International show jumper Andy Kocher explains the importance of training at home with horse show jumps. He demonstrates how he trains the open water and shares some of his favorite Dalman Jump Co. jumps at his farm in Wellington, FL.
How to train a horse to jump the open water jump
When training young horses, Kocher likes to have a ‘show-ready’ course at home. This means having walls, water, planks, gates and anything else you would see at a competition. One of the most challenging parts of the show course can be the open water, so Kocher is always sure to practice this in his home ring.
Kocher sets up what he calls the ‘training water.’ This setup includes water take-off boxes with flower boxes in front of the liverpool and standards and a vertical set up over the water jump (see how he sets up the jump here). To start, he rolls the liverpool in halfway to get the horses acclimated to the jump. Then he rolls it out a bit more before jumping the full open water.
“It’s very rare that we have a problem with it,” Kocher says, “I think the water issues are not from a horse that has never jumped the water; I think it's from when somebody makes a mistake to the water.”
Why using Dalman Jump is so convenient for show jumpers
Kocher already was training over a full DJC schooling jump course, but he wanted to add a few special jumps, like spooky planks and walls, so he “called Dalman Jump Co.”
“I like buying from them because they are quick,” Kocher says, “I can call them up one night and say, ‘I have this crazy idea, I want to build this ridiculous looking jumping that I stopped out at in Germany a month ago’ and they will have it here the next day.”
Kocher says he can give DJC different ideas for what he wants, but Javan Dalman always knows exactly what you need.
“It’s nice to go to the horse shows and not feel like you don't know if your horse has seen this or jumped this,” he says. Instead of worrying about the jumps at the show, he just needs to worry about how he needs to ride the course rather than if he can get over each obstacle.
Get horse show ready with your own DJC course! We have everything you need– from full show courses to individual products such as liverpools and unique jump poles.