Blue refusing jumps last night - any ideas?

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Lill

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We loose schooled Blue last night and i whacked the double up quite high probably just over 4ft for the spread and bit smaller for the first part (3ft 9ish). But he stopped and refused the second part probably about 3 or 4 times and there was no way he would jump the spread. Had to make both parts a lot smaller and just straights at about 3ft3, 3ft6 ish before he would jump them. This is unlike him he usually flies round them at about 4ft.

Whats going on?
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Do you think maybe its cos he hasn't jumped much lately? Or because i've not been able to ride him so much as usual (been on holiday and then car was broken)? Holly was fine (although i put them lower for her cos she's only got little legs) and so were our 2 livery's horses (who to our knowledge had never done it before and one of them we put the jumps up to one hole below Blues height).

Am jumping him tonight but am a little worried now i don't want him to get into the habit of stopping, we are only gonna have the jumps at about 2ft9 or 3ft at a push to make it easy and fun?
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I almost asked if this was some kind of wind up? But then thought better of it.

My advice would be to stop asking your horse to jump stupid heights that he is either not capable of jumping - or not confident jumping. And get yourself an instructor who will teach you the basic principles of jumping a horse.
 
if he hasnt jumped much lately then i think its a bit much asking him to jump over 4ft! i always thought you should start with pole work then build up?!
 
Think maybe i should just stick with the 2ft 9 height for a while... He did really well show jumping over the winter in the 3 ft classes (didn't ask him to go any higher), getting constant double clears and i've never pushed him in the jumps offs always been nice and steady. He never refuses usually (well when i'm riding him!), maybe i just got a little carried away last night stupidly.
 
Sorry yes we did start with poles on the ground! Then built them up into cross poles and then upright jumps and then put the height of the upright jumps up.
 
Do you normally loose jump him a lot then? not something I'm that familiar with but I would see what he is like tonight before you get too worried.. It might be that he's lost his confidence somehow or maybe he's feeling a bit of pain somewhere?

Anyway, I'd take things fairly steady tonight, stat off small and don't over do it. If he goes well don't keep putting the fences up, just let him do a bit nicely and then leave it at that. If he's really not wanting to jump then it might be worth having his back checked and all that. I wouldn't have thought not being ridden much would make a lot of difference..

Hope he gets back on track soon!
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[ QUOTE ]
I almost asked if this was some kind of wind up? But then thought better of it.

My advice would be to stop asking your horse to jump stupid heights that he is either not capable of jumping - or not confident jumping. And get yourself an instructor who will teach you the basic principles of jumping a horse.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that is a bit harsh. It's different loose jumping, when I bought my horse he couldn't do anything but he jumped over 4 foot loose when we went to view him.
 
Well we try to loose jump them once a month generally? Although sometimes things crop up and its less than that.

Think idea is tonight is to put jumps at the 2ft 9 sort of height (jumping with friends and will be first time one of them is riding the others horse so will have to be quite small) and include a double and a cross pole and just see how he goes over those...
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Personally I see no value in loose jumping horses other than to evaluate their ability at an early age. It's totally different to jumping with a rider on their back and you are liable to cause yourself trouble and anxiety with the horse stopping or getting wound up.

Stick to jumping when you're riding and don't over do it...once a week should be plenty for anything that is already established.
 
Thanks Rambo. I never jump more than once a week its too much effort setting the jumps up and taking them down again that often! LOL!
 
sorry rambo i disagree i think loose jumping is excellent for allowing a horse to grow in confidence and judge for itself the correct jumping point, leading ultimately to a horse which does not need the rider to place it at the jumps and one that can therefore get itself out of sticky situations due to rider error. Of course what i just said only applies to careful and proper use of looseschooling, if the horse is refusing then obviously something has gone wrong!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Personally I see no value in loose jumping horses other than to evaluate their ability at an early age. It's totally different to jumping with a rider on their back and you are liable to cause yourself trouble and anxiety with the horse stopping or getting wound up.

Stick to jumping when you're riding and don't over do it...once a week should be plenty for anything that is already established.

[/ QUOTE ]

I TOTALLY agree! Snd feel very strongly about this.
 
I totally agree with Rambo, apart from being a way of showing you a young horses technique over a fence i don't really see any other benefits, in fact i actually think it can do more harm than good. As your horse is already established in it's jumping then i would school over the poles and jumps under saddle and stick to a height you are both comfortable with, as you have said you were jumping upto 3' so there is no need to freeschool over 4'! Good luck and i hope all gets back on track.
 
Sorry but I agree with AmyMay I thought this was a wind up until I read further on. Don't you think you are over facing him somewhat? If he consistently refusing then he is trying to tell you something. And you said yourself that you haven't ridden much lately let alone jumped him - perhaps you are asking too much at his level of fitness?
Take a step back and consider your horse a bit more or he won't even pop the 2ft 9" fences soon.
 
Agree with Rambo too. I dont see much point in loose jumping. Although for a young horse I think its a good way to introduce them to jumping without a rider and to see their technique etc. but I wouldnt loose jump an established horse. Whats the point?

I definately wouldnt ask my horse to loose jump any height if he hadnt been worked for a while, and I would have lowered the heights straight away if he'd refused even once let alone that many times.

Agree about not over-jumping a horse. I dont even jump my horses at home, only at competitions! They jump better fresher.
 
He has been worked just not the usual 5 times a week. I dont' tend to jump him at home during the winter when we are competing a lot, he goes better if i don't!

Again will take my camera tonight see if i can get some pics and try put them on here. Even if i can't get them on here next week (don't have the internet at home and can't really do it at work!) i will let you know how he goes tonight.
 
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