Cross Country advise

[Pixie88]

Hi all,

So this year I have started taking my lad xc with the aim of doing an ODE in the near future. We have encountered a slightly problem though and I am just hoping for a bit of advise from people who know a bit more then me!

When doing xc my lad brain just explodes. We did our first clinic this weekend and he was fab, until it got bit to much for him.
Thankfully he doesn't do anything major, but we either bounce on the spot (that is fine)... Or we do a few jumps then he just grabs the bit and tanks at the jump then refuses as he hasn't got his footing/panics.
9/10 he will listen to me and my seat if he grabs the bit and either tucks his head in or lifts it, but heading into a jump with nothing is a bit scary! Especially when I know it will mean a refusal. It is always when he gets over excited.

We then end up cantering very controlled circles purely through my seat/legs until he decide comes back from the explosion. So he is listening to me it just takes time.

We have spent all year bringing our xc schooling on and we are a lot better, but just wanted to know if anyone had any advise to help.

We school/hack/jump in an arena in a loose ring snaffle comfort tongue snaffle and have been doing XC in the 2 ring comfort tongue gag for that bit of extra help. He is a strong, hot headed pony and absolutely loves jumping.

I am not after any quick fix, he has his back/teeth/saddle checked on a regular basis. He does have a locking stifle, but this doesn't hinder him and it is managed.

Thank you for taking the time to read my garbled report!!! If anyone can make sense of it and offer advise I would love it.

 

[Red-1]

From what you describe I would take him a good few times, but don't let him get out of his depth.

I loved my previous horse Jay Jay from the bottom of my heart, but if he had not been ridden off road for a while I would write the first XC schooling session off as an exercise in remembering that same rules apply on grass as in an arena.

We would go and walk loads, do loads of transitions, and canter only if the trot was responsive. Maybe the second time would include a few jumps at the end. TBH, after the first couple of years I found the best way to cross the boundary between road and arena and riding in the open was hiring some all weather gallops, so it was mid way between arena and grass in the open.

I would also choose a venue where we could warm up on an arena, so he was a bit tired already before we headed for the grass field. I chose to school alone, and clinics/lessons would wait until he had re-accustomed himself to behaving in a mannerly fashion on grass.

After a couple of sessions of not being over faced he would be back into behaving well, remembering his manners. He evented in a snaffle and cavesson, no martingale. You would not necessarily have believed that, though, if you saw him when he had not been out in a field for a while!

It is easy to overface one (in the experience itself, not necessarlily the size of fence) without realising, but I don't feel I would up the bitting on your horse after some excitement XC if he was perhaps over awed. I find upping the bitting can make them even more explosive!

 

[Pixie88]

I have kept smaller then 2ft so he can step over. We have been going alone so just doing as we please all summer with only the odd explosion.
The strangest part of it all is... We don't ride on the road we always ride in open fields, hired gallops ect. I think it is the jumping aspect that just gets him really excited, the jumps don't actually phase him. That is exactly what I ended the clinic doing walking him down steps, sunken roads ect. Trotting when listening in walk, back to walk then canter and back again. I think it might have been the going into jumps, then stopping and waiting for the rest of the group that actually did it this time.

I probably did do a little bit to much with him this weekend as we have just moved yards, booked this clinic ages ago so still went and he hadn't had time to settle. So it probably all went to his head. I will do another one in a few weeks and see how it goes. It will just be practice practice practice!

One day maybe we will do xc in a snaffle!

 

[be positive]

It sounds as if he has been overfaced in the past, either jumping too big before he was properly established or raced about because "it is xc" and that means galloping, he needs to go back to basics, get him walking into fences and popping from a quiet trot, he can be allowed to canter between jumps but until he is truly listening he must come back to walk or trot before each fence, it shouldn't take long to retrain him if you are clear, fair and only jump when he is listening to you.
I would put a martingale on just to give a bit of help and if you can go 2 or 3 times close together so it becomes less exciting and more normal it may help settle him down, a few outings on grass without any jumps where you just school without letting him get wound up would also be useful, it will not be a quick fix but if you get it right it should be a long term one.

 

[Pixie88]

You are spot on there. His owners before me used to gallop him at jumps and have rails either side so he had to go over. Which is a shame as he loves jumping.

I spent the first year re-school at walk/trot in he school and fields. Then introduced canter and in open spaces we can now come back from a flat out gallop if I sit up slightly. This year I have introduced jumping again I started with X poles and we have got that up to 2"6/2"9 with Show jumps and fillers.

I will just continue as I have been with the SJ and Flatwork getting him to listen before doing more. He will get there as he absolutely loves it. I have never done XC myself before this year so I kind just wanted to see if people do anything different to what I have been doing.

The first hour of the clinic he was fab, we were cantering, jumping and listening. It will just be repeating everything, but that is fine.

 

[paddi22]

i had a similar one and i spent months schooling xc. Trainer said if he started pulling in any way, to slow him and literally walk him over tiny fences and halt straight after. Don't give him a chance to refuse anything, he needs to step over them at a minimum. At no stage should he rush. Only trot if he's calm, and only canter if you are 100% in control of the trot. I spent ages pulling up into a straight halt after fences

It does take time which can be frustrating, but it would be dangerous to take him out if you don't have him in a correct rhythm and between hand and seat.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things and it will just take some time. With my lad it was a case of getting the correct controlled canter, and once he understood that, then everything clicked. But keep the jumps tiny enough that he can't refuse.