Bitting or exercises to help an over excited girlie when jumping

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pollana

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After some advice - my 7 year old works very nicely in a NS verbinden on the flat but when the jumps go up she is like a kid in a candy shop and gets a little over excited! Once she lands (even over the smallest of fences) she often runs on, not particularly strong but just seems sooo excited and has to keep trotting or cantering for a few strides without listening. This makes riding a course quite tricky as turning is a little delayed.

I tried my other mares waterford snaffle (this girlie had worn this some months before ok) but this time she really resented the strength of this bit and just stopped going forward which made the actual jumping awful. Quickly removed this and back to schooling her over fences but she struck the back of her front right with the other hoof the other week by being a t*t after a fence so need to address this issue sooner rather than later.

Any thoughts would be gratefully received either regarding bitting or perhaps some exercises to get her listening to me after the fence and not running around as though she has just completed the HOYS puissance wall!:D

Thanks
 
Do lots of trotting and cantering in and around all the fences until she is settled. Start by jumping very small cross poles/trotting poles and making her halt within 2 to 3 strides of landing. You must be consistent with this until you are entirely confident that you are in control!
 
I had something similar with mine. We worked on lots of grids, also putting poles after fences as it gave him something else to think about. Also spent some time simply *making* him halt within strides of landing, so he knew he couldn't just keep bogging off. It didn't take long before he realised he couldn't do it! He also won't tolerate a stronger bit but TBH he was just getting a bit over-excited and being cheeky, rather than needing something stronger.

Have you tried those sorts of exercises?
 
both have been said before but lots of gridwork and bounces help, as well as putting up jumps and doing flatwork near them/next to them rather than jumping them are excellent. My trainer also incorporates circles into our jumping lessons - i.e if your horse is being too fast/excitable a few strides out from a jump, circle the horse away from the jump, bring her back round and jump it, this should encourage her to listen to your aids and to jump when you want to, rather than when she does :)
 
It maybe just excitement but it could also be a physical reason. If she feels something tweaking or pinching when she lands that could cause her to run off. I'd start with the usual teeth, physio and saddle checks to rule out any pain before going any further. If there's no physical reason found then get a couple of lessons with someone who can set up exercises and poles appropriate for you both
 
Thanks all for your replies. We have regular lessons and of those a jumping lesson every other week. The circling does really help settle her before the fence so will have to go back to that. My instructor was also of the opinion that we need to make her halt a few strides after the jump but this resulted in the tantrum that caused the heamatoma from bashing her legs together!! - Might need to start off with a circle after the jump and work back up to the full stop to avoid another bout of box rest.
Teeth and saddle been checked about 4 and 2 weeks respectively and chiro checked back at beginning of August so hopefully just a cheeky mare thing instead of an ouch thing.
 
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