Horse always chipping in a short stride jumping?

Luci07

Luci07

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Would be interested in your thoughts. Horse is 5 year ISH belonging to a good friend. Horse has been out and done some BE 80 this summer before my friend bought him. He is very kind and very genuine making my friend feel very safe. She has had this boy for 3 months or so. Passed stringent 5* at purchase.

He was quite poor when she got him and the build up has been very gradual and slow. YO has been doing this deliberately as he will be quite a chunky monkey when he has finished growing but she does not want to over heat him.

Horse has a very long back as well. Appreciate he is still growing and is relatively weak behind.

He always chips in a short stride jumping, even when on a perfect forward stride. Never says no, doesn't seem to do it so much XC but that has been down put to speed, not strength. YO has tried riding him in different ways and he still chips in a short one. Grids are being avoided at the moment as he is a really genuine horse and it is felt that grids would be out of his comfort zone right now.

Back checked, saddle has been checked twice in 3 months. Horse hacking as much as possible ATM but now having to revert more to schooling with lack of light after work.

So...thoughts? training tips?
 
My horse does this, she has a tendancy to take real fliers or long ones and we get into trouble though doubles or distances as she will land to far in to get out the other side, so i tend to hold her a bit sometimes and she will add a stride. I have regular training and im told i need to come of my corners in a more forward canter.......its really hard though, especially when im stuggling to see a shot! sorry not much help but i know what a pain it is!!
 
It really depends on why he's doing it. If he were older and had been jumping differently, I'd say hocks/feet/possibly SI or a rider problem but since he's that green it may simply be a misunderstanding on his part.

Does he make it down the distances okay? Even just with poles?

To start I'd probably set a little line, well within his comfort zone height wise and set to get him to a nice spot at the second. If he'll take a placing pole I might try that to the first but more likely I'd leave it something trot sized. Then practice jumping in and letting him flow down the line to the good distance, not hassling but making sure he's off the leg and forward. Then gradually put the second fence up a bit but don't change anything else. Rinse, repeat with different jumps, different distances etc. It takes time to change habits.

If his regular rider is going to do the work it's imperative that she lets him sort it out and doesn't inadvertently change something on the way to the jump that then makes him chip. If it is rider related it might be something very subtle so perhaps worth getting a very high end jump trainer to have a look.
 
I'd want to see him jump loose ideally, or on the lunge, see if he does it then.
I'd prob try a bute trial, see if he's better on a bit of a painkiller.
I'd get him checked by a physio and a McTimoney Chiro as well, to see if there is tightness anywhere (which I'd expect) which is making him unwilling to open up and use himself in a forward way.
I'd try him in a totally different saddle too, fwiw.
I wouldn't avoid grids, I'd start with them small, approached from trot, keep to short distances so that there's not really space to chip in a short one, and get him used to going on the regular stride.
What's his flatwork like? Is he happy to open his frame on the flat?
 
Ours does this if the daughter is chasing him into the fence. Even in a jump off she has to wait for the fence to come to her. It has taken her years to cotton on that chasing doesn't mean faster as he loses time putting the extra half stride in. She has to make sure to push him off the corner before & then just wait. She still does it occasionally though, its a hard habit to break! xx
 
I've been having this problem recently. My instructor has been working with me this year to re-educate my TB who loved going off a really long one but could get very flat. We have been work on getting him in a bit deeper and me allowing him time to sort himself out, which has meant he has been putting in shorter strides occasionally but has been using himself more and making a better shape.

We are now working on the middle ground and improving the power in the canter into the fences. Not by me driving him but really getting the engine working. I have been doing some grids to reinforce this and we have found that if the canter is good to the first part and I also sit up inbetween (my bad habit!) then the rest of the fences sort themselves out without the need for chipping in.

From what you say about him being weak behind it may be that he isn't yet strong enough for the powerful canter that I have been working on to get my lad out of this habit so it is possibly worth giving him more time and concentrating on strengthening those muscles and in time it may well sort itself out?
 
Just to clarify, my line exercise is a fact finding mission. If the horse chips even with a perfect set up and a decent ride I'd be on to kerilli's list. I would not use lines of poles unless I was sure the horse is comfortable as it does force a specific reaction and can panic or demoralise a horse that honestly can't answer the question.
 
My horse started doing this. Turns out it was his saddle sitting too low and pinching his shoulders, he was also struggling on the flat... he felt bridle lame and didn't want to stretch into the contact x
 
My horse started doing this and he is also very genuine although not a youngster. My RI thought something wasn't right so had the vet out. He was ever so slightly bilaterally lame in front, only when ridden on tight circle in the school.

MRI scan showed there was too much pressure on the coffin joint and a bony nodule in neck. So he was sore.

Sorted feet out and he is now jumping beautifully again.
 
Thank you for your suggestions, the physio is a mctimoney anyway, both saddles were fitted by the saddler although he is in a temp jump saddle padded up, again under the saddlers supervision. He does the same thing with the YO who is an event rider and preps a lot of babies. Doesn't matter how she rides him to a fence, he will always chip a short one in. Flatwork is improving but he really is weak through his back and engine. I will suggest some of the ideas on here but it's almost like it has become a habit. He has the character that people assume all Irish horses have , but in reality most don't!
 
If it's become a habit or stems from a physical source it won't necessarily matter who rides him/how he is ridden on any particular day. Horses go with what works and if this is a coping mechanism, for whatever reason, he will default to it. What is the longest time the trainer has ridden/jumped the horse without the owner's input? It can take months of careful work to reliably change a horse's jumping style, even without an underlying cause.
 
My highland's default jump since he first started jumping has been to stick another stride in and scramble over, especially in new places where he lacks confidence. Loads of gridwork setting him on decent strides for subsequent fences have taught him to jump properly - he takes good strides naturally through grids and now mostly takes decent strides to individual fences too.

I would want to be confident it was a lack of understanding or confidence rather than a physical issue before pushing it though.
 
ditto TarrSteps' advice. even a fantastic rider can't necessarily change a horse's habit in 1 session.
I'd like to see a video, and to see the rider come in quiet trot, not chase the horse at any time, just support quietly with the legs, to a small x pole, with about a 2' upright (with good ground line) say 6.5 yards after it. Unless he's 14.2 or has a ridiculously short stride, if he chips in there, he is feeling wrong physically imho. most horses would find that a pretty short one stride distance... if he does it nicely on 1 stride, then oodles of praise, and that's the sort of exercise he needs to get him taking off on a regular stride and believing that he can. It should feel better to flow over rather than add one and lurch, so it should be an easy habit to get him out of, IF he's not being chased to the fences and IF he's not in any discomfort...!
 
was watching team fredricks last night on horse & country & with youngsters they always just canter poles on approach, going to try this myself! means horse will work stride out & over couple wks remove one pole until just jumping with ground pole if that makes sence
 
Thanks guys, I will report back when they try some of these. They are working on improving his canter as it lacks real power but will suggest the lunging without rider first, the tarr steps exercise. I really don't think it's a physical issue as knowing the checks that have been done. Equally they don't want to try to catch him out as he is a really genuine sort.
 
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