Advice for applying the brakes

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BellaBee

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Does anybody have any tips on getting a fizzy TBx to have some manners and slow down? She used to be over-weight and a bit unfit and quite obviously is enjoying being fit and healthy, and it wouldn't normally bother me if it was occasional but its started to become a permanent state once you've warmed her in.

She's started to get a bit rude about being asked to stop, all aires above the ground and shaking her head. Plus I'm a tad apprehensive that it could get dangerous; she's 9 and has only been jumping for 2 months, she's got past the "no mummy the green poles will eat me" stage but still jumps every one with nearly a foot to spare and charges off after. It makes related distances and doubles a bit hair-raising at times as she's long too, so you get even less time to sort yourself out and slow her down and I can see us crashing into a jump and knocking both our confidence at this rate.

I was also wondering if it might be worth using a slightly stronger bit on her every so often as she's in your bog standard snaffle, plus she's drags her head down due to having been in a buck-stop for a long time before I had her. I'm starting to feel a bit mean having to be so rough handed to stop her, but I can't seem to get anything to work, she'll just canter round ridiculously slowly. Small circles aren't working well either as she somehow manages to take them full speed.
 
Lots of work using poles on the ground ,work over them and round them ,use the poles until she is totally relaxed with them. Then start building small grids, you really need someone to do this for you,she sounds bright so you need to keep her thinking and listening to you.
You really need to be trying to make jumping less exciting ,jump a small fence on circles sometimes going over it sometimes past it .Lots of transitions and turns.
The better the flatwork the better the jumping will be.
Its difficult to advise re bitting without knowing the horse.
 
Pelham? Kimblewick? It's one of those things, you need to school her more but you can't because she has this tendency to sod off regardless and I do know how it feels when you leg, seat & hands make no blind bit of difference.... I resorted to a kimblewick and a pelham and now back in a snaffle after a few months.

Better to be safe than sorry until she learns some manners and you get to level of schooling where stop means... STOP :D
 
also work on voice commands. not a quick fix I know but I have found it often works when ALL else fails. so have friends who work in racing yards :D
 
lots of circle work, id say stay on a 20metre most of the time and if she is too fast take the circle smaller until she slows down then go back to 20metre when she starts to tire don't let her stop until you want her to, also maybe do a lot of stop start work so walk then halt and praise her if she listens......lots of halting or transitions from trot to walk and plenty of praising her. also when she speeds up don't let her control your rise sit up tall and slow your rise down as slow as possible forcing her to slow down.
 
Thanks guys. I'd had a jumping lesson and the instructor thinks that she anticipates the jumps too much as well. I was made to halt her in between a related distance (somehow managed it) then to take her straight through and it was best she'd jumped so anything to essentially confuse will probably help.

I'm the first to admit that I let our flatwork slide a bit when I was teaching her to jump, and our yard has two big arenas to ride in so lots of space for her to pick up speed :o
She is quite responsive to voice commands as her old owners mainly lunged her, I just keep forgetting to talk to her.

Bit wise, she doesn't seem to fussy with tack so as long as they're not overly expensive I'm tempted to just test a few out.
 
Phil can be quite ignorant at times. A friend taught me to 'drop' my pelvis/roll it forward and down to block his movement when asking to halt and then lifting it when asking him to move on. It's amazing how that can make him listen more than his bit. I halt every few strides, especially whilst warming up, it really helps!
 
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