leflynn
Well-Known Member
I don't often post on here, I'm a good ole lurker usually 
I'm come out from the shadows for some ideas please...
I've got an ex racer who is 10 but he is a bit green due to restarting again a couple of years ago following a loooong period of box rest, he is a darling to have around, we do a spot of BD prelim soon to move up to novice, have done a few hunter trials and a bit of showjumping and a couple of unaff ODE, we've hunted, hack alone in company all in a snaffle.
Our current issue - related to jumping, he is absolutely fine doing SJ when there are no fillers just poles and will bob round a course, not touch a thing and be a dude (only about 75/80cm). Add in fillers and its like there are sudden monsters going to nip his little hooves off..... It is partly confidence as we don't have many scary looking fillers at home and partly him being a total ninny (I think), we can usually get over fillers first time if they are pulled out so there is a gap, it involves an awful lot of kicking from me as he backs off and is as stubborn as a mule. We have already solved the red and white pole problem by repatedly jumping them and trotting over them (he abjectly refused to jump red and white poles at one point, no idea why as all other colours were fine)
My lovely instructor says go places, jump stuff and get some experience so we are
Another jump instructor thinks he is 'special' and advises the same (she walked him/us up to a filler and jumped back 3 feet without even touching it). He is better XC, we went to an XC arena clinic and he only stopped at one jump as he wasn't concentrating.... Didn't bat an eye at the round blue roll tops, the skinny, the chair...
Any top tips or exercises I can do at home/away? The usual back/teeth/saddle checked on a regular basis, no change to energy levels/feed - also not a new problem he has never really liked fillers. I've started lunging him over jumps that have barrels/cones underneath to try and get a bit of confidence on his own, but again we're having stops, he does usually jump on the 2nd or 3rd attempt when he's had a look, he refuses to walk over jumps and occasionally I can get him to jump from a standstill. He is also worse indoors - he was the same for dressage when we first starting doing DR outings, but isn't now bothered. To be fair he has improved, 18 months ago went to an SJ comp, he warmed up beautifully outside, even popped a 75cm then went in to do the 55cm and refused to jump anything and wouldn't even walk over a pole (he swings himself level with the jump/pole and plants) - so we are making progress albeit slowly, on the plus side my legs always get a good workout when we jump!
Happy face hunting pic:
hunting pony by Laura, on Flickr
I'm come out from the shadows for some ideas please...I've got an ex racer who is 10 but he is a bit green due to restarting again a couple of years ago following a loooong period of box rest, he is a darling to have around, we do a spot of BD prelim soon to move up to novice, have done a few hunter trials and a bit of showjumping and a couple of unaff ODE, we've hunted, hack alone in company all in a snaffle.
Our current issue - related to jumping, he is absolutely fine doing SJ when there are no fillers just poles and will bob round a course, not touch a thing and be a dude (only about 75/80cm). Add in fillers and its like there are sudden monsters going to nip his little hooves off..... It is partly confidence as we don't have many scary looking fillers at home and partly him being a total ninny (I think), we can usually get over fillers first time if they are pulled out so there is a gap, it involves an awful lot of kicking from me as he backs off and is as stubborn as a mule. We have already solved the red and white pole problem by repatedly jumping them and trotting over them (he abjectly refused to jump red and white poles at one point, no idea why as all other colours were fine)
My lovely instructor says go places, jump stuff and get some experience so we are
Another jump instructor thinks he is 'special' and advises the same (she walked him/us up to a filler and jumped back 3 feet without even touching it). He is better XC, we went to an XC arena clinic and he only stopped at one jump as he wasn't concentrating.... Didn't bat an eye at the round blue roll tops, the skinny, the chair...Any top tips or exercises I can do at home/away? The usual back/teeth/saddle checked on a regular basis, no change to energy levels/feed - also not a new problem he has never really liked fillers. I've started lunging him over jumps that have barrels/cones underneath to try and get a bit of confidence on his own, but again we're having stops, he does usually jump on the 2nd or 3rd attempt when he's had a look, he refuses to walk over jumps and occasionally I can get him to jump from a standstill. He is also worse indoors - he was the same for dressage when we first starting doing DR outings, but isn't now bothered. To be fair he has improved, 18 months ago went to an SJ comp, he warmed up beautifully outside, even popped a 75cm then went in to do the 55cm and refused to jump anything and wouldn't even walk over a pole (he swings himself level with the jump/pole and plants) - so we are making progress albeit slowly, on the plus side my legs always get a good workout when we jump!
Happy face hunting pic:
hunting pony by Laura, on Flickr
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