Hi, I’ve recently started leasing a young thoroughbred gelding. He never raced, and now he’s being trained at a hunter jumper at my barn. He hasn’t much time under saddle, but is really athletic and is a complete blast to ride. I’ve been riding for a number of years, and would consider myself a competent rider. I am really comfortable riding and bringing this baby along on the flat, I feel like we make strides every day and he’s always learning. My problem is with the over fences part of the training. I love jumping, but due to some bad experiences I am definitely not as confident over fences as I am on the flat, and I sometimes make mistakes like getting left behind, not keeping enough leg on, etc. My issue is that I really love working and bringing this horse along, but I am concerned that if he doesn’t have “perfect” rides to fences that he won’t learn the way that he should. What do you think? He’s doing really well and doesn’t seem to be bothered by my shortcomings over fences. Do horses need to have perfect riding starting out, or will my occasional mistakes help him learn to be forgiving and that not all riders are going to give him the perfect ride every time?