How to get a horse to respect the jumps?

[That_midgit_equestrian]

I have a little cob who is more than capable of jumping out hacking he will fly over anything and feels absolutely mega giving everything room but in the school he will go straight through the jumps or just won’t pick up his legs enough over tiny jumps (he’s not allowed to jump over 60 just yet whilst he gets muscle) I’m talking these jumps are like 40cm so irs not a case of difficulty I feel like irs a case of can’t be bothered typical cba gelding anyone experienced this ? Or knows what to do?

 

[AmyMay]

What surface does the school have?

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

What surface does the school have?

We have a sand school well irs like a mix of rubber and sand

 

[AmyMay]

We have a sand school well irs like a mix of rubber and sand

He may find it a bit unstable under his feet, hence not taking off.

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

He may find it a bit unstable under his feet, hence not taking off.[/QUOTE
That is a possibility but once you put a filler in he is a lot better which makes me think it’s disrespect

 

[Merry neddy man]

Try using a ground pole. Using a filler makes a lot of sense as probably everything he jumps out hacking is a solid object (logs?) so you are presenting a similar object.

 

[Coblover63]

My cob mare (in my avatar) is lazy over small jumps. She is far more likely to knock a 45 or 50cm down than a 60 or 70.

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

Try using a ground pole. Using a filler makes a lot of sense as probably everything he jumps out hacking is a solid object (logs?) so you are

Try using a ground pole. Using a filler makes a lot of sense as probably everything he jumps out hacking is a solid object (logs?) so you are presenting a similar object.

presenting a similar object.

I would try that but until we get more poles we only have one atm I can’t but when we have them I’ll defo use that

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

My cob mare (in my avatar) is lazy over small jumps. She is far more likely to knock a 45 or 50cm down than a 60 or 70.

Thinking about it I did used to jump him a bit bigger before my instructor said he wasn’t strong enough yet but I will put the highes up because he can jump up to 60

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

You see he does jump like this when he’s out because he loves an audience as well (we won this class ?)

 

[ycbm]

I would try that but until we get more poles we only have one atm I can’t but when we have them I’ll defo use that

It sounds like the jump is too small. He may be jumping better over cross poles because he's judging the height by the sides not the middle. You need more poles than one ?
.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

As Amymay say the surface could play a part. We have rubber and sand and this time of year its so deep. Do you trot or canter to the jump? Have you tried lunging over the jump?

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Just to add perhaps a more solid jump like small barrels or straw bales might naked him pick his feet up?

 

[stormox]

40cms is hardly a jump, maybe its below his line of sight and hardly worth a bascule. He will probably make a better jump over 70/80 cms. A bit of gridwork might help.

 

[LEC]

There are so many reasons - canter and rider are usually the two biggest.
I had a cob a while ago who was terrible but hard work, lots and work on the canter and grids improved him.

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

As Amymay say the surface could play a part. We have rubber and sand and this time of year its so deep. Do you trot or canter to the jump? Have you tried lunging over the jump?

We canter over the jump and the sand isn’t thick ar all it’s quite thin atm he’s a prick to lunge but I really want to try that

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

40cms is hardly a jump, maybe its below his line of sight and hardly worth a bascule. He will probably make a better jump over 70/80 cms. A bit of gridwork might help.

Issue is he’s not allowed to jump over 60 incase he pulls something?

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

There are so many reasons - canter and rider are usually the two biggest.
I had a cob a while ago who was terrible but hard work, lots and work on the canter and grids improved him.

If we had more jumps we would there are some new ones coming very soon tho so I will do that he’s not got an issue with his paces he’s a show pony there very flashy and neat

 

[AmyMay]

We canter over the jump and the sand isn’t thick ar all it’s quite thin atm he’s a prick to lunge but I really want to try that

So if sand is thin, what’s underneath it?

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

So if sand is thin, what’s underneath it?

Like membrane it’s probably due a relay there is plenty of sand irs just compact so he doesn’t struggle in it

 

[Lois Lame]

The language is a bit off putting.

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

The language is a bit off putting.

How so?

 

[Lois Lame]

Only in post 16, to be fair.

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

Only in post 16, to be fair.

Sorry if that came across as rude but I wasn’t trying to be I do try and speak well on here as I know it’s a lot of older people but sometimes I forge

 

[sbloom]

In other posts you've said you're struggling a little with him being strong etc, and we've talked about him learning to balance better and you working in your contact. Jumping is mostly flatwork after all, with jumps in between, so if you work on his balance as per the other threads, this will definitely help. Horses and ponies can win all sorts of classes and competitions, up to the very highest levels, and still have underlying basic issues. As prey animals their lives depend on masking their difficulties, they compensate really well, so when they are having problems we have to sit up and notice.

What has your instructor said about his jumping issue, or his flatwork balance for that matter?

 

[Lois Lame]

Sorry if that came across as rude but I wasn’t trying to be I do try and speak well on here as I know it’s a lot of older people but sometimes I forge

That's okay. I guess that particular word I have always disliked for some reason.

I think, for your cob, jumping in an arena is uninspiring. Why not do more trail riding with natural jumps which are more inviting to jump for many reasons?

In the last photo, your boy is jumping very high; this is usually due to having less skill, not more. Very clever jumpers only jump as high as is necessary.

I was wondering about the arena surface and how difficult it might feel to move on. You can test this for yourself, on foot. How easy or difficult is the surface? I think many arena surfaces are not particularly nice (too much give).

 

[Lois Lame]

Carry on, nothing to see here. Just can't control the controls.

 

[sbloom]

That's okay. I guess that particular word I have always disliked for some reason.

Ha, I missed that word!

Yes, using mean words about horses sometimes shows us we're not placing them at the centre of things, that we want them to "perform" for us, instead of working out what they actually need. This little pony needs balance, and I would suggest that leaving jumping until his canter is better balanced would be the way to go.

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

In other posts you've said you're struggling a little with him being strong etc, and we've talked about him learning to balance better and you working in your contact. Jumping is mostly flatwork after all, with jumps in between, so if you work on his balance as per the other threads, this will definitely help. Horses and ponies can win all sorts of classes and competitions, up to the very highest levels, and still have underlying basic issues. As prey animals their lives depend on masking their difficulties, they compensate really well, so when they are having problems we have to sit up and notice.

What has your instructor said about his jumping issue, or his flatwork balance for that matter?

He’s no longer strong and out instructor said there is no issue with his canter what so ever he has managed to settle into a contact now and the issues have been fixed before we focused on jumping

 

[That_midgit_equestrian]

That's okay. I guess that particular word I have always disliked for some reason.

I think, for your cob, jumping in an arena is uninspiring. Why not do more trail riding with natural jumps which are more inviting to jump for many reasons?

In the last photo, your boy is jumping very high; this is usually due to having less skill, not more. Very clever jumpers only jump as high as is necessary.

I was wondering about the arena surface and how difficult it might feel to move on. You can test this for yourself, on foot. How easy or difficult is the surface? I think many arena surfaces are not particularly nice (too much give).

I thibk he’s very clever so he gets bored easy that’s why he loves hacking I’ll check the school when I next go in