horse can show in jumping for fun even if it's not entirely bred for it or if it's not the most expensive warmblood but is healthy enough for it? I would love to hear your thoughts but please keep everything friendly. I will also link some pictures...

The thing about jumping is that the better your horse is at flatwork, the better they'll be over fences. It sounds like she has a really good solid foundation, so I can't imagine that she'd be bad at jumping at all! If her form is a little sloppy when starting out, I wouldn't be discouraged- gridwork can help sharpen that right up!

That being said, jumping is very high impact, so I would wait until she's at least four to begin doing small crossrails and introducing her to the idea, and not being serious with her jumping training until she's about five. It's also more dangerous than the flat work, so I would consult a trainer and make sure to always jump with supervision. But I don't see why your mare wouldn't be a fantastic jumper! We currently have a little barrel racing Zippo bred QH that's been jumping a bit, and he's the cutest little hunter. My own jumper is an Arabian/Saddlebred cross. Your horse doesn't know that she's not been bred to jump, so let her tell you whether she's good at it or not. :)

Thank you! And I'm not looking to enter any high end Hunter shows maybe just some local fun shows for the experience but the trainer I'm currently am using came from a Hunter jumper background but trains ranch, western performance, and eventing/ dressage horses so she will be helping me. My horse is very good at ground poles and is very careful of where her feet are at.

Your horse does not need to be fancy to jump.

My horse, Zippy, has been doing low crossrails (and sometimes verticals because if the jump's low he doesn't seem to care about it and just keeps on trotting) and he's very much a mutt. I'm not going to ever jump him above 3' because I want him to last a good long while, but he definitely could...

But anyways, if your horse is fit and strong enough to jump, they can jump, regardless of what they were bred for. Might not be pretty, but that's something that you can work on.

Thank you! And I agree I feel like any horse can jump but I know there can be some controversy of horses jumping with unique colors or a different breed. I think that I'll probably bring it up to my trainer later on when she's a little older and then proceeded to train but for now I'm goin to stick with ground poles.

I believe that any horse can jump, no matter of breed. I had a Tennessee Walker and her favorite thing was to jump, we never jumped her high at all, but she loved it and was pretty good at it!

Breeding doesn't matter when it comes to jumping. I have a 19 year old mare that has jumped a little, but not because we were actually trying to. She's a granddaughter of Hollywood Dunit and great granddaughter of Docs Solano. She was meant to be a reining horse like a lot of her close relatives. She's long and low and wide, but she loves to work cattle. She'll clear 3ft out in the field/woods if it means staying on a cow. She has the opposite of jumping conformation. She has a 7 year old daughter with halter breeding on top who's going to start jumping soon. Her sire is a son of One Two Te out of She's Real Impressive. This mare has almost halter muscle and is more of a ranch looking horse than anything else, but she's got the attitude to go over/through anything and the stride to do it. As long as the horse has the desire, stride, and strength for it, they should be able to at least participate. They do need a little age on them so their joints can hold up to it, but once they're old enough, go wild.

I don't know who was telling you that horses with odd colors can't jump, I don't know anyone that would object to seeing an appaloosa in the hunter or jumper rings! And Quarter Horse types are not at all unusual in any discipline, I see them virtually everywhere.

If someone doesn't like the appearance of the horse you're jumping, tell them to leave if they dont like it. It's different if the horse is skinny or has an enlarged joint, but if they're sound and healthy, what you do with your horse is your business. There was a horse that I saw running barrels 2 years ago that was ugly as sin and terrible at it, but it was healthy and sound and doing its best. That's all that matters. How you place is an entire other story, but no one can stop you from participating as long as you meet that particular show's requirements.