Advice needed regarding schooling over jumps and riding in spurs

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spotty_pony

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I have a 14.2 hh 7 year old pony who loves jumping and is generally lovely to ride although to put it simply he has attitude!
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Anyway, on approaching jumps he often slows down and goes back to trot and then contunues to clear the jump nicely. (This is not because he is being lazy as such and not because I am holding him back as I really ride him into each fence.) I don't know if it is because he is still quite young and might be a bit unbalanced in canter still or if it is his way of rebelling and being a bit cheeky. He also bucks when I put my leg on too much and when he is excited.

Basically, my Instructor has suggested I try riding him in spurs to get him moving off my leg aid quicker and to see if it helps keep him in a good balanced canter without lots of kicking (which could eventually make him dead to the leg) I do lots of transition work with him to get him listening and he is generally very responsive and loves his work (especially his jumping.)

Does anyone have a suggestion of any other exercises I could try to keep a nice rhythm over fences? Also, any advice on schooling with spurs? I have schooled in spurs before and I know how to use them but I'm not sure if using them is the right thing because it might make him more annoyed because he already bucks when I increase the leg pressure.
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Any advice much appreciated!
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Me and my Instructor have tried canter poles and they seem to make him loose his rhythm more.
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(He looks down at the poles and sometimes goes back into a fast trot half way through a grid of poles)
 
what kind of jumps are you doing?perhaps he is one of those that thinks he must have a better look at it to jump it, so maybe easy x-poles, or low jumps that you can really push him to go over in canter are best?single poles on ground, so he understands he can manage one at a time and hes gotta canter?? just a thought..
 
It will get there as balance inproves. He is young, so is sorting it out himself, if he is jumping nicely from trot, let him aslong as you dont let him "die" after jumping, often trotting them in, then cantering away helps, and they soon get more established and will canter without a prob. Work alot on flatwork too.....
 
prittstick - We are only jumping a maximum of 2ft6 at the moment and he is confident over jumps. We jump a variety of cross poles, uprights and spread and I also make his work varied. (We only jump a couple of times a week)

KatB - thank you for the advice. We have been concerntrating a lot on flatwork recently. Yes, sometimes he does find it easier to go back to trot before a jump and then canter away on landing.

4whitesocks - yes, grid work really helps. He finds it easier to make the strides and once he is in a nice canter rhythm he finds it easier to keep it and go on and jump the grid in a nice rhythm.
 
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