Comes good in the end...

[Toby_Zaphod]

Bought my 6 year old Hann x TB some time ago. Very enthusiastic, a jump to die for but green as grass. His enthusiasm was starting to get dangerous, don't get me wrong, he's lovely, affectionate & wouldn't hurt anyone intentionally etc but his inbalance & naivity was causing problems. He rushed fences, on landing he charged away. His legs were all over the place & he had the turning circle of a jumbo jet.

We decided to go right back to basics. No jumping just consentrated on flatwork to get him balanced & moving correctly. This has taken us months but the difference it has made is incredible. He now has 3 well established paces & he now softens and you can sit his trot comfortably. While training we entered him in Prelim Dressage & he regularly scores mid 60s %. We have now returned to jumping & again the training has done wonders. He is balanced, he doesn't rush fences, he comes back to you on landing & he listens. He uses himeslf properly & now has much more controlled power.

I am so pleased how he is now going. I just wanted to post this because there must be many other people out there who have a similar problem to what we had. I wanted to say there is light at the end of the tunnel just be patient, don't rush & it can be sorted out. Remember when jumping the horse only spends 5% of his time in the air, the other 95% is on the ground so groundwork is incredibly important.

As for us, we're off jumping this weekend....Hurray!!!!!

 

[ladylisa]

congrats!!!!! good luck at the weekend.

 

[ecrozier]

Well said and well done!!
I think a lot of people try to rush their horses into competitons etc (not talking about people on here, more about people you see out and about), I've had exactly the same, my little horse was a nightmare to jump, everything at 100miles an hour and would run straight through a fence rather than slow down...then he started refusing because he scared himself so much! This time last year we couldn't get past the first fence on a 2'3 course, never got more than 55% prelim dressage, and as for XC....well we had never even attempted it!
So we did exactly the same. Got a new instrucor for more regular lessons, stopped jumping him totally, sorted out his flatwork, and started competing again about 2 months ago. He is now happily jumping 1m courses (he's only 14.3hh so that seems pretty big to us!), won his first ever hunter trials last week, and qualified for UK Chasers dressage in his first outing for 6 months.
I had almost given up hope, it just seemed like we were working really hard, but it would all fall apart when we went to compete, which makes you doubt your progress! bUt my instructor kept saying it would all fall into place...and maybe it finally has now!

Sorry for hijacking your thread, but think we are both trying to give the same message....never give up!!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Good to hear someone else has been down the same road. We also found that taking him to dressage tests every so often during training also got him used to showgrounds so he doesn't get so excited now either. It also got him used to the trailer.
The feeling is so good when it all comes together...lets hope I haven't jinxed it now.

 

[eahotson]

So pleased for you.You deserve your success.

 

[spooks]

our horse was exactly as you described your horse toby! he to was flying at fences etc etc, since my daughter has started having lessons on him he is like a totally different horse to, now jumps very steady ,doesnt always listen as more interested in the world around him still. still needs to grow up somewhat and more flatwork is needed but he is getting there. my daughters problem is that when she rides him,if there is a jump about she just HAS to jump it! he is currently jumped on the 2nd ring of a dutch gag but we are working towards getting him back on the snaffle, he would probably be ok in a snaffle now but he does have his moments when he goes a bit faster then my daughter would like!