Horse Overjumping.....

[Parkranger]

Hi Guys,

Took the new boy out again yesterday - missed the 2'3" class so had to go into the 2'6"

He's such a genuine horse but really needs help 'smoothing' out his jump. Did really well but the round was not pretty at all!

What do you think about the following:

Take him cross country training to teach him to 'elongate' his canter stride into a jump.
Stick a martingale on to stop him 'snatching' his head after the fence.
Wear small spurs to help with impulsion.
Do lots of bounce work/grid work so that he'll have to just 'jump' rather than think about it and gawp at the jump.

He has 'the' showjumpers canter but lacks the impulsion and I think that's were we're falling down a bit....the only things I remember coming into a fence are heels down, shoulders back/hands up and legs on!

Anyother suggestions?

He's a very big boy - only 16'3" but long and alot of horse to keep together! Like I say he's very honest so I want to give him more confidence - I swear we were jumping 2'6" at about 3'6" yesterday

 

[only_me]

your horse sounds like mine! lol i find it hard to keep impulsion and together, as my boy is 16.2

try jumping him on a loose rein and just push him into the fence, so that he has to sort himself out a lot more?

 

[dozzie]

I'd go for grid work myself but with lots of lenthening and shortening work, bounces and different related distances once he is more confident. I'd also find a good sj insrtuctor who could help as it seems he is just a bit of a big long baby who hasnt grown into his body yet.

 

[Rachel_M]

I would start right from the beginning again.

Working on him jumping a fence properly, which he is not doing now, and slowly going up in height. If he carries on jumping like this, and I mean when he starts taking on even bigger fences, he could cause him self injury, as well as wasting precious energy, giving a 5 foot fence another couple of feet clearance.


If he has no propulsion then he is not doing a 'showjumping canter' but is simply not striding out enough. A true SJ canter should be able akin to holding a spring in your hands; Ready to to be unleashed when needed.

 

[Parkranger]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd go for grid work myself but with lots of lenthening and shortening work, bounces and different related distances once he is more confident. I'd also find a good sj insrtuctor who could help as it seems he is just a bit of a big long baby who hasnt grown into his body yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Luckily I have a good instructor so we're having lessons - I want to concentrate my lessons on the flat though as he's a bit of a naughty boy when schooling - I think 'arrogant' is the word

I'm taking him out on jumping hacks a bit more too and my goodness - he can extend then!

 

[Parkranger]

[ QUOTE ]


If he has no propulsion then he is not doing a 'showjumping canter' but is simply not striding out enough. A true SJ canter should be able akin to holding a spring in your hands; Ready to to be unleashed when needed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've definately had him like this a few times in lessons - I think alot of it is probably practice practice practice then - in my lesson last week he felt like a coiled spring and jumped so well......I guess we need to find that click and I probably need to jump a bit more so that he remembers from each session what we've learnt. That's why I'm thinking that small spurs will probably help as he's alot of horse to get your legs around!