HELP! Horse will not jump on grass

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Spendtoomuch

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I need some ideas please.

Background, bought horse a year and half ago he was a very very green 10 year old ex racer, who had never jumped, no idea about dressage etc.

So I have got him out about he is now getting points at novice BD, and won his first ever SJ class :D, so the problem is he will jump anything I ask on a surface but not on grass, he simply slides to a halt into the fence :rolleyes:

I took him to MKEC XC schooling in May and the only thing we managed was the steps and that took a lot of growling and several attempts, but I put it down to the gravel in front of the fences. So today we went to local RC SJ on grass and he refused the practice fence repeatedly, eventually got over a few times, then had to go into the ring as I was last to go and they couldn't wait, he refused the 1st fence 3 times and got eliminated:(

I do think half his problem is he is too busy looking at everything else, but he seems to understand anything on a surface = work

SO ideas please how do I teach him grass also can = work? We have no fields that we can jump in where I keep him but I do have transport.
 
Do you have him shod/studded for the job?

How often, between shows, do you school on grass?

Are there any questions about his soundness? You'd be surprised how many horses with small niggles are happy to continue on decent surfaces but stop jumping well - or at all - on grass.
 
-You could try putting ear covers on him and stuff his ears with cotton wool, it might help him to concentrate more as there would be less outside noise and less distractions.
-Make sure you always wear big studs, he may feel unstable on grass, you could ask your farrier about putting an extra stud hole in the toe for more grip.
-Try putting pads gel pads on him, this worked for a friends horse who had trouble jumping on grass.
 
Agree with studs to make sure he has enough grip- and then I would just hire somewhere to practice as much as possible until he gets used to it, start with flatwork to settle him, then really small or even poles on the ground and increase very gradually- and if it goes wrong just keep going back to basics until he forgets all about stopping! ;) Also could there be anywhere out on hacks that you could school him in canter on grass to get him used to that? x
 
Thanks, he was wearing studs today, in May it was rock hard when we went.

I currently hack and walk,trot and canter on grass tracks which he loves.

Think I do need to hire a SJ course on ground and just start with trotting poles and go from there.

No questions about soundness until now :eek: he seems fine hacking and feels sound on the flat on grass but maybe jumping hurts although might know if he would actually go over anything :rolleyes:
 
Spendtoomuch said:
Thanks, he was wearing studs today, in May it was rock hard when we went
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Do you think maybe jumping him on the hard ground has put him off? My chap prefers firmer ground, but there are plenty that don't like it.......just a thought? Hopeful he'll get more confident the more you practice.
 
Spendtoomuch said:
Thanks, he was wearing studs today, in May it was rock hard when we went.

I currently hack and walk,trot and canter on grass tracks which he loves.

Think I do need to hire a SJ course on ground and just start with trotting poles and go from there.
I'd say you've hit the nail on the head there, going schooling somewhere on grass, small enough to walk over if necessary and keep at it, building up slowly.
See how he goes from there and re-asess with a comp/CR in a month or so. :)
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It could be the opposite problem that you have over studded him, and he feels he is 'stuck' to the ground.

Personally I am not keen on front studs as I feel they can jar their front legs as they land. We have a ex-intermediate eventer who started stopping at fences, but when we took his front studs out, he started jumping again. Same with a big ID x, he hated front studs.
 
My old boy was the same, he wold jump on a surface but stopped on grass. Turned out he had navicular :( would def get him checked out ASAP so you can prevent any further damage (if there is any).
 
I have recently gone through exactly the same thing, horse jumping out of his skin on a surface and refusing to go a yard on grass despite wearing studs and then went lame.

The ground was exceptionally hard and in hindsight perhaps he was over studded as when the sports physio visited him his first question was had I been using studs. The result was hyperextension over the front of the fetlock and contraction of the hamstrings, he was incredibly sore. Basically the effect was the same as wearing stilettos for a night out when not used to them.

The horse is back to normal now and again jumping out of his skin on a surface, he will be schooled over poles and tiny fences on grass without studs at some point but in all honesty the amount of times I come across grass arenas is so few and far between that I may not bother!
 
I'd echo what's been said.

I had a mare jumping 1.20m - 1.30 on a surface, woudn't jump 90cm on grass - she was diagnosed with navicular but competed for years with careful management on a surface (she had pads under the shoes in the end). So def get that looked at.

I agree about over studding, its hard to get properly small studs - I like the v small pointy ones from supa studs for grass (unless its VERY deep), gives a little grip but not big enough to change the angle of the foot too much, I also prefer to use studs both sides or neither - on just 1 side makes the leg twist (I've seen some nasty knee injuries in rugby players caused in a very similar way)

Once those are sorted school on grass regularly starting v small so he regains his confidence.
 
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