Another 'careful horse' thread :(

slumdog

slumdog

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Disastrous training session with babyhorse yesterday.
I've posted before about his habit of dropping his legs, well we hired a school yesterday as mine is under water and he was terrible, he dumped me into the first fence (first time he's ever stopped!) and then flattened pretty much everything. It's left me feeling really deflated, and after one double clear in 9 months I'm wondering if we're ever going to get there.

I've just read the other thread and they sound quite similar, B is 6 as well and just doesn't care if he knocks it or not. But will also put a big jump in if there's a new filler underneath. Since yesterday I've been wondering if he just can't do it, but after reading the other thread maybe I'm expecting too much? It's just so depressing and now everyone just expects him to flatten everything (taking bets on how many we'll knock down does wonders for my confidence...) one person has told me he'll never be a jumper at any level and someone else has said that every horse can jump so if he's knocking them it's down to my riding and me not 'training' him right.

I just feel really deflated and rubbish about it all :(
 
Ok on a slightly not so depressing note if he jumped double clear once he has it in him doesnt he and since he's jumped double clear withu riding him before u can't be that rubbish.
Maybe he's jumped a little too often (not sure how often u practise) and maybe he's getting a little bored so therefore when new filler comes out it new and something to focus on.
Have u thought about giving him a little time hack him out and school flat. Also has he ever jumped xc I don't mean huge it's just maybe a new way of getting him jumping without schooling in an arena and all jumps will be 'new' just make it like a hack around the course with dinky jumps thrown in.
Failing that maybe school on flat for a little and start small again maybe hes a bit deflated too. Dont feel bad he's young they are meant to be testing and unless your wanting him to jump for performance reasons I.e u need results now I wouldn't worry. Just slow everything right down. Less pressure for both of u and take ur time.
 
Maybe try v-poles? Put two poles on the fence, starting apart and getting closer in the middle. Start with them further apart on the top of the fence, and as your horse gets more confident push them closer together until they meet at a point :) But really try and stay positive, if he's done a double clear before then he can do it again! Good luck, I'm sure he'll get more careful as he matures :)
 
Its true that some horses just aren't as careful as others - mine is one of the non-careful ones and will happily clip poles if you let him.

What sort of jumping do you do? at home and at competitions?

It sounds like he is capable of jumping when he wants to, ie when theres something interesting under the jump, so don't loose heart!

I jump my boy at least once, usually twice and sometimes three times a week. LOTS of varity to keep him guessing and keep things interesting

High cross poles, "v" shaped poles (already mentioned) and oxers with a pole lying diagonally over the top all help them to pick their legs up

If he's still not bothered, jumps with tarpaulin or jackets or anything "unusual" over the top could help too

Don't give up! :D always end on a good note and I bet by the end of summer you'll have a different horse!
 
Thanks for your replies. SG you got me thinking, although I dont jump every time I ride, I don't actually hack him out or have 'fun' on him. I school him on the flat to improve his jumping and I jump him. That's it, I've been putting so much pressure on myself and him to improve when actually I'm not a competitive rider and its supposed to be a hobby! I only jump fairly small, on average 2.9 but tbh I'd rather have a perfect 2ft clear round and just enjoy myself. Thinking about it more, he's probably as bored and fed up as I am!

I'll try v poles, Ive not tried them. At the moment I do basic flatwork, transitions and working on getting him underneath me in the canter, trotting poles and canter poles, I use a diagonal pole to try to get him to change legs (he changes his fronts but not always his backs) when jumping we do grid work, one stride and two stride doubles and canter poles into a jump.
 
Make yourself a plan for the next month - Its no fun for him just schooling & jumping the whole time.
Get out hacking, do a beach ride , maybe go to local gallops or try a spot of hunter trialing...

The trips out I would be 99% sure will do the pair of you the world of good.

Enjoy your horse - its not meant to be a constant battle.:p

slumdog said:
Thanks for your replies. SG you got me thinking, although I dont jump every time I ride, I don't actually hack him out or have 'fun' on him. I school him on the flat to improve his jumping and I jump him. That's it, I've been putting so much pressure on myself and him to improve when actually I'm not a competitive rider and its supposed to be a hobby! I only jump fairly small, on average 2.9 but tbh I'd rather have a perfect 2ft clear round and just enjoy myself. Thinking about it more, he's probably as bored and fed up as I am!

I'll try v poles, Ive not tried them. At the moment I do basic flatwork, transitions and working on getting him underneath me in the canter, trotting poles and canter poles, I use a diagonal pole to try to get him to change legs (he changes his fronts but not always his backs) when jumping we do grid work, one stride and two stride doubles and canter poles into a jump.
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We don't jump lots now, but Dante used to flatten everything. He wouldn't stop much, just never really gave anything much effort? Or even when he did, he dropped legs left right & centre! Tried unusual stuff, V poles etc... no luck. If anything, worse as it just made him jump very weirdly! In fact one day, in a lesson, we jumped a wall jump & he took out every damn brick on it (it was 3ft ish). My instructor turned around & went 'well, that might make him pick his feet up!'. I half expected him to stop of jump mahoosive next time, and he still took it down. Needless to say, I thought he was just hopeless :o

Now, I haven't jumped much for months. Over a year in fact, bar popping the odd 2'6 upright or such for a giggle. Then we began incorporating poles on an almost daily basis into schooling & lunging. I found I couldn't lead him over them or he'd lean on me/want helping, so lunging actually was best as he HAD to work it out himself. Initially, he fell over a bit, tripped, and poles generally went everywhere :o After about a fortnight, I started to notice a bit of a difference. I purposely didn't make it 'easy'. Now, he's getting pretty good, and we're onto jumping on the lunge, grids, 4 jumps on a circle, stuff he finds pretty hard, and I have to say he's doing a LOT better, his general jump looks better too, he's thinking more, he's picking his legs up more, generally, looking good to me! :) We've yet to try the same under saddle as right now, I can hardly trot comfortably, but I'm fairly hopeful.

I do notice his awareness seems to drop a little if he has time off, it generally seems to be mostly a self awareness thing with Dan. He's not the sort to not care completely, and he does hit XC jumps too, so I think he genuinely found it hard. He might never be a show jumper but he's certainly improving which must be nice for him too :) I think him generally being stronger, better balanced etc helps too. I try & do lots of suppling/stretching exercises with him & just try to keep him in touch with himself, if that makes any sense? I guess it's easy to forget your body a bit when you're excited about jumping :p
 
Yeah you know what I'm def going to do that! I'm in the midlands so I couldn't get further from a beach lol but I'm going to find some nice hacking and bully my mum into bringing crazy cob along!

It's funny, my first pony was a proper bargain basement pony, wouldn't jump anything and after 18 months of falling off him suddenly we were getting clear rounds and we won quite a lot (he also still bronced me off quite a lot lol) but I was thinking earlier, I never had lessons, I never 'schooled' him, I just had fun on him so why won't B improve when I put all this work in, but really I was putting 'work' in to my old pony- I was just having fun doing it!
 
I feel your pain lol

But don't let others put your horse down that's not nice he still young and got lots to learn - I got some good advice on my thread and looks like you have read it , think we just need to keep ploughing away and our boys will come good for us.

I'm looking forward to a nice summer getting him out and stimulated , prob do him the world of good.

I will keep you posted how my lad gets on and if he learns to pick his big feet up xx
 
My 7 year old is very very careful, he hates touching a pole - unless we are at home jumping small fences when he is really careless. If we are having a lesson and it is a bit more challenging & the jumps are larger then he is fine, but I actively avoid jumping much at home to ensure he doesn't start hitting them.
In your place I would be inclined to stop jumping for a while, and then perhaps take him out to competitions/clinics away from home when it is all a bit more exciting.
 
Take off the boots, heavy poles, small and slow.

Don't panic, it will come. This is coming from the owner of a horse who would have every single fence down in a course regardless of whether it was 1ft6 or BE Intermediate if you let him.

Take a break, do some hacking, enjoy him whilst coming up with a new plan x
 
Also, make sure thw quality of the canter is good, that the horse is on the bridle and in a consistant rhythm :) Dont worry to much about the height of the fences at this stage. It can be improved! Also hexagonal poles are good for schooling careless horses with.
 
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