has he lost his spark??

[pixiebee]

my friend took my 13.3hh newfie indoor jumping last night-went nowhere near as good as id hoped. My pony who is now 13, normally flies over fences, every competition ive taken him to he has not once refused-not even knocked down a pole...i have been jumping him twice a week for the past 6 months to get him back into it (he had a 3 yr beak and has been back in work since feb this yr) but because of my long break i have lost my nerve a bit so asked my friend to take him, got elimited in 2.3ft on the 3rd fence and 8 faults in the 2.6ft-my pony has never been in an indoor school before but he just walked in and it didnt seem to bother him atall, plus he has never jumped at a show with a different rider other than, plus my friend weighs quite a bit more than me though this doesnt noramlly bother my pony. The last show he jumped at was about 5 yrs ago....im upset as i wish id entered him, maybe he would have gone better-can ponies trust someone more than others???? im hiring out an indoor school with a good set of showjumps, do you think this is a good idea? i hope it was a bad day and not a perminant thing as im hoping to compete regularly-any thaughts????????????????

 

[tigers_eye]

Maybe he's grown up a bit so isn't as whizzya s he used to be. Go to the indoor school, ride him yourself, but take someone you trust with you who won't talk you into doing things you don't think either of you are ready for. Listen to what he is telling you, you sound like you know him very well, so trust your judgement. If you still think he's not right then think about it logically to see if you can find the problem.

 

[Jemayni]

13 is still quite young; my opinion would be that jumping him twice a week is quite a lot and perhaps hes bored. Or it could possibly be the opposite, has he left the yard at all recently? maybe a fuse blew and he was just like - can't do it; I think you might be right in saying you should ride him because he already has the confidence in you! Hope that helps...

 

[Baggybreeches]

Don't get too upset maybe he just had an off day. Some ponies dont like indoors and my old pony liked some venues and not others, there is no reason that you can see so dont worry. I think hiring a couple of indoors before you go out again is a very good idea, then you have time to build up his confidence with out worrying about the competition. Most importantly take your time and start small and build up gradually

 

[Kelly1982]

If he hasn't been to a show in 5 years then his nerves may have got the better of him, especially with a different rider etc. To many things going on at once and he might of been a bit overwhelmed as he hasn't been out in so long.

Dont worry about it as he was clearly getting back into the swing of things by the second round so just keep taking him out as much as you can so he gets a little less rusty.