Can you turn a coward into a cross country machine?

B

BBP

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 July 2008
Messages
6,587
Visit site
My pony is pretty scopey but has all the courage of the lion in the wizard of oz and the attention span of a gnat. (I am much the same, only I lack the scope part!). I realise that a slightly cowardly rider is not the way to make a brave horse so this isn't the best start. So really I'm just looking for any stories of horses who started off chicken and have turned out to be good cross country horses, how you did it and any tips.

A few pics to remind me that we can do it:
making what I thought was a sizeable fence look small:
IMG_7768_zps0d65c915.jpg

Sadly didn't get a pic of him jumping this but this is the one he popped without hesitation, so we went back to check the size (its the first time I have really felt him jump, mostly I do stuff so small he doesn't have to). Quite a sizeable oxer for a little 14hh chap:
IMG_7898_zps69d05f93.jpg

IMG_7647_zps0a5dd0e9.jpg

IMG_7651_zps04ebd3bb.jpg

IMG_7634_zps2899ee38.jpg

IMG_2958_zps0975a92a.jpg


And the cowardly side:
IMG_3110_zps022025ad.jpg

Thank you
 
Sometimes with great training and a good rider. But you have to start with the right raw materials frankly for it to be worth the effort and ultimately as you go up the levels it will usually come and bite you on the arse.
 
I've been trying for 3 years. Mine is very spooky and careful, he will stop, look then jump. The more I do, the better he is but I have to really ride every fence as he can stop at the slightest thing. I have found hunting and hunt rides help and make him more forward thinking but as soon as he has a break we go back to square one.
my next horse be braver as I'm not sure I would want this again.
 
Going pairs x-country (probably some hunter trial coming up with pairs classes and great fun!)can get them going a bit, and a pair of spurs for back up. Mine was a bit in awe of everything going on to start with and is now a cob version of a 'x-country machine'
 
It doesn't help that he is quite wizzy and cocky so will ride towards a fence a little too fast if I'm not careful, meaning I tend to take my leg off a little and then he throws down the anchor last second to check it out.
I know all the stuff I do wrong, I just struggle to fix it! I think a little more sj through the winter should build our confidence.
 
Have you had much / any XC training? That's the first place is start.
I wonder if when you say he goes to fences fast and cocky, whether it's actually a bit of anxiety? I'm experiencing this ATM. Mine is actually pretty bold and loves XC but now we've stepped it up a level SJ, he feels like he's too fast and a bit silly but is actually a little anxious. I feel it's fast, take my leg off and then we chip in or take fliers.
 
Sorry, that's what I meant, he is cocky in that he thinks he can do things without my advice but definitely not confident, he is certainly a little anxious about life. I have had some training at jump cross but haven't found an instructor I rate yet. I have just found a really good sj coach though so I'm hoping that will be a good start in building our confidence.
 
Have you tried having a XC lesson? Maybe join a clinic/group lesson so there are other horses doing the same thing. An instructor will hopefully be able to boost your confidence and help you get him into the fences well so that he has been set up well and feels confident enough to jump :)
 
My first port of call would be getting lessons then. There's no substitute for eyes on the ground. I do all sorts of things I'm not meant to and don't do things I m supposed to do so I have to have regular lessons.
Where are you based? Might be worth finding a BE accredited coach near you for some XC and sj training. I have my flat, sj and some XC training with the same eventer then will have one off XC lessons with whoever teaches at a particular venue I want to train at. I think you might find getting a good instructor on the case will prob sort out your probs.
To answer your original question - I'm not sure you can turn a coward into a XC machine but you can make a horse braver for sure.
 
i think it depends what you mean by a coward. i have a tb who is the biggest wimp xc ever and ive eventually given up after 2 years of getting nowhere but he just hates xc its not that he's a spooky horse hes just a giant wimp. if your horse is genuinely scared of xc i dont think theres really much you can do but if its just that you have a spooky horse i think you have a chance of overcoming it. this is just my opinion though so feel free to ignore it!!!
 
I did it!

I had a pony which was connie x, fantastic jump but was very stubborn xc - and absolutely hated ditches!! At the time I was 14/15. i like to think I was more stubborn than him though - after many, many eliminations We went to a pc event and we stopped at every fence once but i got so cross that he *** well sure jumped it the second time!! i did end up finishing the course with approx 460 jumping penalties... :o

However, that appeared to do the trick - he never faulted xc again and we ended up on NI tetrathlon team, we finished 5th at the pc eventing championships and won lots more odes! in his case I just had to get tough - basically it was jump it or else. I never had a problem again :D

b4339163-c155-4107-81f4-b51b52bd1052_zpscac675d7.jpg


It does depend on why they are stopping - green, naughty, etc. as they all have different ways of being dealt with! If he is a coward then he needs more outings, more experience and allowed time to work out what is being asked, or if just taking the pee might need a little more persuasion! But agree with others, lessons would be a good place to start with him i think :)
 
I think to be safe and successful at XC you do need a naturally bold horse with the right attitude for it.
A horse with the brain for XC makes it feel so easy.
Saying that a strong and confident rider can make a spooky horse braver. The horse will always have that tendancy to slip back again though with a less brave rider, not enough practice or a bad jump.
I don't think you are serious about eventing though it's more for fun? Those jumps look good to me! Try throwing your heart over every fence, being 100% committed always helps and lessons to teach you to ride him into a fence securely in front of your leg but not rushing. It's much harder for them to stop that way!
 
KatPT said:
My pony is pretty scopey but has all the courage of the lion in the wizard of oz and the attention span of a gnat. (I am much the same, only I lack the scope part!). I realise that a slightly cowardly rider is not the way to make a brave horse so this isn't the best start.
Click to expand...

I think that this may be the crux of your problems OP, your fear feeds into the horses fear, so no matter how brave the horse is, if the rider isn't feeling particularly courageous, the horse picks up on that and behaves accordingly. Obviously from the mix of pics you have, you are doing cross country schooling and a bit of competing.

Do you have an instructor/really competent friend that can have a sit on him and give you an unbiased opinion? What does your instructor say (if you have one)? I think it is best to figure out if the courage issue is a you problem, a horse problem, or a bit of both, as the solution can vary a bit depending on which it is.
 
I know that every instructor we have every used for Mini TX, (only a couple before you ask), have all said the same thing with an event horse. You can always improve the dressage and showjumping, but if a horse doesnt have the right attitude for the xc element, then you can probably improve it, but you will truly never have a really good event horse. Having said that, our mare is as brave as lion, and very clever xc. Her dressage is normally impeccable as she is so dam pretty and moves extremely well. Her showjumping lets her down, but its improved. I guess typical event horse, but we love her as she is and normally her good dressage score and clear xc round compensates for the pole rolling.

However, who am I to tell you what to do. From a personal perspective, although I havent evented myself, I have hunted a bit and it made my old cob a lot braver and bolder. I would also listen to those of you who advocate lessons, particularly with an instructor who is experienced - possibly one of the BE accredited ones, or even try a clinic with a top rider and a few friends - always fancied doing one myself, but horse too old now. Maybe try a more experienced xc rider to take your horse xc schooling and see how he behaves.

I wish you luck with it.
 
I think a lot depends on why the horse is a "coward". Does he/she lack scope, not understand what is being asked or lack confidence in the rider? With a lack of scope you will be limited regardless of what you do. Schooling to prepare for going xc over show jumps will help if they don't understand what they are being asked to dopreferably with the guidance of a good coach. A lack of confidence or knowledge on the rider's part obviously needs to be addressed with plenty of lessons too, experienced eyes on the ground are invaluable.

One of our horses had done a bit of show jumping before starting his eventing career and as he had a lot of scope but tended to be very careful, giving his fences a lot of air, I did wonder if he would make an eventer. At his first event he came across a big open field towards the water which was a mini lake. He saw the expanse of water and about 50 yards out panicked, spinning round and trying to run back the way he had come - it was clearly something he didn't understand and no way was he risking himself by going near it! He was cajoled through it and from then on got progressively bolder eventually going 2* - sadly as he got bolder he definitely wasn't as careful show jumping.
 
As others have alluded to, you cannot expect this pony to be confident XC when you the rider are not confident. I have brought on a fair few young event horses and the one thing that you cannot put a price on is the attitude. But fundamentally the horse's attitude can be affected by the way it is trained as a youngster.

When the young horse lacks confidence and faces a moment of indecision, the rider has to be pro-active and immediately respond to make the horse decide. If the rider lacks confidence in this moment then the horse will sense that and if he is not genuinely confident he will refuse to go.

After a period of time he will develop a habit of stopping when he lacks confidence and senses the rider is not asserting themselves. It is sometimes then too late to correct this bad habit.

It may not be curtains for your pony just yet. The best thing to do would be to get a confident rider or pro to pop on board and take him XC schooling. At the same time YOU would benefit from having a go on a confident schoolmaster type who will not place you in these moments of indecision.

Until you improve your own confidence, your pony will not respect you and will continue to chicken out. YOU need to WANT to get to the other side of the fence. There can be no doubts or fears in your mind. I would recommend starting out on smaller courses to begin with and DO NOT let him refuse. If the fence is only 2 ft high he should go from a standstill. Use your stick if necessary.

Basically he needs re-training! It may or may not be too late/possible.
 
Last edited:
I've had my horse since he was three. He was originally meant to be a hack for my mum, I had done all the ground work and it was clear he wasn't taking any confidence from her, and was starting to stop. So I took over the ride I've nursed his confidence, kept him in his comfort zone, made him feel really clever when he got it right. Kept it really small to start with so he could jump from a standstill. Tried hunting him last year, didn't work found it overwhelming.

He's at his best when he's jumped regularly. He jumped a lovely double clear last week at his first BE90 and today has been hound exercising and was very bold.

He gets his confidence from me, if I don't tell him it's definitely safe to go, I think he'd make the decision to avoid. Certainly when my mother rides him if she's not committed he takes her round fences, not in naughty way, just in a if you're not certain I'm not risking it way. He's never had an XC fault with me and thoroughly enjoys himself - and I'm no William FP. He just trusts that I won't ask him to do something unreasonable as I never have?

So yes, I think you can make a horse more confident, but one of you has to have the confidence in the first place?

Definitely lessons, or see if you can ride something that is confident?
 
I learned a very good lesson a long long time ago. In the middle of the steeplechase race from hell ,with a flooded (literaly) course and horses falling like autumn leaves everywhere. I lost my whip(jumping a fence, horse then rider as a triple,I think I can be forgiven this).I thought that I was done for ,but then started to Ride with hands and heels!We not only got round but he jumped better than ever before. WHY!
Horses are herd animals and 99% of the time want a strong leader to tell them what to do . But when things go wrong ,they are really sharp at spotting when the leader has lost the plot!If the leader is a human and the threat is a fence, generally the first thing the horse spots is that the rider is waving that flyswatter about and flapping like a demented duck!This doesnt look good thinks our equine hero, best I stop !I would always choose a spur before a whip, there is no loss of contact or balance ,merely the reinforcement of the leg aid. Whips are a bloody nuisance and you have to be very very good to use one quickly enough and without throwing the balance and contact. You also have to be fast enough to spot that moment of indecision between trust in the rider and "its every cob for himself".That is the only point you can change the horses mind with a whip. Ponyclub kicking ,waste of energy and telegraphs your fear. You cannot beat a good hard leg contact here. Less is definately more.
 
Yes it is possible. . I'm a nervy rider ( when it comes to jumping) and took on a second horse last year as a schoolmaster.... Eh he turned out to be spooky as hell....our first xc run despite being
Spooky gained us 6th place out of 60+ in the class. I faked feeling confident but it worked as my chap was like where is the next fence mum the whole way round.
 
My gelding is a wimp. It's good in some respects as he loathes touching fences, and so is potentially a good SJ. It's bad as he is worried about new places and unusual looking fences. he would be pretty decent XC if I did much as he does get excited and his blood gets up. I think he would always be unreliable XC though as he would still need to stop & look if unsure, he has never liked ditches for instance & I can't see the point of spending money to get eliminated or a guaranteed stop.
I don't entirely see it as cowardice. I have never had a horse I feel so safe on into a fence, he has a great sense of self preservation and is incredibly accurate and thinking about everything. I forgive him the odd stop I think it demonstrates his intelligence. He will never be a XC machine though - no.
 
I believe you can turn a horse around into a brave cross country horse, so long as the horse is just lacking confidence rather than 'hating' the game. It is also totally critical that the rider has a bit of confidence to spare for the horse.

I honestly think the best advice in your situation is to get someone on board who knows the horse, knows you, and can do several educational XC schooling sessions to build confidence - whilst you gain confidence from watching and knowing the the horse CAN do it. Also important that you get some honest feedback too - the rider should be able to have a sense of whether the horse is going to gain in confidence or not. Some horses are always going to take quite a lot of riding to a fence and won't be suited to a rider who isn't 100% brave.

My little grey horse, Pete, is one who has gone from being a little bit wussy to be half decent across the country.With him the key things are being properly studded up (slipping into fences would instantly put the kaibosh on his confidence) and making sure that I have at least one, but preferably two, XC schooling sessions before he competes the first time of the season. You also need to be confident in your balance/ability to not get left behind if you do get a ridiculous leap over a jump the first time. With naturally careful horses you need to be able to go with them and not get too defensive in your riding, else you catch them in the mouth and they will think twice about being brave the next time.

I have to say, my whole attitude to XC training is to train the horse that stopping is unacceptable - I would school over tiny things for hours if I had to, small enough to get over even from a standstill, until the horse is thinking forward and not questioning the fences. Then build it up when you feel ready. I never try and jump something xc schooling unless I am 98% certain my horse is going to jump it first time - build up slowly and don't ever approach a jump thinking that you might stop - because that's when you will!
 
Hi everyone, firstly my apologies for not being more active on this thread having started it. I have read all the input but have struggled to get on to reply. There has been a lot of excellent advice and insights on here and I am taking it all on board! It's fair to say that the pony enjoys the job but lacks confidence so him hating it or downing tools isn't my problem. What is certainly a problem is that whilst I am by no means a wuss or nervous, I don't ride every stride to a jump and so if I am not 100% positive he isn't either and will disappear into lala land and find stuff to be scared of. I have a little schooling session lined up tomorrow and then a few days off for Burghley, so I'll have a little free time to look up both coaches and pros who are small enough to ride him. I'll have a chat with my sj/flatwork instructor tonight, see if she knows anyone. I will keep you posted!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top