Anyone got any jumping ideas for ...

[NicoleS_007]

a horse which is not thrilled at the sight of a jump!! He gets more excited doing a flying change over a pole on the ground than jumping ... Our arena is on a slight slant so going into a jump uphillish is like slow motion then downhill or across the diagonal is normal paced. He doesnt get excited at the sight of a jump the canter stays the same as if theres no jump there! he also likes to back off the first part of the double then jumps the second element superbly. Does anyone have any smart jumping ideas to make my horse excited about jumping or make him really take them on?

 

[EgerdenFarmStud]

I would be over the moon if all of our horses stayed in the same canter to a fence...Makes your life so much easier!

Just because he / she doesn't change pace, or get wound up about it, it doesn't mean he / she isn't excited about it...Maybe just level headed??

x

 

[Sparkles]

Hunting

And up his feed maybe? And create imaginative jumping exercises to really get him awake and thinking....really have a good sharp snappy warm-up to get the feeling you want him to jump like [= snappy and forwards], lots of direct transitions, even a short gallop/extended canter to-halt if you can and similar, snappy rein changes, etc.
For jumping maybe get into 'jump off mode' and make your turns a bit more sharper and build to fenced to require thought and really ride forwards yourself, give him voice encouragement etc.

Any XC jumps or gallops with chase fences near by you could take him with someone else to really get him firing and excited about it and taking them on galloping?

My lads similar jumping [allbeit, prone to having them down] but my god his jumping changes if you jump him away from home [ie, at a show, fun ride, XC etc]. His laid backness disappears and I finally get that sparky ex racer I forget that is in there somewhere haha Wakens him up once we're home for a few weeks too.

If that's any help lol...if he jumps round cleanly and calmly, then I'd keep it like that

 

[NicoleS_007]

Also could do with some ideas on how the hack to get a right stride we either end up taking off to early or get to deep or what happened last week, i asked for a long one, he thought about it said no ta, got to deep stopped then walked through it i found it rather amusing actually haha ... but actually i have found that the less time he has to think the better striding he gets and jumps better, so about 2-3 strides to see the jump.

Oh Blinky iv always wanted to try hunting. I was goin to attempt it a couple of years ago on him then didnt but im glad i didnt as we took him to a go as you pleas xc and the amount of horses mad him freak and he just reared constantly lol oopsies ohhh i could add oats on his jumping day that might work?! ... im also liking the galloping and steeplechase idea

ETS .. yes he tends to have poles down!!

 

[fitzaud2]

This is totally old school, but starting counting down from ten strides out, or what you think would be. Count out loud, it does work. I got it wrong for the first 50 times, but then began seeing my stride, and "fixing" if we were wrong. It's very boring, but it does work, even if you feel like an idiot counting out loud and getting it wrong. Hope it works out!!

 

[NicoleS_007]

This is totally old school, but starting counting down from ten strides out, or what you think would be. Count out loud, it does work. I got it wrong for the first 50 times, but then began seeing my stride, and "fixing" if we were wrong. It's very boring, but it does work, even if you feel like an idiot counting out loud and getting it wrong. Hope it works out!!

Shall give that a go i sometimes go 3, 2, WRONG STRIDE ... whilst shouting wrong stride in mid air i can tell if im on the wrong stride about 2 strides out and just think oh poo kick for dear life lol i could really benifit from jumping lessons me thinks, oh someday lol

 

[mystiandsunny]

The only horse I've ever known who wasn't excited about jumping, was my mare who has a physical problem (locking stifles) which, in her youth, caused her to be that bit unsure about taking all her weight on her hind legs for take-off. Now she's older, more muscled up, and knows it'll be ok, she LOVES it. My RI always says that all horses enjoy jumping unless there's a physical problem or bad experience.

Regarding seeing a stride, if your horse is young/inexperienced, and prone to a pole down, you may find it's easier for both of you to go for a longer take-off until the muscles for a more collected canter build up.

 

[NicoleS_007]

The only horse I've ever known who wasn't excited about jumping, was my mare who has a physical problem (locking stifles) which, in her youth, caused her to be that bit unsure about taking all her weight on her hind legs for take-off. Now she's older, more muscled up, and knows it'll be ok, she LOVES it. My RI always says that all horses enjoy jumping unless there's a physical problem or bad experience.

Regarding seeing a stride, if your horse is young/inexperienced, and prone to a pole down, you may find it's easier for both of you to go for a longer take-off until the muscles for a more collected canter build up.

He actually does have a chipped nav bone on his front right!! But his way of going hasnt changed at all apart from he prefers to land on the right rein which i find strange as thats the dodgy leg!!! He is a completely different horse over the winter were he is far more enthusiastic to jump and do anything just in general actually!!!

 

[Sparkles]

Maybe he's just more a 'fresh, wind up his tail' winter horse for 'sparkyness' and maybe up his feed during the summer months?


And placing pole out before the jump to get the right stride all the time and pick his feet up?

Or just up the jump heights....mine's an idle git when they're tuny and does his worlds best riding school pony impression lol. So much for crazy ex racer! Soon as they start getting 3'3+ he livens up a lot and puts ooomph into it finally. Specially got excited over doing huuuuge 6-7ft triple bar spreads yesterday with a young girl who comes down to ride him a couple of times each week And XC side by side with another horse.

For his 'poleknocking' fetish, make the fences more substancial -pop a pole across diagonally on top of a parallel spread to pick his feet up more, pop plastic bags or a rug on the poles to give him something to look at and pick his feet up [though be wary of this if he's prone to backing off], for uprights pop a drop pole sticking out slightly from it fromon top of the upright to make him pick his feet up more over them too etc.....get creative and challenge him more! And bounces, angles, etc

 

[NicoleS_007]

Yea we did try him on 3kg of performance mix but it didnt do anything apart from make him spooky when out of the yard lol ...Blinky youve givin me enough ideas to last quite a while now, as i jump once a week Well we are going to the field to jump round some fillers etc which he hasnt done in a while so hopefully it will make him think aswell piccies shall follow

PS yes the smaller the jump the more gormless he is

 

[Sparkles]

Haha! Got a years worth of ideas and exercises I've had to do with my lad [some with succes, some without!].....so if you need any more let me know! haha

 

[mystiandsunny]

He actually does have a chipped nav bone on his front right!! But his way of going hasnt changed at all apart from he prefers to land on the right rein which i find strange as thats the dodgy leg!!! He is a completely different horse over the winter were he is far more enthusiastic to jump and do anything just in general actually!!!

From what you say here, several things come to mind:
1. He prefers to land on the right lead (so left fore hitting the ground first). This shows he's not 100% happy yet on his right fore. The foreleg that hits the ground first takes all the weight of the horse and the rider - MUCH more force than just being worked in walk/trot/canter.
2. He's happier in the winter. The ground is softer in the winter so less concussion on his forelegs, and you do say you jump him in the field.
3. Given that he has to land on a certain lead leg, with as least concussion as possible, to make jumping ouch-free (because there's still quite a lot of pressure on the foreleg that lands second), he's never going to race into the jump, as that would mean he loses control over what he's doing and can't guarantee the landing.

 

[NicoleS_007]

From what you say here, several things come to mind:
1. He prefers to land on the right lead (so left fore hitting the ground first). This shows he's not 100% happy yet on his right fore. The foreleg that hits the ground first takes all the weight of the horse and the rider - MUCH more force than just being worked in walk/trot/canter.
2. He's happier in the winter. The ground is softer in the winter so less concussion on his forelegs, and you do say you jump him in the field.
3. Given that he has to land on a certain lead leg, with as least concussion as possible, to make jumping ouch-free (because there's still quite a lot of pressure on the foreleg that lands second), he's never going to race into the jump, as that would mean he loses control over what he's doing and can't guarantee the landing.

This is actually great info, iv been wreching my brains trying to understand why he lands on the dodgie leg and never thought of that Thanks ... I dont jump in fields lol theres an indoor and oudoor that i usually use but the not all weather so go hard in the summer and flood in the winter Il only jump in the field once in a blue moon lol sorry for the confussion