Coffins! HELP/ Advice please!

[silvershadow81]

With the start of the XC season looming i am VERY aware that we are unable to jump a coffin (log followed by a ditch followed by a log!) without parting company

She will jump ANYTHING and will even go over a ditch on its own, but just cannot piece together the complete thing! (It may be me too!)

I have tried both approaches.. i have gone steady into it to give her time, but she is so blooming quick and stopped and i ended up in the ditch.

At another competition she decided to quicken up towards home, so i thought we would try another approach and go quickly into my nightmare fence... she applied the ABS breaking system she used oohhhh too well and again, i met the bottom of the ditch!

I am looking for training exercises which people may have used to overcome similar porblems please!!

I dont have acsess to a xc course and am at livery where i will be shot if i dig a hole in the ground!!

all advice GREATFULLY appreciated!!

thanks

 

[dianchi]

what about setting up the school a fence few strides after some taurpaulin and then few strides after another fence and work on bringing it back to one stride?

 

[jumpthemoon]

Can't you go schooling somewhere and jump each item seperately, then the 2nd/3rd together, then 1st/2nd etc, til you can do it all in one go?

 

[Safina]

I hate to say it but I doubt your problem will be improved without some schooling over this sort of jump. As Dianchi
has suggested you could mock something up in the school but I think you need to go out and schooling over the coffin, then the coffin followed by the jump and then all 3 together.

Have you tried working on your mind so you don't have a mental block against these types of jumps? We all tend to have a bogey and its often a case of think you'll hit the deck and that will happen.

Good luck

 

[silvershadow81]

I am definatly going to try the tarp idea in the school over the weekend!

Safinia i do agree, i last did xc two years ago and my last memory is having to walk her back to the lorry park after meeting with the bottom of the ditch... i think i have made this a bigger and bigger issue im my mind.

I always try to jump ditches whilst out hacking to keep that issue clear (that we CAN do ditches) its the complex of three i suffer with!!

I would love to get out schooling.... i NEED transport!!!

When i do get out i will definatly build the three into it one stage at a time. I would love for someone to ride her over it for me... so i know SHE can do it, but i wouldnt want to get them hurt, plus thats kinda the easy option and wouldnt solve anything for when we are competing!!

 

[kerilli]

lay a plastic sheet down on the arena, with a pole on both sides to hold it still. that's your ditch. have a small upright (no more than 1'6" i'd say) 2 strides away at first, to give you some sorting-out room. trot slowly to it the first time, that's an absolute! pop it, sit up, let her get to the next one, just keep your legs on and steer but let her sort out the striding, if she lands in trot or in a heap, let her take as many as she needs. pop the fence, don't let her run out or stop, obv! do it a few times until it's smooth, then get the fence moved to 1 exact stride away (7 1/2 - 8 yards i'd say) and keep doing it in trot, then canter, until it's easy. then trot to the fence, same thing, let her get herself to the "ditch", just concentrate on straightness, sitting up, legs on. once it's smooth that way, put another upright in, so it's fence - "ditch" - fence, and come in trot first.
experiment with different things as your "ditch" (NZ rugs are good, different colours), and maybe with making one, or even both, of the fences a skinny, to test your control.
then you'll have to try it on a real xc course, because the undulations in most coffins make them trickier.
always come slowly to the first part until she's good at them. teach her to jump confidently from a trot at home, so she has faith in her ability to use herself from trot, and in you. if you approach fast, they see the 2nd and 3rd elements at the last minute and it can get very uncomfortable.
make sure you keep your shoulders up and your lower leg on and forward over the first fence, and crest release upwards to give the horse freedom.
hope that helps! best of luck!

 

[KatB]

FInd a small one at a XC course and walk her over the ditch. Then turn back straight away and walk over the ditch and kick on to trot over the rail afterwards. Then turn round and come in trot, pop the rail, keep her straight and jump through completely. Build up from there

Give her lots of time by trotting into things to look, will also improve your steering/control, and stay behind the movement! You cantrot in upto Intro/PN if necessary!!

 

[silvershadow81]

kerilli thats brill! That is definatly someting i will try this weekend! (She will not canter into a jump though!). that dosnt fase me as she can collect in canter to be as slow as most horses walk (shes like a little spring!)

as for the NZ rug thing.. i was thinking where i could get tarp from, but i have so many old rugs (currently for sale on ebay!) whic i could use for the exercise!!

I also love the position tip. If i cant use superglue, and that clearly isnt strong enough... i need to practice my position to give me the best change of staying on board her breaking system.. i KNOW she can jump from a standstill, its just she needs me on board!

Thanks also KatB i will approach the xc course like you said (once i can get transport) and introduce each element one at a time.

 

[HenryandPeta]

My trainer had me doing a very simple exercise just last week in the school to help with with the very same issue!! I'm find with doubles and trebles, but stick a ditch in the middle and I go to bits!

We started off with two poles down the long side, flat on the ground, 7 canter strides apart. We worked on me getting exactly 7 strides in between them in a nice rythmical bouncy canter (easier said than done when Henry sees a twig on the ground and flies at it!).

Next, Lottie put another pole where the ditch would be - the aim was to come over the first pole, take three strides, pop the "ditch" another three strides and out over the last pole.

Once I had that down pat, the two poles at either end went up (no more than about 2ft) and we jumped the first, three canter strides, over the "ditch", three canter strides and popped the final pole.

I have yet to put it into actual practice on the xc course, but it really helped me get the balance I needed and the focus Henry needed to string the three elements together.

Hope this helps!