Feeling a little disheartened. BSJA.

[Peanot]

Hi, for those of you that know that I show jump and after an accident last November, we`ve slowly managed to get back to British Novice and Discovery. We`ve competed in 2 HT and some x-c schooling too.
We went to Weston Lawns a month ago and we went in the British Novice. We had a stop and 2 down. The following week, we won the 85cm and the British Novice, so well over the moon. Last week we went to Hargates and jumped BN and had a run out at first fence, but not too fussed as a lot were getting eliminated at first fence and there were 4 or 5 falls there too. We went round ok after that. We then entered in the Discovery and we had the last fence down. I was really pleased with her though and thoroughly enjoyed the day.
We`ve not long got back from going again today and in the BN, we had fence 7 down, so not too fussed. But in the Discovery, we had Fence 1 down, not too fussed, then we had a run out at the last fence, a red double, then another run out at 2nd attemp and so elimination.

She ran out about 3 strides away. There wasn`t anything really that she should`ve ran out at. It was just a pole, plank, pole, no fillers, nothing. What is going on??

So feeling a little useless at the moment.
Has anyone got any suggestions for exercises to help with knocking poles out?

 

[dieseldog]

Have some lessons with someone? It is disheartenig to have the odd fence down, but it doesn't sound like you are doing to badly. Probaly people there who had a lot worse day than you did.

 

[Peanot]

Thanks DD, but I am having lessons with 2 trainers, one an eventer (who only does flatwork with me at the moment) and the other a course building show jumper!

 

[muppit]

whats the name of the course building show jumper?

 

[eohippus]

maybe you could down size your competition for a while and just go out to do some fun stuff, this will be good for you and your horse as the pressure will not be there. It will also build back any confidence losses and bring back the pleasure factor.
just a thought
hope this helps
Dawn

 

[Peanot]

Initials are GS. Don`t know if I should say who he is. He is from Leicestershire. I have only had him for 2 lessons. Why do you ask this?

 

[Fiona]

We have an 8yo IDx mare who v easily loss her confidence SJ (though never XC oddly). At the mo she is fine over single fences, but backs off doubles big style. Although she is eventing PN we plan to back off her a bitfor the next month or so, do some 90cm comps locally.
Could you have a lesson or two, then go to a comp where you could jump 80cm and 90cm classes rather than 90cm and 1m.
Fiona

 

[Peanot]

Thanks for your advice but we had already jumped a double in the first round and a double was early on in the Discovery, fence 5a and b, and this followed on from a related distance of 5 strides, so it shouldn`t have been a problem for her. She didn`t back off them and took them in her stride.
I was reminded earlier about a jumping session 3 weeks ago where she dropped a hind leg onto a back pole in a spread, maybe this has something to do with it.

I have just booked her in for a back check with a chiro/ebw/physio and she is coming out next week, so she can have a few days off.

 

[lizstuguinness]

richard maxwell does a "back" clinic at oakham vets. think he does this every fortnight.

if your worried about her back take her to him, he'll sort her out for 40 and if theres nowt wrong 20.

personaly would NEVER have anyone else touch my horse, but i trust him completly. he could also give you advise on your scholing problems.

 

[lizstuguinness]

from you description it sounds like she lacking in implusion.

lots of transistions and grid work (plenty of bounces), also try lengthening and shortening work.

if you can get her on a short bouncy stride, at this level she should clear them fine.

another option is that as your not bothered about the odd pole down here and there, neither will she. perhaps if you were a bit more determined and positive she will pick this up from you.
must admitt though im quite shocked to hear that the first fence at novice level was causing such problems this is seriously BAD course building. if you know who biult the course, keep away from them as it will worsen your performances at the present time.

it will come good, just ride forward and positive.

 

[Peanot]

[ QUOTE ]
from you description it sounds like she lacking in implusion. [ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for your reply.
I have been told this and my trainer is working on this at the moment and we are getting there slowly. We are doing lots of transitions, lateral, lengthening and shortening on a circle and working towards demi pirouettes by riding diamonds etc.


[ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ] another option is that as your not bothered about the odd pole down here and there, neither will she. perhaps if you were a bit more determined and positive she will pick this up from you. [ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ]

It does bother me obviously but I don`t fret on it. I ride positively but I don`t hit her or pull her about when we have a pole is what I meant.


[ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ] must admitt though im quite shocked to hear that the first fence at novice level was causing such problems this is seriously BAD course building. if you know who biult the course, keep away from them as it will worsen your performances at the present time. [ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ]

The course builder for this course has a reputation for doing this and he puts half strides in related distances, but I managed to get 2 double clears with the same man a month ago. But I have heard that he gets a lot of complaints.

[ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ] it will come good, just ride forward and positive.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks.

 

[Fletch]

[ QUOTE ]
Initials are GS.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know who you mean - he is very good and should getting you going no problem.

 

[x_lou_x]

hi i just thought that i would say that i have GS as my instructer too! ive had him for many years and he has helped me out no end!!

 

[DiNorth]

Dont get too disheartened, take it as a new challenge. I know easy to say.
Is it parallels or verticles that you are getting faults at?
When training at home remember to adjust the spread as well as the height this will encourage a much better shape when jumping & also prepare him for jumping properly designed tracks.
Grid work will also help. Get your course designer /trainer to work on shortening & lengthening the the distances for you. This will help your horse become more athletic when you need to ask a question of him in a track. It will also help if you have to ride a track that has the half stride distances that you mentioned before

this is pure poor course designing especially at this level & can knock the confidence of a young horse.
If you walk a distance & you feel it long or short decide then how its best to ride it for your horse. Obviously you have to ride accordingly at the time but be prepared. If your going to ask for long or short stride ask for it after you land from the first element instead of leaving your horse a lot of work to do at the last stride & him having to muddle through.
If you are unsure of a distance any time ask the course designer, if he is any good at his job he should be happy to tell you. He's not meant to be there to wipe the class out but to encourage the novice horses/riders to move forwards. To be fair course designers are only human & do get it wrong at times, however they should realise there mistakes & act accordingly.
How was the first fence built that caused so many probs? At this level the first part of the track should be inviting & encourage the horse forwards.
Hope you stick with it, keep us updated.
Di

 

[buckybee]

I'm feeling a bit the same way at the moment. My horse is still quite green, its our first season and i've probably done about six shows this summer. We seem to be a bit inconsistent! A couple of times he's gone brill - he's had 2 double clears discovery, another day he might have 4 down, and on a couple of occasions he's run out - and i've fallen off! 3 times in two months now! Think I may invest in some super glue!

So not really sure where we are going wrong? I'm not sure if I've got him on to bigger fences too soon and should have done more little things to get rid of his spookiness. What do you guys think?

 

[MagicMelon]

Lessons and gridwork - I think thats the only way to improve really. Maybe get your trainer to watch you at an event to see what could be going wrong (or video tape it if they can be there)?

 

[LoneRanger]

Ok, so I'd come at it from a different perspective (so to speak). Up until now we've had a very dry summer resulting in hard ground. Lots of shows have done their best by watering but because of the heat this has just made the ground slippery on top and hard underneath. It's just possible that your horse has not been enjoying the going and has either lost confidence or got bruised and jarred up as a result.

The only way your horse can tell you it's not happy is by running out, what other option does it have? I'm not saying this is definitely the case with your horse BUT a huge number of horses have lost form this year. Vets are also reporting a rise in the number of horses with bruised feet, jarring and intermittent lameness.

If I were you I'd be very careful to jump on good ground only. I'd also do pole work and small courses to regain your horse's confidence. I may be barking up the wrong tree but I've seen it happening to so many horses this year.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll persevere with time and patience.

 

[buckybee]

I see where you are coming from, the ground has been [****] this year but I don't think thats it. He jumped great on concrete ground 2 weeks ago at a little agricultural show (you know the type - match box for a warm up and on quite a severe slope) and then last week we'd had a lot of rain and it was on flat sandy ground, and thats when he was ran out. He does insist on jumping huge over things though, and he's not exactly light on his feet (he's a big irish boy) so it might be the ground.

Think I might just look farward to my hunting! They always like that!

 

[Peanot]

When we won BN, it was at Weston Lawns on their surface, this week it was outdoor, but we`ve had some rain so the ground was good. We managed to get to the last fence, fence 10, before she ran out. After, I took her into warm-up area to see if she was `off`, and we jumped both up-right and spread with no hesitation. This was on a surface!!!
Perhaps there is something in what you are saying.

 

[Peanot]

[ QUOTE ]

Is it parallels or verticles that you are getting faults at?
both
Grid work will also help. Get your course designer /trainer to work on shortening & lengthening the the distances for you.

we have been doing this for the 2 lessons we`ve had jumping.


How was the first fence built that caused so many probs? At this level the first part of the track should be inviting & encourage the horse forwards.

The first fence was a filler which was like 2 bridges (holes) in it with 2 poles on top. It was positioned in front of a big 12` x 12` piece of bare grass where something had been and the grass had died, and people said that this may have caused a problem?
Hope you stick with it, keep us updated.
Di

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks.

 

[DiNorth]

Sounds like first fence very cruel for novices. Horse will have been looking into the bottom at the holes & quite pos false ground line from the dying grass ( hard to say with out seeing). I emailed a track to a centre to build before my arrival a few months ago, they did a good job of building however they had used a viaduct wall as a fence that I intended as No. 1 later in the day, needless to say this was changed first of all!
Please be careful when at BSJA shows as leaving the arena & then going to jump in warm up arena is a big no no. I totally understand why you did so & that is why you are given the chance to jump a single fence before leaving the arena after elimination due to refusal. It is frustrating when things go wrong at shows but please be aware of the rules. Maybe not in your case but some people will abuse the area & jump there horses over & over.
Curiouse to know did anyone pass comment to the builder of the nasty first fence & did he use it as No.1 for anyother classes?

 

[DiNorth]

Another thought, when working at lengthening & shortening stride in training, poles on the ground can be used instead of jumps just as effectively. And will be less stressfull to the legs if the ground is so hard.

 

[Peanot]

[ QUOTE ]

Please be careful when at BSJA shows as leaving the arena & then going to jump in warm up arena is a big no no. I totally understand why you did so & that is why you are given the chance to jump a single fence before leaving the arena after elimination due to refusal. It is frustrating when things go wrong at shows but please be aware of the rules. Maybe not in your case but some people will abuse the area & jump there horses over & over.

I must just stress that in no way did I go into the warm up arena with malice. I wanted to see that my mare was ok and that it wasn`t that she was just refusing because of pain etc. She is a very loving and affectionate mare and she hasn`t got a nasty bone in her body. People tell me that I am too soft on her so please don`t think that I am one of those nasty riders that take their horse into the warm up to beat their horses up. as that is far from it.
Also I didn`t realise that this is in the rule book!! I have just re-registered after 2 years off and they didn`t send me the new rule book . The latest one I have is 2004. Obviously I don`t read it from cover to cover, so I just didnt know.

Curiouse to know did anyone pass comment to the builder of the nasty first fence & did he use it as No.1 for anyother classes?

[/ QUOTE ]

He didn`t use it as fence 1 after that no. And I have no idea if anyone complained officially. Although I know that people have complained about his courses before.

 

[DiNorth]

sorry didnt mean to upset you & wasnt pointing the finger at you personaly. lot of folk read these threads & just wanted to get it over in general. you sound way to caring to abuse your horse in that way, once again sorry no accusation meant.
The rule book only states that "the practice area should be used solely for the purpose of warm up & not for standing around holding horses" off the BSJA record if I was unsure of my horse, I might well pop a fence there to find out too. At quieter shows we will also help a rider to get there horse over a fence before leaving the ring, especially if it has lost confidence during the round.

 

[Peanot]

Just to ask you then, are you a course builder as you mention lots about being at the shows and helping others but don`t mention about being in the saddle?
I get your point about the practice area, as I have seen people abusing horses in there jumping and jumping after a bad round.

 

[DiNorth]

I am a course builder & I do ride though no longer compete. Really havent meant to offend you in any way & do hope you persivere & continue with your sjumping & working with your trainer. jUst get so angry when I hear of novice horses/ riders having to face badly designed tracks. I'm also a parent would like to see all novices getting all the support & help available.

 

[Peanot]

You haven`t offended me, I don`t offend very easily.

I too think that some course builders build harder than they should as they are supposed to encourage novice riders and horses, but I find that some courses are a bit more than novice.