Updated blog from 2020
International U.S. show jumper Schuyler Riley of Wolfstone Stables demonstrates how she teaches her horses to bravely jump a spooky wall.
When course designers started to introduce creative and spooky walls at the horse show, Riley knew the best way to practice would be by creating a custom jumper wall with DJC for her own home arena. Her zebra wall is hand-painted and inspired by a jump she had during her early days in the sport.
How to jump a spooky wall with your horse
Riley says that when you want to jump a spooky jump or wall with your horse you need to make it as easy as possible first. “You take it down to the lowest possible level, you let them walk up to it, let them take a breath, sniff it, and then usually after that most horses will nicely pop over it,” she says.
Riley says,”It’s really important to not make a big deal out of anything; you just make it easy for them and then they seem to learn to adapt to something that is spooky.”
She says in extreme cases when horses really don't know what they are doing, she has an older horse jump it in front of them, with the spooked horse following a few strides behind. Once the horse jumps the spooky wall once or twice they usually jump it no problem.
Why Schuyler Riley loves Dalman Jump Co.
“I love the Dalman show jumps and having them to school at home is vitally important to the horses’ education so you prepare them the best you possibly can,” she says. “At every horse show you encounter new jumps and new things and one of the things that we can have control over is teaching our horses to jump a variety of different jumps.”
She claims she has noticed a difference in her horses from gaining a larger education from jumping a more diverse set of jumps.
The quality of the Dalman jumps is also a huge plus for Riley. They last forever and are easy to move around so you can change your course often.
Contact DJC today to build your own custom jumper wall or purchase a jumper schooling course. If you can dream it, we can build it!