Horse slamming the breaks on SJ - Help!!!

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sjdress

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I have a horse who lost confidence jumping and has been taken back to basics. However he has a really sharp nasty stop that i struggle to stay on. At home he is fine and confidently jumping 2ft9-3ft.(it has taken a longtime to get him here). However he had me off round a 2ft course at a show today. He charges over the fences at shows and pulls me off balance so i think i am infront of the movement, meaning that when he stops in the fashion that he does (dead sharp and drops shoulder) i struggle to stay on. So, any suggestions? Does he just need to keep going to shows and buliding his confidence away from home, i just dont want him to learn to put these dirty stops in all the time and trash our confidence again.
 
sjdress said:
I have a horse who lost confidence jumping and has been taken back to basics. However he has a really sharp nasty stop that i struggle to stay on. At home he is fine and confidently jumping 2ft9-3ft.(it has taken a longtime to get him here). However he had me off round a 2ft course at a show today. He charges over the fences at shows and pulls me off balance so i think i am infront of the movement, meaning that when he stops in the fashion that he does (dead sharp and drops shoulder) i struggle to stay on. So, any suggestions? Does he just need to keep going to shows and buliding his confidence away from home, i just dont want him to learn to put these dirty stops in all the time and trash our confidence again.
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i think that you need to try and get to the bottom of exactly why he is stopping...he's obviously fine at home but not at a show so you need to try and get to the bottom of that. i wonder how much is your nerves (quite understandably!) perhaps get your trainer to jump him at a show and see what they say?
 
Well i think originally he was stopping because he had an injury behind and it was pain related but then i think it went to be learnt behaviour and we both lost confidence in eachother. He is A Ok now and has had everything checked so i do think it is a confidence issue. I have had a few pro's ride him, one he didn't get on with and ended up going worse with her, the other he went ok for but i need him to jump for me! He get very overwhelmed and loses concentration. Dressage he is like a totally different horse...
 
it sounds like he's rushing the fences meaning he can put in the nasty dirty stop so i'd be working on rhythm - little jumps and get so you can go over a jump with another 4 or 5 strides but be able to pull up between. so keep jumps very small so that you can walk or trot them to begin with land and come back and go the next jump very calm, there should be room to do a circle between fences if need be.
You can build the jumps up and school round them, when in a calm quiet rhythm pop a fence. Emphasis on keeping a calm and quiet rhythm. Hopefully that will help build the confidence that you don't have to rush fences.
 
Re needing him to jump for you, even if you do all the work, you won't be able to just flick a switch and have it all be like it never happened. He needs to have lots of good experiences to offset the bad ones he's had in the past. Out of curiosity, how do you know he's completely fixed? I know it sounds like a cop out but you'd be surprised how many horses that jump at home but not at shows actually have an underlying physical issue - it's just that they can cope in a very predictable environment but can't when you add more variables. The same thing applies when you're trying to sort them out after an injury - just because they've learned they'll be okay at home, it doesn't necessarily mean it will carry over into the show ring at first. How often do you get him out to school at other venues, when you can take your time and build the jumps up gradually?

Re the running then stopping . . . .that's quite a common thing, that runners turn into stoppers. It's part of the reason it's so important to address horses that jump out of "panic mode" earlier rather than later.

Does he get quick at home? What sort of exercises do you do to address it? Does he wear the same bit for schooling and showing? Does he go now in the same bit he went in when you were jumping him successfully in the past? Is the rushing worse than before?
 
He's been x rayed etc by the vet recently to make sure everything is ok and is schooling meduim level dressage with no soundness issues.
He is schooled at home in exactly the same tack as he competes in, however he has not been out to many venue's recently for schooling, more or less straight out to compete. I will however be taking him sj schooling at a local venue next week.
He's steady at home and we do lots of grids with placing poles to stop him rushing. He was very stoppy to start with 6 months a go at home but is now very much settled.
At the time when he was at his worst he was basically getting eliminated at every show, unfortunately i didn't have the best support team back then and we just kept at him which made the problem worse, hence losing his confidence. He had a year off sj, then went and did some little xc's and sj schooling at home before starting to compete again. I struggle to find a good trainer to help us as i find that a lot of them put too mjuch pressure on him and he just throws his toys out the pram when this happens. We need someone firm but also fair. I am also SJ a schoolmaster type to get my eye back in and boost my confidence so then i can help him more.
 
Maybe sj jumping just isn't for him ? Mine hates sj but jumps xc fine and loves jumping out hunting. I'm not confident jumping her over sj's but happily jump my YO's youngster round 1.05m so it can't be all my fault ? Therefore I now don't sj mine. Maybe he's not quite cut out for what you want him for ?
 
If you hadn't have said he chucked you off at 2ft I'd have said do little little jumps. Little toe-rag - 2ft, that's naughty!

Sounds like you've eliminated pretty much of the excuses.

A tip to stay on a "stop, drop the shoulder, spin away" horse - sit right up, bolt upright. Keep your heels down, your lower leg forward and your shoulders back. Give with your hands on take off (but not before). And don't go too far forwards. Move your hands just in front of the martingale strap but no further (you don't really need to move at all at 2ft).

I had this with mine - it was back and saddle issues at first but then he started to take the P.

I find that most times now, if I stay sat up with leg on, he will go. But if he doesn't, I will stay on as my body weight is more upright than forward.

They are little buggers arent they!
 
where are you based?

i would suggest lots of hiring out of venues and clear round competitions to work on this...that way you can get him round the course without getting eliminated...and you can obviously school like you can at home and work on your speed etc (circling and stopping between fences if you need to)
 
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