Horse rushing through combinations - What to do?

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alinni1336

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So I have a new horse :D and I am very happy with her so far, she jumps fantastic! But I am having a slight problem when we jump a combination. She does not run when she sees a jump, she stays calm and collected but after a jump she just runs off or atleast tries to, I can handle her after the jump but in a combination sometimes I am to slow to bring her back before the next jump. She feels really flat going through the combination - so I planned with my instructor that we focus on getting a nice canter on the flat this Friday in our lesson and that we jump a combination but with cantering poles between the two elements of the combination so the poles can help me "brake" her while I try to get my reaction time faster! I guess this is something that is only going to get better with practice?

I am already riding her in a happy mouth, french link, Portuguese gag with rein connectors and I don't plan on getting a bigger bit because she really does not need it!

Any other exercises I can do with her to help our problem? Any advice on how to ride her between the combination? Pole work won't help because she is terrible over poles! She can't canter over them nicely she goes cray cray :o :eek:
 
It's very difficult to offer advice with seeing what she actually does. Do you have any video?

My first two thoughts:
Is your canter before the fence too calm/collected, thus she rushes away having had to make more effort over the fence? If so, I would be riding more forwardly towards the fence and see if she still wants to rush away.
Is there something that you are doing to encourage this? E.g. nudge with heels on landing, sitting too heavily - not that you'd be doing this on purpose, obviously, but maybe unconsciously?

As for riding combinations, sit up in between elements. Even if you don't actually sit as such, at least get your shoulders up.

I'm sure your instructor will be able to give you specific advice, though! :)
 
well I would be schooling over poles then! If she can't stay calm over them then you really have little hope of schooling correctly over jumps!

Start in walk, build to trot and then canter with one pole, only when she is settled doing this should you add more poles! - if she rushes at any point she goes back to working in walk. It may take time but this horse sounds anxious so time is needed!

Also - think about your position, you should be landing over the fence ready to pick up immediately and continue on your course - are you folding too much? Are you leaning too far forwards? Losing your balance? Legs swinging back? If you cannot get straight back to a controlled position immediately after the fence then you are fighting a losing battle trying to influence the horse in the middle of a combination fence.

A jumping exercise that is really good for this type of horse is to set up a relatively small jump then one canter stride to 3 trotting poles, it is imperative that she trots by the time she gets to the poles. This really makes horse and rider sit up and take notice but the rider must be ready & the horse must be able to safely and quietly trot over poles.
 
I would start by working on the flat and really helping her to understand that when you bring your shoulders back she must come back to you - at first you may have to use quite strong aids.

Then progress to single fences and have a channel of poles after the fence that you make a transition or stop at - then inbetween two jumps and gradually work up to a double.

I think smja's suggesstion about riding to the fence in a stronger canter - often we forget how big a decent showjumping canter needs to be - in a bouncy way :)
 
By calm and collected I just mean she does not do the typical TB thing by charging at the jump :P but her previous rider did ride her in a forward seat, keeping her forward while I ride with a full seat the whole time - will try that on Friday. Pole work with her takes time because I have to relax her and it takes a couple attempts before she goes over them nicely.

I don't have a good leg position when jumping, sometimes it's slips - I didn't think of that until now.. She is very sensitive to the aids so my leg slipping will definitely bother her.

Thanks guys, got a couple of things I will check out for when I ride again :D Any suggestions to get a nice strong leg position?
 
Much of what's already been said. I do a lot of grid work with my horse and the first thing I would say is sit up between the fences. Also if the canter is unbalanced going into the fence a horse will speed up after landing. I wonder if lots of grid work would help her as by altering the distances you can help her slow down.
 
alinni1336 said:
I don't have a good leg position when jumping, sometimes it's slips. Any suggestions to get a nice strong leg position?
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Heels down & make sure your stirrups are short enough. Go back to basics - do a couple of laps around the arena in two-point. Do you have a secure position when going over X-poles?
 
Agree with 'wheels' . If you can't canter poles on their own, then there is a basic training problem that has occurred somewhere along the line. She should be trotting and cantering poles with an even rhythm and light contact in a simple snaffle long before you worry about bigger fences or combinations. The horse will probably be rushing either through lack of confidence or lack of training.
Of course it is boring to go back to basics, but if you intend to do anything serious with jumping then it is essential (and a lot safer if you want to do cross country, as you will need to adjust the striding within the combination sometimes).
 
As far as helping your leg position, flat work transitioning from two point to normal seat, in all 3 gaits, is the only way to go. Make sure your reins are short enough, and your stirrups. You can practice out hacking or in the school, but literally Up and then Down for various numbers of strides without affecting the rhythm. Then you can start it over poles. You will know you are getting better when you don't have any wobbles and the rhythm doesn't change and you can stay 'up' and still do good transitions :-)
 
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