Help- disaster last nite jumping

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sherwood'

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Background is i have a 4 yr old. he won loose jumping as a 3 yr old and has jumped his fair share of 4 yr old classes ( 1.10M this yr with my OH.

I have not jumped in ages but have been jumping him at home and had him out to several shows to jump 80 classes. he was going fantastic for me and we had a really good show on sunday and i really enjoyed it and rode him well apparently!

took him out last nite- refused in practice arena ( light was bad but no excsue) i whacked him- he bucked and i fell off.

we then went into ring and he napped to first fence- refused sveral times etc and then jumped rest ok. second round was exactly the same.


is he jsut taking the p*ss? It has knocked my confidence cause he is putting in dirty stops now at very last minute?

Help- take a hrd line with him and not let him away with anything? how do u stop him refusing like that tho?

Help!
 
Do you think maybe he has done a bit to much jumping, and could be going sour?
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id say it sounds like the poor little chap has had enough of jumping - hes only four and yet already you took him out on the weekend and again yesterday? If i was him i wouldnt want to jump either..............im not being rude, just my opinion.
 
Yeah do u think so? Hes only really back in work about 8 weeks and has done 4 shows with me. My theory was just to keep practicing but tbh he did come out of box a bit quiet last nite and lacking enthusiasm.
 
Umm, I could be wrong
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but perhaps he needs a break??

Or perhaps there is an underlying problem, ie, back, teeth, tack, abssess in foot or leg problem (ie splint forming causing pain) etc.

Maybe as hes still 4 hes still technically growing, which might be causing him discomfort.

If he has only just started stopping and napping I would seriously looking into WHY hes doing this, is it pain related, that hes done too much and needs a break or is he just getting mixed signals?

Personally, first I would get him check out and make sure there is nothing causing him discomfort first, and then address the problem, if he hasnt dont a lot of jumping (i read your first post wrong) then I would either get your OH to sort him out or seek advise from someone more experienced. It might be he might just need some fun, go hunting or something or taking back to basics again, to get him out of the habit of stopping.

Sorry, i cant be any more help
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Vxx
 
I really got the feeling last nite that he was jsut messing because he knew he could? But then i would maybe say that i am not good enough for him and as he is young he still needs a good rider. It is jsut he was such a different horse on sunday. We have been cross country schooling and he loved it and it up until last nite hes been great.

i feel maybe he needs a hunt or something to get him goign forward. Will get OH to take him out and see hwo he reacts then but then i wud worry he wud still mess with me as he can feel a difference in riding?

dont think hes in pain- back was done about 3 weeks ago, teeth done etc.
 
IMO hes very bored of jumping. I think you should turn him out for a month or 2. Then when you bring him back into work hack him a lot, or go hunting. Keep jumping to minimum. Professional SJ only jump at shows, so make his work fun at home.
 
Oh give the boy a week off, he is so young and already done so much! He may just be feeling a little under the weather, we all have our off days, and yesterday could have been one of his?!?
 
Its very very important as such a young horse (only 4!) that this horse is not pushed too far! Its one of the biggest ways to spoil a good young horse, doing too much too young. Please take a stwep back especialy from the jumping and make life enjoyable for him again, take him on nice long hacks, corss country, hunting, and yes to a few shows but hes a baby and he needs to know going out means fun, otherwise he will go sour and then you will have a real problem.
 
Is this the same horse that you recently posted about with colicky symptoms?

If so, I really would ask your vet to consider if he might have Gastric Ulcers. Poor performance, along with the other symptoms listed in the other post, are all signs of Ulcers.
 
If he enjoys his jumping which it seams he does (up until now) and as long as your aren't jumping him more than 3ish times a week I wouldn't think the amount of shows your doing is too much. I mean all the 4 year old jumpers on our yard are going out competing once a week.
He is either being a bit cheeky with you and has realised your nervous or personally the first thing I would check for is if he is in pain in anyway??? If he is also being naughty with your OH (?) maybe this is the case.
Not many people think about this but a main cause for horses not to want to jump is if they've pulled muscles in their backs (which they do just like humans.) Feel all over his back, down his shoulders and in between two front legs. all the muscles should be nice and soft and wobbly - if they are tense and hard maybe try strtching his back out a bit to relieve the tension.
Hope this helps???
Fayexxx
 
I would say he's either bored, or has an underlying problem....virus perhaps ?

He could be trying it on, but i'd explore the other options first
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I think it could well be back-related. At 4 they are still growing, and at the same time, we start to up their workload and their jumping career kicks off.

I would get the vet out to give him a thorough going over.

People are so quick to assume that young horses are 'taking the pxss', but you know your horse, and if this is out of character, I would suspect pain of some sort.
 
He sounds super and a real prospect for the future. I'd back off the jumping for now- give him a mental chillout with lots of hacking and fun stuff. When you re-introduce jumping keep it low key and easy. I wouldnt compete such a baby more than once a fortnight and I never jump more than once a week at home.
Someone once said that if you think of a horse as having a certain number of jumps in him, you dont want to waste them all early on and have nothing left when theyre older- save him for the future!!
 
In agreement with Boss - I only ever jump once a week at home - some weeks I dont jump at all - take the pressure off a bit, have a fortnight of no jumping, with some hacking and yes, if he enjoyed the XC, take him for a jolly round there, then come back and do a class and see what happens
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On the other hand it could well be that he is exploiting you - he has been doing bigger tracks with your OH (who I presume is a more experienced rider than you?) and he may consider 80cms a joke and so "cant be bothered" and knows that he can get away with it - if you think this may be the cause, then I would get OH to go jump a round on him and see what happens

Good luck!
 
Yeah, I also very rarely jump at home anymore! I keep jumping for the weekend shows and my monthly lesson. Thats all I do and it keeps my boys ticking over nicely. I only really jump at home if the particular horse hasnt been to a show in a while. I find they jump far better when fresher. Especially 4yo's, but with real babies like this I do tend to jump at home once a week, like small gridwork - anything to help build confidence but also keep their technique improving, then Id compete them maybe every 2nd weekend.
 
Yeah, I also very rarely jump at home anymore! I keep jumping for the weekend shows and my monthly lesson. Thats all I do and it keeps my boys ticking over nicely. I only really jump at home if the particular horse hasnt been to a show in a while. I find they jump far better when fresher. Especially 4yo's, but with real babies like this I do tend to jump at home once a week, like small gridwork - anything to help build confidence but also keep their technique improving, then Id compete them maybe every 2nd weekend.

Dont worry about it too much, obviously you need to sort it pretty quick though as this cant become a habit. At least you have your OH who I assume could help? He could ride him and basically show who's at fault, you or the horse! Or if it was purely a bad day.
 
Same here - my horses hardly ever jump between competition unless it has been a long gap or I have a jumping lesson (infrequent). In reality they probably jump a couple of times a month - I think it keeps it special for them because they all enjoy it.

They also tend to compete in clusters (so they will compete regularly for a couple of months, then I will give them a break and do something different for a while). I think that helps them make progress as they learn something, consolidate it and then have a bit of time to think about it.

Only exception would be when I am actually teaching a horse to jump when I would try to do 10 mins a couple of times a week until the basics were established.

For a 4 year old to be competing twice a week sounds like an enormous amount.
 
Could your little man be harbouring the beginning of some sort of bug/virus. When Sophie and Flora were that age they came home with a runny nose nearly every time they were out with other horses, and if you were out on Sunday, he could have got something then.

Other possibility is that he lost a bit of confidence in warm up (if the light was bad) and this carried on into the ring. If he seems back to hus usual self the next time you jump him then it could be as simple s that!

Hope he's soon back to normal.

Fiona
 
Thanks Fioan i am hoping that he was jsut nervosu after his scare in practice arena and shud come right the next time out. Just has shaken my confidencea bit and disapointed after he was such a good boy at the weekend! Horses i dont no why we bother! How is flora?
 
I took him back to same place last nite and i hadnt jumped him since the disaster! He was a bit nervous in practice arena so i only did a few and took him in and rode very quietly and encouraged him. He jumped 2 clear rounds at 80 and was super. So i no now that he just got a real fright and he is a sensitive sole so sjut have to make sure he doesn't get any more frights but he felt to me like he enjoyed it again and was relaxed once he got going!

Am so relieved! But thank you everyone for all ur help and advice and I will take him to a few more the next few weeks and not do much jumping at home either and then give him a break so as to not sicken him for next yr!
 
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