young horse that needs bringing on.

Question
Hi my name is Katie and i have just got a loan on a lovely 5yro 14HH Dales pony. This pony needs bringing on loads and i would really like to start getting his jumping up to scratch. Please can you tell me some pointers that i can use whilst i am lunging him or free lunging? as i am not confident to start when riding him.
My second question is how can i make schooling more interesting when riding without using the track so much as he has started to lean and depend on the track?
thank you Katie x

Answer
Katie -
I'm sorry I am not the best person to ask about jumping.  I will offer you what help I can, but you may also want to ask someone who specializes in jumping horses.
In the round pen you can work with cavalleties or ground poles.  That will help develop the horses hind end for jumping as well as get him accustomed to going over objects.  You can eventually stack the cavalleties, or use very small basic jumps to get him more familiar with when to jump and how high and far he needs to go.  Unfortunately the real training for the jumps has to come while your in the saddle.
I really hate working in the arena for the same reasons, the horse seem to use the rail to guide them rather than listening to me.  I ride out side as often as possible.  If you have trees that you can ride around, you can do figure eights between two trees or any pattern you like.  If you can only ride in the arena, you can place buckets or cones in any pattern and do something similar.  Those things are a nice break from just going in circles in the arena, and you can really be honest with yourself.  You will see how well you really can direct your new pony, how well you can control his turns, and at what speed he does the whole activity.

Again I am sorry for not being more helpful, I do not compete in jumping and in no way consider myself an authority on the topic.

Best of Luck!
Michael Hockemeyer
Kicking Bear Mustangs