16.1hh with a pony stride jumping help please

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beaconhorse

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Beacon is short coupled and only in the same size rug as my old 14.2hh pony and has short legs too

I have been trying for a long time now to teach him to do 'horse strides' instead of pony strides ie he always puts in an extra half stride in a double

So we tried working on canter poles set at a stride apart, 3.65m (4 human strides) but he REALLY has to stretch in order to canter them

So was wondering if it would be easier to go the other way and treat him as a pony doing a horse course ??? In which case how is the best way of actually riding a course, a double is ok but what about a single stride, or a bounce not too mention, when you get to a treble and one is 1 stride the next 2 strides
 
Can't really help you, but can sympathise! Both my horse and my sisters 14.2hh add an extra stride, I REALLY have to work to get the 'correct' number of strides from Flash, and then because I'm pushing him forward to get the longer strides he then goes flat and has a tendency to knock them down
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I do wonder whether it may be easier to go for a shorter bouncy canter, I guess it kind of depends whether you're going for a clear round or against the clock??
 
well I know he will do it towards a single fence very easily with poles in front of it, not tried to do it without yet and not tried a double yet as only just released the problem
 
My horse has short strides and I find if I ask him to lengthen he'll either knock them down cos he's flattening or mostly liekly now refuse (he never used to refuse think he's just more careful these days!) I find it easier to keep him short and bouncy and I have won many speed classes/ jump offs as i can turn him over fences and cut in whereas other people who go faster across the ground than me cannot make the turns. It works both ways!
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the refusal part makes sense as he often gets stride wrong if he tries to do it my way and then refuses. Think I will try to shorten, how do you work the stridings out when they are like this??
 
personally, I don't. I have no spatial awareness and anything I try to interfere with ends in disaster. I just sit and point and close my eyes if need be
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Actually, I haven't really thought that far, how would we work out striding??? when the distance is supposed to be 1 stride then 2 strides my sisters pony gets 2 strides then 3....
 
lol I have often just left him to it and he generally does ok, its just he can get really close or jump from miles away so I never know when he is going which is awkward, oh well will keep trying, as I am just bringing him back into work (jumping) so thought now was the ideal time for altering things Oh hum
 
if he really struggles to lengthen, then you are better keeping him balanced and short and bouncy, and letting him add one when he wants to.
my 16.3 tbxid used to do this, he easily got strides in bounces at BE nov and int, and because i always thought he might, it wasn't a problem.
a friend's mare used to add strides everywhere sj at BE and got to Advanced/3*... it was just her style.
go with his natural aptitude, and if he's got a pony brain too, i'd leave it to him! just make sure you keep the leg on and the revs up, especially through a combination to a big parallel out, say, because you don't want to get him deep with no impulsion, obv.
 
Good to hear that Kerilli, mine is prone to doing this, but is getting better! Nice to know horses have gone up the levels with the same "habits"!!
 
Sparky (my pony) does this. Can be very annoying, especially when I was less experienced and could not easily 'see a stride'. I find it easier to pinpoint the place where you want to take off and that heps alot. I keep him short and bouncy. We usually get in deep and he is fine
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RE the striding - when i walk a course if they are regular strides then i know more than likely I will have to shorten him, if they are short (ie a short 8) then generally he will make it but it also has a bearing whether it is a spread or upright in or out of a combination. I think you just get used to what suits your horse best. I also need to keep mine short as he has always had a tendency to spook at fillers which is v annoying and often wrecks any stride I am on an he loses momentum. Keeping hold of him between leg and hand nice and short (on advice from SJ instructor) def helps.

I went through a phase of not trusting him once he'd stopped for the first time ever (i've had him since a 4 yr old he's 17 now and I think stopped for the first time ever with me about aged 9 as he had injured his back!) He then rushed his fences a bit or would stop but this was as I let him do it 'his way' and dropped him at the fence. Now if I hold and keep my legs on he jumps a lot more confidently. I don't jump huge these days - 1m courses probably the most so in reality getting striding spot on isn't imperative as he's more than capable of jumping from nothing if needs be at that height!
 
thanks for that, yep he has a pony brain too lol he nearly always manages to sort his stride out and only occassionally gets a pole down, he is actually more like to run out when he does get it wrong than knock it down, despite the fact no one has ever told him off for knocking one down. What i did manage to do today was start off with 2 jumps 9 of my strides apart with 2 poles in the middle, then stretch it to a full 12 strides and he did it !!! which was a major step forward for us
 
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