Getting it hopelessy wrong without a ground pole *vid*

moneypit1

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My 8 yr old horse is fairly green sj but has a lot of potential which occasionally shines through the mist! He is schooling nicely at 1m 10 to 1m 40 but has a real issue with uprights. He gets in too deep and rarely clears them because he hits them with his knees on the way up! I have uploaded a vid of him yesterday schooling at home, he was fine because we put placing poles down. He was bowling on a bit but tbh if I hold him together more he tends to bury himself in the fence. He did change legs when I checked him before the spread but on the whole not too bad. Any advice re the uprights more than welcome. I will try to get a vid of him getting in too deep asap. Thankies everyone. x
 

snopuma

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Hard to tell with the video, but it looks to me that you have him on a short strided canter which makes it harder for him jump when he gets there, and go don't allow him to stretch over the fences with his head as your hands stay in the same position over the fence as when you were cantering, I would lower the fences and put up some gridwork to encourage more of a bascule over the fence and let him make a 'shape' over the fence, gridwork will also help you and him to find a stride in, apart from that he's talented and you are brave so you will get there! Good Luck!
 

be positive

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I couldnt see a placing pole only a pole on the ground line of the jump which I would always use anyway.If you feel he knocks down when there is no pole under the jump I am not surprised, at that height he needs more to focus on than a single pole.
He obviously has talent and wants to jump so I would work on building his confidence and experience.
The canter could be a little stronger so that he remains more even into his fences he sometimes increases his stride length in the last few strides which will take him deeper at times.
I would also say do grid work to improve his technique and establish his stride between fences.
Instead of jumping with no ground poles I would do the opposite and put spooky things under fences to encourage the horse to back himself off and learn to think a little more.You can put a pole on the ground 1 or 2 feet in front of the jump this will also help him too not get too deep.
 

moneypit1

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Thanks guys, we do a lot of gridwork and he is usually very good, he is quite athletic and can snap up very quickly for a big horse. We are jumping Discovery and Newcomers atm with some success but it is really only uprights with no ground line where we have a problem, even in competition. If it is a single pole oxer he is fine, or any type of spread etc. Doubles and Trebles are fine, I guess this is because if we meet the first element correctly the rest is text book. If we get to the jump on the wrong stride he goes hopelessly deep and will not take a flyer even if I ask so I tend to pull him out. I agree he does like to take a hold two strides out but he comes back very well so I have tended to let him have those! Thanks again, lots of work to do!
 

Tnavas

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What I am seeing is a canter that is not forward going - he needs to be in a stronger working canter and to go into his fences in an even steady stride.

At the moment you start over riding him in the last few strides. You need to try to 'see' your stride further away and make you adjustments at least 5 - 6 strides out. If set up correctly in a balanced forward canter you should just have to sit there quietly in the last three strides just making sure that he stays straight and active.

It may just be that you distract him by over riding those last few strides which causes him to touch uprights.

Your placing pole needs to be much further out so that as he canters over it it puts him in the right spot to take off.

He looks to be very talented and certainly has no problem with the heights.
 

be positive

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In that case I would jump him at home over a small upright with something under to back him off and ride him deep,but still on a level stride, let him learn he can get in and still jump,you will have to keep behind him a little to let him get his shoulders up.
When he is then happy to get in really close take away the spooky thing and try without anything on the ground but use several poles higher up so he still has to focus.
He will learn to be more careful but needs to have things made easy for him.
The other useful exercise is to make an upside down V with poles to the centre of the fence.
 

SophieLouBee

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The canter, for the size of him, is too small. He's not getting the impulsion he needs to lift I don't think, especially when he's already thinking about this horrid upright that is coming up in-front of him! Your holding, holding, holding, but when you give, it seems it's either too late and/or not enough resulting with him not being able to stretch out over the jump. It's hard to get it right with these big horses, as if you let them on too much, then you've blown it totally, but if you don't let them go enough then they just haven't got the momentum to get themselves over.

I also think that because you're not giving early enough, then that is causing you to over-ride the last few strides like others have said.

I know this is rather radical, but what does he do if you just let him sort it out himself, i.e. get a nice straight line in so he sees it and just give him a bit of free will before the fence? I'd like to see how he would stride it if left to his own devices, then you can gauge if he is getting himself in too deep, or whether it is something you are doing as a rider that's interfering with him.

Lastly, may I just say for a small person, you hold him together very well, he looks huge!
 

Kokopelli

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He looks fab! :)

A brilliant tip for jumping uprights is imagine them as a spread (as you're jumping the spreads nicely) so either a smaller pole in front of the upright or a back pole. It makes you ride with a more powerful canter so if you do get a dodgy stride he has enough power to clear it but often imagining it as a spread you're less likely to get a dodgy stride.

It's so simple but has helped my lads jumping immensly.
 

Sparkles

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He looks fab! :)

A brilliant tip for jumping uprights is imagine them as a spread (as you're jumping the spreads nicely) so either a smaller pole in front of the upright or a back pole. It makes you ride with a more powerful canter so if you do get a dodgy stride he has enough power to clear it but often imagining it as a spread you're less likely to get a dodgy stride.

It's so simple but has helped my lads jumping immensly.

Thankyou!!!!! I'm so glad I'm not the only person who does this. LOL.
 

TuscanBunnyGirl

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Looks like you're holding him back far too much. He's not really sitting back on his backend so he probably is finding it difficult to reach over the fence. I'd work on getting the canter more forward and getting him underneath himself :) Good luck x
 

nikCscott

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He looks fab! :)

A brilliant tip for jumping uprights is imagine them as a spread (as you're jumping the spreads nicely) so either a smaller pole in front of the upright or a back pole. It makes you ride with a more powerful canter so if you do get a dodgy stride he has enough power to clear it but often imagining it as a spread you're less likely to get a dodgy stride.

It's so simple but has helped my lads jumping immensly.

Good tip x
 
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xspiralx

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I don't really understand why you want him to jump without a ground line, particularly over such large fences?

If he is struggling to clear uprights in general then I'd take the height down until he is more consistently able to jump round nicely.

You're stifling the canter - I wouldn't say he is bowling on in the video at all. I'd let him go more forward and keep a better rhythm rather than keeping him really short and then overriding the last few strides.
 

moneypit1

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I don't really understand why you want him to jump without a ground line, particularly over such large fences?

If he is struggling to clear uprights in general then I'd take the height down until he is more consistently able to jump round nicely.

You're stifling the canter - I wouldn't say he is bowling on in the video at all. I'd let him go more forward and keep a better rhythm rather than keeping him really short and then overriding the last few strides.

Only because he has to in competition! Unfortunately there are no ground lines then! It is only uprights tbh and he fences aren't that high, the biggest upright in the vid is 4ft and there is a ground line there. I agree about my canter tho, I will deffo take on board all the comments and work on it. Thankies.
 
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