International Irish show jumper Paul O'Shea is known for his hard working demeanor and brilliant training style. The decorated equestrian currently is the head trainer of Eye Candy Jumpers– where he is known as “coach”-- and also represents Trelawny Farm. He tells us how he approaches a spooky horse jump and why he prefers to practice over Dalman Jump Co. products:
The show ring often presents spooky horse jumps as a challenge for both horse and rider. To prepare for this, O’Shea makes sure to practice these kinds of jumps with Dalman Jump Co. products in his home ring.
Before jumping any higher jumps or courses, O’Shea always warms up over DJC cavaletti or poles. He says it's a nice, simple way to warm up the horses without putting much pressure on their legs. You can do it quite a few times before the horses relax and figure the exercises out.
He built an in-ground liverpool to practice with one of his green horses. The water tray that is dug into the ground is not a common element at the horse show, but it can cause trouble according to O’Shea. “Most of the horses tend to peek down into it a little more opposed to a normal water tray,” he says.
O’Shea was taught to always introduce a spooky fence by approaching it at a 45 degree angle before jumping it. This makes it so the horses know they aren't going to jump it, therefore they get more comfortable getting up close to it. O’Shea uses a custom jumper gate from DJC that is painted different colors on each side. The color does make a difference with how the horse sees and approaches the jump so it's important to introduce them to different colors and designs.
“I like ordering jumps from Dalman jump Company because they can really make anything you like and it's always good quality,” O’Shea says.
Get your own custom jumps to practice at home by contacting Dalman Jump Co. today!