Do some horses just have limited scope when jumping?

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Jericho

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Or is it a case of building their confidence and practise and lessons? or at 14 yrs old the pony is just going to not want to do higher...

Pony in question is 13.1hh 14yr old forward going athletic type, had her 6 weeks - fine over simple fences up to1ft 9 but as daughters confidence is increasing and she is wantingbto jump a bit higher, pony is slamming the brakes on when the jumps become anything more than 1ft 9 and are more than just simple pole uprights. previous owners said she jumped 2ft 6 happily which is really all she will need to do and we saw her jump a simple fence this height when viewed but having met someone who knew the pony previously it seems that it does have problems beyond 2ft. Pony is perfect otherwise but as many SJ and xc and pc classes start at 2ft I can forsee a lot of frustration and denting of confidence coing our way...

We go to lots of PC things but I need a plan of action to get ponies confidence up and any helpful tips would be appreciated...
My idea was - get a regular instructor, practise lots of different types of jumps at the small height, grid work and free schooling over jumps?
 
I'd have thought mental/ confidence issue rather than physical at those heights. An instructor is always a good idea but what about finding someone older/ more experienced than your daughter to ride the pony a few times and help give him some confidence. Or jumping him on the lunge so he can find his feet at those sizes?
 
i think some horses have a bit of a limit, but not at that height! but like polos mum said, as you know they might put the breaks on it is possible psychologically your daughter is holding back and pony picks up on it. i also recommend finding an instructor or someone else to try riding, it would just take a couple of successful sessions to hopefully break the cycle.
 
Yes definitely I imagine daughter is probably not helping psychologically as she is new to this height so need to work on that. I don't want to rush anything but just want to feel the pony isn't going to wreck daughters confidence...
 
Yes, I firmly believe equines are not born equal in ability to jump... there isn't a multi-million £$ industry dedicated to selectively breeding the jump for nothing!

Training and confidence building will only go so far and at 14, I"d be thinking more "why won't pony jump" rather than "what will make pony jump?"... it's heading down a one-way street to an accident imho :)

Anyway, you could try gridwork with the pony to build her confidence and gradually increase the height over a few weeks. This will focus her onto jumping multiple jumps rather than the fact she only needs to jump one fence and give her time to think about NOT jumping the next. It presents the idea of a "Series" of jumps she has to complete. Good luck!
 
Horses & Ponies certainly do have limited scope otherwise they'd all jump like Big Star, but at the height you are talking about they should have no difficulty with it.

You've mentioned getting an instructor & that is the way to go. Confidence in a great thing to have but this must be coupled with ability. The instructor will teach her how & what to do & hopefully the pony will get the confidence to take her to the fence & jump it. Jumping is a partnership, the rider must get the canter right & put the pony into the right place so he can take off & jump the fence.

Many people muddle along on their own & what starts of as a minor & easily sorted issue excalates to a major problem. You have decided tio get an instructor & that's the right thing to do. Good Luck. :)
 
At 14 and not knowing the ponies history id be agreeing with Tallyho.
Grids should help to build both rider and pony confidence as long as its that, and not something physical with the pony stopping the jump
 
Did pony come with tack or have you got new stuff for her? If her saddles not quite right that could stop her wanting to go bigger as she wont want to use her back/shoulders. Might be worth getting it checked if you haven't already :)
 
We had a pony just like this a few years ago. Would happily bomb around the field, jump 1ft 6, would even jump a little higher xc ( 2ft). But put her in front of 2ft sj's, it would be a definite no. Turns out she had arthritis, in her hocks and knees. so we gave up and let her be the happy hacker/fun confidence giving pony she was. My son had so much fun on her, he trusted her completely. We ended up buying another pony for our daughter, as even after injections etc, she just didnt want to do it anymore.
So maybe worth just checking there isnt a physical issue first.
 
Oh no Asha that is sounding scarily like this pony. Even worse I have just been out to lunge her over some jumps and started off ok but refused larger xpole spread then looking progressively lame on hind legs on circle. She clicks in her hind legs but we had her five stage vetted and vet said clicking didn't mean anything and she passed. what's the process for checking for arthiritus? Will vets X-ray as first investigation?

She came with saddle etc but even just lunging without tack she didn't want to go higher than 2ft....

Looks bad doesn't it!?
 
Jericho said:
Looks bad doesn't it!?
Click to expand...

There's no point panicking about it yet. It would be a sensible precaution to look for physical issue, but I'd not demand x-rays for arthritis before your vet has done basic investigations as there are other possibilities.

Are you working her in a school or a field? It is still pretty hard out there.
 
also how often are you jumping? some horses get bored or tired if you over do it and agree with JFTD if this is in a field i would be very careful, ground is too solid. might not be major full blown arthritis, but could be a stiffness/ soreness that rest and physio could sort out.
 
Hi jericho, sorry i didnt mean to worry you. Our pony wouldnt entertain spreads at all either.
We bought her, she was apparently 13, turned out she was more like 17. We saw the previous owner jump her too over a 2ft 3 jump, She was vetted, and passed no problem ( 2 star) Within a couple of weeks, our instructor noticed she wasnt quite right behind. Osteo came and believed she had slipped. Anyway she went better after the treatment. But she would gradually get worse again. After too many stops, and daughter ending up on the floor, we took her to the vets. I wish i had done that sooner, as it would have saved me money on lessons ( thinking pony was being naughty, or daughter wasnt good enough), and saved me money on the osteo ! She was injected in her hocks and knees, but never jumped to what my daughter wanted. But she was comfortable and a lot happier.

To avoid all the above, i would get a vet to check your pony over. Even if you do get x rays, its what about £25/leg ? If she looked lame after jumping 2ft on the lunge i would definitley want pony checking. Its worth peace of mind for you.

I hope shes ok, and let us know how you get on xx
 
Asha said:
We had a pony just like this a few years ago. Would happily bomb around the field, jump 1ft 6, would even jump a little higher xc ( 2ft). But put her in front of 2ft sj's, it would be a definite no. Turns out she had arthritis, in her hocks and knees. so we gave up and let her be the happy hacker/fun confidence giving pony she was. My son had so much fun on her, he trusted her completely. We ended up buying another pony for our daughter, as even after injections etc, she just didnt want to do it anymore.
So maybe worth just checking there isnt a physical issue first.
Click to expand...

OP when I read your post my thoughts were similar to this, especially considering the age of the pony. All the horses and ponies that I have come across that have become reluctant to jump after previously being keen and good at it have been found to have a problem somewhere in their legs or hooves, so this is what I would first discount.
 
We had similar issues in the past. Was deifintely due to nerves from daughter transmitting to pony. Just stick to 2' for the rest of the season and do as many little 2'0 shows as you can until they are both compltely bored of it. Then try 2'3
 
Hi
Hopefully this is just a confidence issue but if you haven't got the pony insured, i'd do it now using the 5 stage vetting, at least you'll have money for any investigations/treatment should you need it.
 
I can't help with the physical aspect of it but ridiculously I had a 17.3hh who would stop at anything over 2ft 6 and I mean he would literally stop at 2ft 7. Health wise there was nowt wrong with him so he'd clearly had a fright at some point so I got an instructor and he still refused with him on board. We worked on getting a really bouncy canter full of impulsion. Once that was found it was gridwork for quite some time with the final jump eventually getting above 2ft 6. Another good thing we did was to put up a simple course and have 1 side of the top pole 2 cups higher and to use guide poles. They would be adjusted so we were moving towards the bigger height very gradually. I'm not gonna lie it took a long time to get there but we eventually got him jumping more than a stick (for his height) and he was a happy boy.

I really hope you can work through this with your pony and find a solution.
 
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