Help with horse rushing jumps

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rmbk22

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Hi everyone I was hoping maybe someone could give me a few tips with my horsey. He is 8 years old and i have had him 3 years now. He has had a few problems in the past but thankfully has been sound now for the last year and is much happier in all ways. I have been doing alot of flat work with him and things are coming on slowly but surely his rhythm is much better and is becoming more consistent in his outline sometimes!!

The big problem at the minute is with jumping! He always had a tendency to rush his jumps even trotting poles but after a lot of work on halting an grids he is much better now. At home we can mostly keep a steady canter to jumps but when i take him out he starts of well but just gets faster and faster as he goes round the course. Last time we had a great first round and he then went in and bombed round the 2nd round getting in too deep and knocking down practically everything in sight>

I was wondering does anyone else have this problem and what is the best way to fix it as he is a lovely horse and I would love to get out and do a few 70/80 classes without demolishing everything.

Sorry for rambling on hope you can helpxx
 
Hi he is a 16hh hunter type. At home we usually jump 70/80 in courses and up to a metre singley. In grids would usually jump cross poles up to 70 ish.
 
I would work him over grids that build up in height, so the 1st fence is a high x pole, then a stride to an upright then 2 strides to an oxer, or the other way round . Keep the distances a little short so that he has to shorten himself and if you have fillers use them to give him something to back him off the fence.
Get him jumping the grids until he is not rushing and he is jumping carefully over about 90- 1metre it should help him learn to slow down and use himself more, make sure you are in balance and not getting over his shoulder on take off.
When the grids are going well start to do some single fences but if he rushes go back to the grid to steady him again.
Most horses that rush do so because they lack confidence so try to build on his as much as you can.
 
Thanks thats great. I think confidence probably is definitely a problem as he is a very nervous horsey though he has improved loads. would you keep him jumping at home for a while or would it help to get him out to training shows so that its not such a big deal when he does go out?
 
I would take him out keep it easy for him and try to enjoy it without too much expectation and keep working at home, he should gradually learn to relax and slow down, then hopefully will start jumping more clears.
 
I agree with the grid advice above

What I used to do though would be to ride away from the grid before jumping it again, doing a little trot and canter flatwork with some changes of direction, then after a while pop one odd jump away from the grid and ultra casually pop my horse over that (trotting till the last minute) before going back to the grid, almost like it was the norm and nothing special

Then I'd add a second fence and sometimes jump the first and sometimes the second, that way the horse doesnt start to predict and less likely to rush, you can add more till you end up with your grid and a small course outside it choosing different jumps from the course each time or sometimes to keep the interest up choosing none but cantering between them

Obviously only works if you have space and enough jumps though!

When I was asked for advice and watched people with similar problems they had nearly always laid out a simple oval course of jumps with no changes of direction or real interest so do take a look at your courses and check they arent always the same or a bit predictable
 
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