Ditch help!!

[torabella]

I have a 4 year old gelding who was bred in Germany, moved to France then here to be sold - I have my first event in a couple of weeks and realised that we're having some ditch trouble.

My instructor told me it could be because some parts of Germany and Holland use ditches as field boundaries, so from a very young age it's hammered into them by the mares not to cross the boundary.

Although we get over ditches eventually, obviously I can't be having a battle with him while eventing!

Does anyone have any ideas or tips to imitate ditches at home? We have limited facilities so digging a ditch myself is out of the question - I've done black coats/rugs etc. under jumps and draped over jumps but they don't bother him. He's a brave little horse, so I just need to over come this one problem!

Thanks

 

[stencilface]

I can't think of other ways than you're already doing tbh. You get lots of practise in, and when you're faced with the real thing - don't look down!

 

[LEC]

We have ditches as boundaries and have never had a problem with horses jumping them. We have more problems with horses jumping into water but both can be overcome with time, patience and lots and lots of practice.

 

[kerilli]

a small tarp to walk over, repeatedly, then make it wider and keep repeating.
tbh though i would take him somewhere with tiny ditches and keep doing them at walk until he finds them easy, then trot etc etc.
warmbloods can be weird about ditches, fwiw i think they focus slightly differently to the IDxTBs i was used to before.
loads of time and patience and repetition is the only way i think - tbh he's right, it is a frightening hole in the ground that might contain a horse-eating monster, or he might hurt himself falling into, so loads of proving to him that neither of these things will happen will reap rewards.
good luck!

 

[saskia295]

The only ditch practice I've managed to do this year is making one in the school with feed bags, which is similar to what you're already doing.

Maybe you can go xc schooling with a lead horse and just keep going over them until he is no longer bothered.

Good luck

 

[ColouredFan]

The only real cure is to just keep practicing ditches, preferably small ones on good ground to start with. a lead horse is always helpful to give them confidence, once he is happily following the lead horse jump it a few times on your own.

We have a great course for schooling by me and we took the baby horse there, he jumped a small ditch with a lead a few times then on his own, he did this process over the 5 different ditchs on the course, then a month later took him back, gave him a lead over the first once the first time then he jumped all the others on his own first time all be it sometimes from walk. Practice and repetition is needed.