TRAINING The “right” approach to jumping

Q:I am an amateur rider, but I have ridden and trained a lot of green horses in the hunter/jumper discipline. We all want our horses to jump quietly, safely and happily, and some are tougher to get to that place than others. When a young horse is “looking” at every new thing, I’ll let him walk up and sniff a fence if it’s significantly different than obstacles he’s seen before. Obviously, however, in a show or a crowded hunt field or an eventing course, you can’t stop to smell the obstacle, and there will eventually be a jump that doesn’t resemble one you’ve exposed him to. So my question is, when (and how) should you transition a horse like this from, “I have the right to sniff every weird fence before I jump it” to “I will leap before I look!”

Name withheld upon request