Any ideas?

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DanielleP

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I have a cracking 8yo ISH mare who really jumps for fun and is so enthusiatic with it. Won the british novice and discovery 2nd rounds in the same day, anyways i bought her to see if she would event.

Double clear first time out affiliated BE however the dressage is just not happening. She just doesnt have the frame of mind for it which is such a shame as her paces are to die for. Doesnt want to settle and submit. I really dont want to give up on this sweet horse who i love to bits. However sometimes i feel as if i am asking her to do a job she really doesnt want to do and think i should sell her on to some enthusiastic showjumper. Or put her in foal.

Does anyone have any ideas re establishing a calm frame of mind for her, schooling excercises? calmers? or reccomend anyone in the South east who has a prven track record with sharp horses and dressage?
 
Have you tried giving her a jump before you do your dressage? Can really help some horses. Or doing day before dressage, can help if there's no atmosphere? Nupafeed is supposed to be very good. Tried loads of things with a gelding of mine with varying success. If I were you I'd keep trying all this season, then maybe make a decision at the end if she'd be better off som,ewhere else. It's easy to take the jumping phases for granted, but if you sold her and bought something that turned out not to be as honest and enthusiatic that would be really discouraging too.
 
Hi I can recommend a good trainer/rider in the SE for lessons or dressage training. He's very good with sharp horses and is a very quiet rider. He's done wonders for me and Louis. I'll PM you details.
 
Firstly, may I ask what her breeding is? I mean specifically the sire and dam, as that may be relevant.

I train with a FBHS who makes me go back to working in walk whenever things go wrong, and it really has had a dramatic affect on my ISH, who like yours loved his jumping but thought dressage was for geeks. My warm up would now be 80% walking, then mostly trot. If you want someone in the south east, I would recommend Robert Pickles FBHS who is based in Hampshire.
 
My instructor is fab with sharp and quirky horses for lessons. I can PM if you want. It sounds like he needs to do dressage more frquently to improve this. My horse is the opposite and tends to get lazy and leave back end in another country. I have to take her for an opener before the test if poss or as said pop her over a fence.
 
any sort of jumping activity really revs her up , have also tried day before dressgae and although this does help, does not calm her sufficiently to give a decent test. Will look into the Nupafeed and see if that works. Many thanks
 
I'd be really interested to know, I breed IDs and there are some very definite trends in some lines. A lot of them take years to settle! Love 'em though
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My friend has a King of Diamonds/ Clover Hill mare and she is a sharp cookie. She has not managed to do a ODE yet as she is too tense in the dressage. She jumps like a stag and is so bold. I used Equifeast Cool, Calm and Collected on my horse for about 8months and it made a huge difference. She has now matured and fingers crossed no longer requires it
 
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