Improving horse's jumping confidence...

[spotty_pony2]

Question in title? I ride a lovely mare who I have ridden for just over a year now for her owner who mainly hunts her. I am taking out Hunting this Season a bit too, to help with gate shutting, etc. Her owner doesn't really jump much so although the mare jumped quite a bit in her last home as a young horse, she hasn't done an awful lot over the past couple of years and has lost a bit of confidence. I have popped her over a few fences and she either tries to rush or will occasionally get there and have a stop because she is lacking in confidence to believe she can do it.

Is there anything in particular I should be doing with her to improve confidence or is it just a case of repetition until she realises there is nothing to worry about? I have been working on developing more of a rhythm both out hacking and in the school on the flat. We are currently jumping in a snaffle as I feel it is good for schooling purposes but will definitely be looking for something with a bit more brakes for Hunting.

Thanks

 

[smja]

It also depends on your experience with jumping - confidence is a two-way thing, and expecting an inexperienced horse to do everything doesn't help them.

Jumping comes from quality of canter. Do an honest assessment of it - rhythm is good, but you also need some power. As you canter round, could you jump if someone threw a fence in front of you unexpectedly? That's the kind of canter you need.

Little and often for practising

 

[wkiwi]

Agree with smja.
Also, you don't put what height you have asked her to jump? Stick within her comfort zone (even if it seems tiny) and only very gradually build up the height. If she loses her nerve at any stage then go back to smaller jumps until she is confident again.

 

[spotty_pony2]

I have done quite a lot of jumping, on various different horses and ponies and have brought on many horses myself. I also hunt regularly on my own boy. The jump I asked her to jump which she stopped at was about 2ft (a hunt fence) but we did approach at a trot and weren't really going forwards enough and we did go on to jump a bigger hunt fence out of canter which she jumped fine. I do understand what you are saying about the quality of the canter and needing the power too though. Thank you