younger horses not suitable for jumping

Question
hello ma'am, why horses which are less than 5 years of age not suitable for show jumping? why younger horses like colts and fillies are not attempted to train for ground pole and low pole jumping? do younger horses break their legs, joints, as well as hooves easily while taking a jump over an obstacle?

Answer
Because jumping, especially higher jumps and at speed, is indeed a strain on a horse physically, I think a horse should not be jumped until it is at least well into it's fourth year.This sort of jumping is not natural to a horse. He would not do this willingly out in pasture, compared to a horse at liberty being capable of doing some of the dressage movements naturally.

There is a lot of flatwork and ground pole work that can be done with your horse before he is four.These will only serve to make the horse stronger, more supple, and mentally ready to jump.

There is also a saying among horsemen....that there are only "so many jumps in a horse". This suggests that you can just use a horse up, and then he may be only 10 years old and already lame.

Each horse has to be considered. Even if a 3 year old horse is very large, it does not mean that he is ready to even be ridden. His bones, muscles, and ligaments are still forming.

I tell my clients to think that every year they wait (not 3 years old, but 4 ) may add 10 years or more to the usefulness of the animal.

I just was told of a horse at a nearby barn. He was a large Quarter Horse (an American breed), with a lot of Thoroughbred blood in him. He was really tall at the age of three. They started jumping him in his 3rd year and since he had a talent for it they quickly increased the height of the fences. Then he started refusing and they started hitting him for it.

Of course he refused. They had overfaced him. It ended up with him very lame and not even wanting to be ridden. A friend of mine purchased him and after a rest period is starting him back. Luckily he was not permanently injured and will make a comeback.