Can you make a horse brave?

[MegaBeast]

I've got a 6y.o. TBxID mare that is pretty inexperienced, she completed an intro at west wilts last year after some pretty intensive schooling by a professional just before I bought her in October. Since having her she seems to lack guts jumping and will stop on take off having given no inclination on the approach.

Took her to the VWH fun ride yesterday and she was pretty sticky, we ended up getting stuck on a hanging log when the front end took off and the back end didn't. First time I've done any XC with her but even at home over show jumps she'll stop if she's not on the perfect stride and she's so late stopping that she'll invariably knock the jump over with her knees. Seems to be a confidence problem (on her side) and she loses confidence very easily. Only jumping small stuff at the moment (max 80cm) but did jump her over 1m when I first had her but had to take things easy for first couple of months as she went anorexic - very sensitive mare and was upset by the move.

So, my question is can you make a gutless horse brave?

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[TableDancer]

The very short answer is that you almost certainly can give your mare enough confidence to do what you are asking her to do happily, but it may take time and patience. In order to start to build up her confidence, you need jumping to start to be a pleasant fun experience in her eyes - that's not the case at the moment if she is stopping, sliding into fences and getting stuck on top of them

It's impossible to diagnose why this is happening without seeing you - could be a variety of contributing factors to do with her health/soundness, her schooling, your riding etc etc. I suggest you try and find a knowledgeable instructor in your area who can take a look and give you some advice to help get you started

But the key will be to find a level you and she can do comfortably and confidently, then build up from there. Good luck

 

[rlhnlk]

Have you had her back etc checked? I ask because this is the behaviour my horse displayed and she had done her back in two places and I was told it was probably uncomfortable all the time but painful when jumping especially if she had to stretch or be more athletic i.e a less than perfect stride.
I agree with table dancer about making it fun- take it back to poles and tiddly 20cm cross poles if you need to then build up slowly.

 

[glamourpuss]

I had a horse who was very much like how you say your mare is. It does require an awful lot of patience and time but they can certainly become a lot more confident in themselves.

After you have ruled out any physical reasons for her behaviour it is worth speaking to an instructor who you know isn't going to push her too hard.
I would also go back to absolute basics with her there is no point continuing as you are now because every time she stops/ scares herself it is reinforcing that jumping is 'scarey'

Also you will end up loosing more and more confidence.
The horse I had I started back with some pole work and then some very simple and tiny grids. I would also sometimes just warm up literally pop a couple of tiny crosspoles, give him a big pat and leave him at that. This seemed to remind him that jumping wasn't always hard work or overly tiring and kept it really fresh for him.

Crosscountry was a little different, it is really important to keep it absolutely tiny and uncomplicated to start with. Trotting over any tiny logs you might find out hacking helps. Hunting also helped him but again i was very careful not to jump anything big or frightening.

I took the stance that for this horse it didn't matter the height of the fence he just had to go around it and enjoy himself.

 

[MegaBeast]

Thanks, probably made it sound worse than it really is. Most of the time she's happy and does seem to be enjoying herself.

What got me yesterday was there was a line of three hanging logs with four or five strides in between each, she jumped the first two fine, then was on the right stride into the third but hesitated on take off and that was the one she got stuck on. Pretty sure it's not my riding as I do have regular lessons and have discussed it with my instructor and she generally jumps well in lessons! I'm not asking her to do anything she's not capable of as keeping it all small and simple, and she gives every impression going in that she will jump and to be fair 9 times out of 10 she does! Just finding it highly frustraing trying to unlock the talent that I keep getting glimpses of, guess she just needs a lot more experience and miles on the clock.

Guess what I'm asking really is does anyone have or know of a horse that started out wimpish but then grew in confidence, and what changed to give me some hope for the future. I'm prepared to put in the time if it will be worth it in the end.

 

[kit279]

Sounds to me like a young inexperienced horse that needs more time and more homework. A decent pro can get an inexperienced horse round an Intro because they, the rider, are experienced and can imbue the horse with enough confidence to jump round. But that doesn't mean that the horse has had enough jumping experience to do it of its own accord with a less experienced rider on board. You've no idea whether it was a sticky 'almost didn't make it' completion or not. Go back to basics, don't rush to get out competing. The height is not the issue here. Some basic XC schooling over small fences where she can't scare herself is the way to go. Likewise, small showjumps where she can safely go over from a standstill if need be. If you can find someone who knows what they're doing, loose jumping can help as well. Basically, lots of little fun things that are not scary and don't hurt if she gets it wrong.

FWIW I had similar problems with my chestnut horse (in sig) who had never jumped before last year. He had a little time off over Christmas where I just hammered the flatwork and hunted him a few times. He's much bolder now and while he will always be a careful horse, more inclined to stop than 'have a go', he is infinitely more confident in his own ability and since I'm not wanting him to go to Badminton, that's enough for me.

 

[MegaBeast]

All useful food for thought, have a dilemma regarding going back to tiddly basics because she seems to find tiny stuff harder than bigger, but obviously can't really scare herself over tinies when it goes pear shaped. Pretty sure it's not a physical problem, saddles were checked in Jan and teeth November time, might be worth getting her back looked at though, although looking at the way she hoons around when shes turned out I doubt it's a problem, she's very athletic then!

KW33, I know it varies tremendously, but how long did it take for your horse to grow in confidence?

Think a seasons hunting will do her the world of good, would have gone last season but she went anorexic when I got her and took about four months to get her eating properly and putting weight back on by which time it was the end of the season!

 

[MegaBeast]

kit279 that's really encouraging thanks. I have loose schooled her a bit myself but not for a couple of months, really helped her think for herself and not rely on me. I'm lucky as we've got an idoor school where we can build a jumping lane down the side. Will do a bit more of that.

 

[glamourpuss]

My horse sounded much worse than yours he would stop at *anything*, he was happily doing 2ft 6'' spooky showjumping rounds and went clear round a novice hunter trials after about 6 months of work. I continued doing lots and lots of unaff stuff on him for about another 9 months and then he went on to Pre-novice (was in the days before intro

)

He was a perfectly capable chap but used to frighten himself very easily. He went back to his owner and has thoroughly enjoyed eventing, showjumping and team chasing with her.
He would always be more likely to 'stop and have a look' rather than leap into the unknown but with a lot of groundwork and positive riding he did produce some good results.
He was never the sort of horse you could just 'go' to a competition on, he always required a lot of work at home to keep his confidence up.

 

[JenniferB]

My little horse is the biggest wimp in the world - EVERYTHING in the world is scary! His jumping career started ok but then he decided it was scary and would plant himself in a corner of the ring and 'tigger' for 5 mins or tank off. Nearly three years on he's still infuriatingly wussy at home and will spook at the most ridiculous things but in the last year and a half he's gotten so much more bold out and about to the extent that he can get cocky! He's jumped at loads of different venues and seen all sorts of scary fences and to be honest he seldom bats an eyelid any more. I just don't put on too much pressure at home and let him do his thing at shows, 9 times out of 10 it works just fine. Suppose what I'm trying to say is that your horse will probably start to become more bold over time but every horse is different - I could NEVER have hunted him he would probably have had a heart attack he'd have stressed so much, and he still gets a bit uptight loose jumping, but by getting into a routine (Monday off, Tuesday flat schooling, Wednesday session on the gallops, Thursday a little jumping, Friday quiet schooling then Saturday and Sunday out at shows) he got a lot more bold and confident. Good luck with yours, keep persevering and remember you might have to use a bit of trial and error to get the right method!

 

[MegaBeast]

Thank you all so much. That's really cheered me up. Originally I was hoping to get her out doing BE Intros in March then PN by the end of the year (seemed realistic last October) but think I'll just stick with fun rides and unaffil baby stuff until next year, unless she has an enormous confidence boost over the next couple of months, fingers crossed!

KW33 your horse sounds very similar to my girl, I know what you mean about needing a lot of work at home, Meg struggles with her canter (it's very big) and if I don't do much work on it for a couple of days, say day off and then hack I need to put things back togther a bit before progessing again.

 

[kerilli]

there was a question about this last week, lots of good answers, worth a look for. i'd say yes, you can teach bravery... but... only if the horse is really anxious to please. if so, you can get over the cowardice, given time. i turned a wimp into a totally reliable Intermediate/2* eventer who would have gone further if tough enough.
but... i've also seen a lovely able horse owned and ridden by a very experienced (top 4*) rider which won 1st time out at PN and then never got round a N clear. horse had no natural bravery, was over-faced, started saying No and really meaning it, and there was no going back.
When it comes down to it, good xc horses enjoy the xc, enough to help out etc. if they really don't enjoy jumping, I think it's safer and kinder to say "okay, you're a hack/dr horse instead." my wimp used to wimp out strides away, never ever on take-off. i'd be v worried by a horse getting hooked over fences, saying No at very last stride like that.

 

[ASM2]

YES!!

My horse was a very very yellow 4,5,6,7 and 8 year old. I didn't event him as I couldn't even get him around a tiny local xc. He'd school around a xc alright-ish (several silly stops always) but at tiny comps would completely throw in the towel and stop point blank 3/4 metres away whilst shaking frantically the entire time. No amount of confidence boosting or serious banjoing made a jot of difference whether ridden by OH or by me.

Anyway, something's clicked over the last year

. I schooled him around Oasby N (I know it's not big but to be fair to us both we've never evented!) straight round, absolutely no probs and this is what he got up to with OH last week

:

Leading the field

- ABSOLUTELY unheard of 2 yrs ago!

I'm thinking I might start eventing him

.

 

[ASM2]

Actually just read your question properly! Sorry! Answer = NO. Couldn't make him brave. I think he's finally just grown up

.