Horse that fears jumping? Help

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horsey_mad123

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a friends pony of mine is really nervous when it comes to jumping. He's fine with trot poles or canter poles as long as their on the ground, but once they are raised he tires to jump them all as a whole. When there is jumps set up in the arena you can feel him tense up under you. When you go for a jump or even raised trot or canter poles he charges at full speed and leaps it, completely ignoring any aids given. He often tenses himself up so much he completey misses the jump, ducking to the side. He is ridden by experienced, confident riders. It's resulted to people standing with sticks and the sides of the jump so that he doesn't run out, but I really don't agree with this, surely there must be another way?

Does anyone have any tips on how to de stress him around jumps and any tips on how to eventually build up to jumping? Any good excersises?
Any help is appreciated
 
My (inexperienced) opinion would be that jumping is hurting him. So he rushes to get it over with, goes tense just looking at the jumps, cannot "relax" and just trot or canter over the poles etc. Has the vet been out to investigate?
 
sometimes it can be hock issues causing pain as well. has he any good associations with jumping? has he even been loosed schooled over a simple jump with a horse that loves jumping, so its fun?

It does sound like a pain thing though? does he act the same over natural fences like a log in a field? If he jumps them ok and calmly, then he obviously has a bad association with poles?
 
Forcing a horse to do something he doesn't not like, does not understand or causes pain is completely and utterly counter productive. You just build up negative associations to the point that he may never come back to enjoy work, or will do something really dangerous in an effort to communicate his distress.

Hock and SI problems need to be ruled out with a proper lameness workup. You said he had his back "done" but by whom and looking for what? I would suggest a proper vet assessment at least to rule out kissing spines. the other thing that might be worth looking at is eye sight - as the days draw in they can have problems distinguishing a bounce from a spread, raised poles from a jump etc.

Stop jumping him, stop working with poles. Go back to being a happy hacker - don't even try for collected flatwork or lateral work until the vet says he is clear. Then re-build really slowly. Even if pain is not at the root of this pony is clearly not happy and now has negative associations from being forced. Perhaps try popping the odd jump out hacking in a group - horses love being together like that. You'll be too late for the hunt season but perhaps some sponsored rides in the summer? Start really low - don't challenge or over face him at all. He has to re-build his trust in humans and that takes time. Perhaps a bit of autumn hunting next autumn and depending on how he is doing think about possibly re-starting polework late next year?

One final point... no experienced or confident rider should need to have people flagging a jump with whips to make a reluctant pony jump. They either have enough control that the pony jumps or they get off an find out what the problem is. Force does not work with horses!
 
Vet has advised, box rest and no work until they find out the problem, he believes it's something to do with his hock but needs to run some tests. Thanks for all your advice ��
 
I own a horse who was pushed to jump as a youngster when he just didn't like it; he had no physical issues (all checked by various professionals) but just didn't want to do it and was also started too quickly with minimal handling beforehand. This approach works with some horses but it didn't with him; I am not saying that he was mistreated but he wasn't treated in an entirely sympathetic manner either.

I am now dealing with a horse who is lovely, but slightly claustrophobic and pretty sharp in the school. Keeping his flight instinct in check is getting there, but he is very nervous of poles. I am getting there with him slowly and it hasn't been easy, but I do think it is very important to be aware that some horses just don't like jumping, even if they don't have any physical issues. Pushing such horses to jump is counterproductive and will almost certainly cause more severe problems that are harder to solve.
 
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