"Dear H&C, I have recently bought a 15.3, six-year-old Appaloosa mare. She has been out of work for a couple of months and she's almost ready to be back in full work. I am have real difficutly getting her to jump! She won't jump! Please help us!" Tara and Red

H&C blogger and Olympic eventer Sharon Hunt replies: "Tara, I would say perhaps to go xc over very small things and get leads from others so the horse thinks it's fun. You could do likewise for show jumps but I'd play over poles on the floor and then build them up to small fences and then gradually a little bigger. Grids are the best as you can do them from trot and keep the distances straight forward to keep her confident. Also you could try jumping off her back and lunging over fences so she may enjoy this too. But the most important thing is to do what she enjoys and then build on it. Take it slowly and I'm sure she will start to enjoy it. Hope this helps! Sharon."