Do horses like to jump over obstacles?

Show jumping is one of the most popular equestrian sports worldwide. Riders love that thrill of jumping in the air on a horse, and many believe that a horse loves to jump too. But is it really so?

Or is it just the impeccable readiness of the horse to do the work that brings joy to the rider? Researchers from Poland studied this issue, and their results were published in the Journal Veterinary Behavior (Journal of Veterinary Behavior)

The researchers studied two groups of horses. One group consisted of 18 non-sport horses, which did not jump, and the second group of 16 sports jumped horses. In the first test, horses were given two ways to get treats. First way implied a jump over an obstacle, while the second avoided a jump, but used a longer distance. The height of the obstacle increased with each new try. In the second test, the horses were saddled and had to go through the Y – maze, one whose side included the obstruction. The obstacle used in the test was raised by a maximum of 50 centimeters, which approximately 20 inches. In 59,9% of attempts, horses preferred to walk or trot past the obstacle, and only 10,7% of attempts they jumped over it. Horse readiness jump over the barrier decreased each time the height was raised. When the height was 20 centimeters, 85% of the horses jumped over the obstacle. However, when the height reached 50, only 44% chose this path.

Horses in the sport group chose to jump over the hurdle more often than horses in the unsportsmanlike. Perhaps this is due to their basic training, genetic predisposition or a combination of both. But, both groups preferred to jump more often. low obstacles, even contrary to the opinion of many athletes that 50 centimeters for sport horses are worth nothing.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to know for sure if horses like to jump.

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  BiBi 4 February 2017 city

  And mine loves)) Always tries to jump if he sees a barrier Answer

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  shosha 20 February 2017 city

  Thanks for the article, I was wondering if horses like to jump. I was always skeptical about equestrian sport, did not see it as good for horses. Answer