cross country advice for ex racer

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wilson23xo

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So I have a 5 year old 15.2hh ex flat racer I got him in January this year, he had 9 months off with his old owners. He stopped racing because he was so highly strung every race he would fly off the box spin take at least half hour to tack him up. So after 9 months off I was offered this horse and decided to give him a chance. When he arrived as I was told he was a live wire, came of the box reared up spinning. Was put in the stable gave him a night to settle then decided I would start his training straight away, cut a long story short he was a handful for 2 weeks flat when ridden, would attack people over the stable door and you couldn't walk behind him without the worry of being kicked!
I have taught him to work in a beautiful outline, he was terrified of poles when I first tried to take him over trotting poles, he can now jump up to 80cm show jumping and is loving his new life a totally different horse. One problem for us is cross country first ever cross country training would have been in May so 4 months on, it took me around 10 attempts if not more to get him over a tiny log on the ground but would happily go through water up and down steps and over ditches! Eventually with trial and error and lots of work I got him jumping 70-80cm the odd jumps but not as a course. In June he occurred an injury so had 2 months off just as we where getting somewhere! Anyways I have brought him back into work got back into working in an outline, started off jumping small poles no bother! Took him back to small cross country jumps 50-60cm and he will either leap them HUGE and give him self a fright then just stop completely, or he will not jump at all they are small enough that he can step over them but he just won't step over I feel he is thinking about it but feel as if he has lost his confidence but not sure why. I tried using a Nanny horse but still didn't go over. I didn't help situations as I got a bit nervous after he leaped and kept stopping, I eventually did get him over but I felt it was totally my fault! Has anyone any tips or ideas? I ride him in the Universal NS with a grackle but I sometime hack him and school him in the English hackamore, I was thinking about jumping him in the hackamore as I think it wouldn't have as much interference with him.
Just looking for some advice no nasty comments, he has his back done regularly, had his teeth done etc. maybe it is just time and routine as he is only a baby and it is all new to him just frustrating as I know he can do it and has so much potential. Thank You!
 
I think you might have rushed him.

Take him back to basics, hacking, light schooling, take the pressure off.

We didn't face our ex racer who was a flat racer to a jump for eight ish months after retraining as he just needed to settle.

We did lots of hacking, lots of ground work, and adding in light schooling building it up with poles etc.

My advice take the pressure off both of you and take a step back.

Also is there a reason for your current bitting? Ours did everything in a snaffle including xc
 
As you are thinking about a hackamore I guess you think you are catching him at times or holding him a little tighter than ideal, not unusual in the circumstances and not easy to avoid, are you normally holding a neckstrap? if not I would strongly advise doing so whatever you use as a bridle so you cannot restrict too much.

I would lunge him over some small logs and see how he jumps them, if he can gain some confidence without you on him it could really help, it is what I do with any horse that has lost their jump if the rider cannot remain totally committed and able to never catch them, I think you have tried riding him over more than enough so need to approach from a new angle now, if you can get him popping over on his own then the next stage is to do the same fences while you are on top and not move on until he is really enjoying it and taking you, it sounds as if you had nearly but not quite got there before the break and he has now actually taken a step back beyond where he started, which can happen, he needs to learn it is fun so the next step would be a fun ride with a few very easy jumps, no pressure to move on until he shows he is ready.

I have a livery here who has done a few bits and bobs but as far as we knew had not xc schooled, earlier this summer we went schooling and she refused to take part in it, she did jump a few fences reluctantly but her mind was not engaged in any way so after she had cooperated by popping a few in a row we took her home feeling confused about her attitude.
The next 2 days I lunged her over the few natural fences I have here plus a few made up just for her, the second day I also did some long reining over them so she was coming in very slowly and really looking without me really encouraging her on interfering at all.
Her owner then took over riding and we got her really going ending up doing a small course away from home with only 4 stops, a major improvement, a totally different attitude generally and I think it was down to her having to figure it out for herself while on the lunge, her attitude to jumping in general has now changed, she had a jump lesson today based on xc and she now has a can do approach, ears pricked, thinks about things and has a go rather than her old way of not looking then either stopping or leaping over in a bit of a hurry and to my mind it all changed when she was "on her own" rather than being ridden.

She is not a tb but has had a few issues and not the nicest journey through life so is comparable to yours, the ex racehorse here was a jumper but he still gets wobbly moments when his confidence is low for some reason, the neckstrap is in regular use on him, as do all horses in reality.
 
Thanks for the reply, I was thinking I may have rushed him because he enjoys his flat work, hacking in the forest etc, he enjoys his pole work and the odd jumping once a week if that.

I only use the universal because that's what I had, I was going to invest in a plastic snaffle with a peanut joint as he went lovely/soft in my friends snaffle.

Need to try make it enjoyable for him again, don't want to ruin his confidence cause he is bold. Thanks for the advice.
 
Thank You Be Positive! I did use a neck strap before I will put it back on him again. I was thinking of lunging him over xc jumps I have just never gotten around to it, I think it would do him a lot of good because he used to react to poles the way he does XC so loose schooled him over show jumps and now he loves it. Just need to do the same with XC I think. I will try attach some photos of him before his injury he was really starting to enjoy it. I think his injury has just been a slight hold back for him so will just take it easy and get him enjoying it as much as he does SJ, flat work and hacking. Thank you :)
 
If you were merely bringing on a green horse ,the relapses would be more unusual. You however are rehabilitating a horse with established fight /flight responses. You have a hard but rewarding task ahead of you. As Yogi Bressner says , if a horse stops at a fence six times and then jumps it ,all you have done is teach it to refuse then jump. You have to keep jumping that fence . You have to keep reschooling your horse and establishing a new "normal". The task you have will determine whether you are a real horseman/woman or merely a fairweather rider. I wish you every success.
 
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