BE - showjumping help..

kzb

kzb

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I do BE with my mare, we are at 100 level. I really struggle with taking out loads of poles at events and I don't know how to fix it.

She jumps beautifully at home and in lessons and is never really 'careless' in these scenarios, ie she only knocks a pole if we get it really wrong. In competition she seems to just tap them a lot more!
However when I take her for SJ practise at competitions she never takes as many poles as she does eventing. I would usually compete in 1m/1.05 classes in pure SJ or arena eventing. I took her to do arena eventing at Port Royal and she took one pole out of 20 fences, and I literally planted her into the fence so she would have gone clear if I hadn't done that. In comparison we got 4 poles at Skipton today, there were only 9 fences (ok, two doubles.. but still!)! I don't know if it's being on grass or what? But I often jump her on grass at home and in lessons, so she is very used to it?

Any ideas for trick/tips/ideas to help us out? I think I have partially got into a mindset where I work myself up about it. I get the most nervous about SJ because I REALLY want to jump clear!! Even when I go SJ I am not as bothered as I am at BE events. I know she has all the capability to jump clear, so I would love to fix this issue and get us some frillies!
 
I think you have given the reason in your post, it is because the round at an event is so important that you go clear that you probably try too hard and become slightly tense/ ride slightly differently / become defensive, whatever it is just that minor change is going to be enough to have an influence on how the horse jumps.
How you deal with it depends on what you do differently at the event, it is probably very minor but just enough to be very expensive so it really matters to you.
Does any of her equipment differ? are you using suitable studs? can you try a totally new warm up routine, enter the ring in a new way, go with the attitude that it is "just another round" a slightly different approach may make her try harder, what will work for you is difficult to advise on as it is really very individual but this may give you a few ideas to try.
 
The same thing often happens to my daughter! All goes swimmingly at home etc and then in the ring it's like he kicks them out for fun! The only things we have found that have improved his performance have been not using ANY boots at all on his legs, just a pair of over reach boots and we try to get him to knock one out in the practise arena to remind him it hurts! Doesn't always work, but he's gone from having 4/5 down to 1/2. Incidentally, he always jumps better on a surface so we are convinced that grass plays a part here too?
 
'...we try to get him to knock one out in the practise arena to remind him it hurts!'
I would be very careful doing this, especially at BE events, as this could be classed as rapping and you could get pulled up for it by the stewards.
I jump with tendon boots but no over reach boots or fetlock boots which seems to work for my mare.
Just take your time and focus on riding smoothly and calmly. Don't worry about time, striding or even knocking them. Just treat it like a schooling round and ride what you feel and not how you think it should be.
All too often I see people warm up beautifully and then going into the area and suddenly start flapping and kicking to get the strides they walked, when they could easily hold for an extra and then they wonder why they had so many down.
 
Llee94 said:
'...we try to get him to knock one out in the practise arena to remind him it hurts!'
I would be very careful doing this, especially at BE events, as this could be classed as rapping and you could get pulled up for it by the stewards.
I jump with tendon boots but no over reach boots or fetlock boots which seems to work for my mare.
Just take your time and focus on riding smoothly and calmly. Don't worry about time, striding or even knocking them. Just treat it like a schooling round and ride what you feel and not how you think it should be.
All too often I see people warm up beautifully and then going into the area and suddenly start flapping and kicking to get the strides they walked, when they could easily hold for an extra and then they wonder why they had so many down.
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Apologies perhaps that statement was a bit misleading! We don't touch the poles as he's jumping in any way at all. I am familiar with rapping and would NEVER practise something like that. What I mean is, she will deliberately try to get him in too deep which will do one of 2 things, either make him really use himself, as he should!, or he will take the pole out in front, which is how he always knocks fences, never with the hind legs/feet. Our trainer advised us to do this and it doesn't always work, but if he does have a knock in practise, he usually goes on to go clear or maybe have an unlucky pole. It's always when he hasn't had a pole down in the collecting ring that he will be guaranteed to have one down in the ring!
 
chocolategirl said:
What I mean is, she will deliberately try to get him in too deep which will do one of 2 things, either make him really use himself, as he should!, or he will take the pole out in front, which is how he always knocks fences, never with the hind legs/feet..............It's always when he hasn't had a pole down in the collecting ring that he will be guaranteed to have one down in the ring!
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Assuming she gets him deep by shortening the canter and holding? If this is the case then it suggests the canter in the ring is too long and flat. Long flat canter is not uncommon in eventers. The canter used XC always makes the SJ canter seem collected when in reality it isn't. The other common problem is shortening the canter by de-powering the horse.
The shorter the canter becomes the more power it must have.
 
Please don't think I was saying I think you lift the poles up! Nobody in their right mind would do that to a horse, let alone in a warm up at an event.
What I meant is that if you are seen to intentionally ride your horse in such a way that it will knock a fence on purpose in the warm up, then they class that as rapping and you could be pulled up.
 
Your daughter feeling a bit more nervous about it will absolutely be enough for her to tighten almost imperceptibly in the back, neck and arms... which can be more than enough to make a horse tighten and hit fences. (Trust me, I know!) It would help if a trainer can watch her at home and at an event, and observe the differences. Then, when you know what the difference is, her sole objective in the next BE showjumping needs to be 'I will ride round with soft arms' or 'I will ride with a soft back' or whatever she needs to correct the difference... NOT I want to jump clear / I want not to hit fences...
 
I think it's very commn for eventers to struggle in the SJ as another poster said its to do with the canter. Daughters horse is very soft in the mouth and doesn't naturally take her to the fences so it's very difficult for her to hold him to get him on his hocks. She tends to 'freewheel' around the ring so yes, he tends to get flat. She has a real stumbling block with the SJ so rides differently in the ring than in training because she's convinced he's going to knock them all down! OP maybe you too have a 'phobia' about the SJ phase so ride your horse differently without realising it?.
 
Oh so many responses, thank you all.

be positive - yes I think you're right, I must change something! I ride in the same equipment - boots/bit/bridle/saddle everything is the same. she doesn't like big studs so I use as small as I can get away with and she always feels alright - and warms up well. I've tried long warm ups, short warm ups, jumping more before I go in, jumping less before I go in... nothing makes her particularly different!

chocolategirl - I used to work for a pro rider and the first thing she had me do was get rid of boots! I jump only in over reach boots (she occasionally pulls shoes so I would rather keep those on!) She also used to have me ride her quite deep into every warm up fence, but again it made no major difference to the performance in the ring. I used to ride her far too much into a fence and try to alter her too much, so she smacked poles out left right and centre - I don't do that now, and we come to nearly every fence on a good, natural forward stride, but she just taps them out. I definitely have a sj phobia :( I'm starting to hate the phase which is a shame as I used to SJ her before I started eventing (admittedly we weren't very good, hence the switch lol). But I absolutely dread it just before I go in, so wouldn't be surprised if I ride her differently.

philamena - I do need my instructor to watch at an event so he can see what's happening, as he has nothing but nice things to say in lessons, and believes she'll easily take me round a Novice. Unfortunately even when I instruct the mother to video, she still takes photos, so I can't watch back and see how it looks (I have a lot of videos of me riding in lessons, though).


It's a very annoying problem because I feel like all the training in the world in a non-event environment won't make a difference!
 
how fit is she ? You say she doesnt have many down schooling or at showjumping, maybe she is tired when it comes to the show jumping section after xc. Take her for a hard ride equivalent to a xc ride, then jump her at home in your lesson and see how many she has down .
 
neddy man said:
how fit is she ? You say she doesnt have many down schooling or at showjumping, maybe she is tired when it comes to the show jumping section after xc. Take her for a hard ride equivalent to a xc ride, then jump her at home in your lesson and see how many she has down .
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She is pretty fit, I ride 5/6 days a week and have a weekly work plan. She recovered very quickly after the XC on sunday, so I am not too worried about her fitness levels.
At the level I do, showjumping is before XC, so tiredness is not an excuse in this case :)
 
I feel you probably have the answers already in your posts, you just need to take the action required to get it sorted. So train mum on video-ing, or even ask the instructor to come along to your next event! Sometimes you have to do yourself the courtesy of investing in yourself like a pro would. And if they realised there was a problem and thought they knew the way through, they'd expect it of themselves to get moving on getting it sorted. Whereas we amateurs bumble along thinking we SHOULD be able to get better! :-)
 
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