jumping advice please

[carrotts1]

hey,
I just started trying to jump my new boy only over very small poles at the moment but already we've hit a problem.

basically we aproach the jump fine and he does not seem fazed by the poles at all but as soon as he is over he pulls his head straight down, which pulls me off balance, and then he stops, which sends me flying over the top

My friend had ago to see if it was just me being nervous been he did the excate same thing.

When i brought him they said he done alot of jumping and enjoyed it

so can anyone suggest what the problem may be and anything we can do to try and stop it. I've heard of people tying string from the horses bit to the rings on the pommel of the saddle not tight but enough so the reins cant get pulled out of your hands to throw you off balance, but not sure on this. Can anyone help??

 

[BobbyMondeo]

I dont have any advice sorry but i will be watching this post as my horse does this too...

 

[Cliqmo]

It might be an old habit from a rider with hard hands (or it could be you with hard hands causing the reaction

) either way make sure you give plenty of rein over the jump so he realises it wont hurt (and don't sit up too quickly on landing) then sit up and really kick him on to break him out of the habit - canter a whole lap of the arena (always stopping at different places) after jumping the fence as this should stop the habit and stopping in different places should prevent him getting new ones

 

[carrotts1]

phew !!! thought I was the only one its really annoying, he is so willing to please bless him so would love to get past it

 

[Dubsie]

Perseverence. My daughters little loan Welshie did this, and also on cantering, especially when she'd had enough, and often reduced daughter to tears. We think previous rider just let pony do as it wanted (zoom off deposit rider, chomp grass). We've been lucky to find a marvellous instructor, who has worked them hard over the last 6 months - a lot on rider position which has helped with keeping heels down and not sailing over her head, and we're really pleased with their progress because it was a BIG issue. We tried a daisy rein (this attached to the top of the bridle at the poll and runs down the neck and the other end attaches to the D rings of the saddle, and has an elasticated section so the further the pony sticks her head down the tighter the pull on bit to seem like it's a pull on the reins. This helped daughter when she wasn't quite quick enough or strong enough to keep hold of the reins, but daughter is now 1 step ahead of pony which helps, so we usually don't use this any more. Also we now have a crupper on the saddle as even if daughter could hang on, the pony is a little slim at the withers and the saddle tended to slip forward.
The cure really seems to have been have a choice of routes and look ahead and send her on quickly to the next jump (or task if you've not enough jumps handy), and use half halts, change of pace, change of direction so she has to think and listen to which way and what you're going to send her on to, but always send her on quickly as soon as you've jumped. She also gets sent on again and again till she does it right and exactly as she's asked without pulling her head down, before she gets praised and is allowed to ease up. 6 months on she seems to have learnt now that if she does as she's told it's a LOT easier than not.
Am I allowed to be chuffed that daughter got 2nd in 2ft jumping (2nd outing ever for both), and jumped a clear at 2ft 3 (never jumped a 2ft 3 course before yesterday), and pony didn't bother to pop head down all the way round?
Daughter is still worried about flying off over pony's neck and I will say that she tends to not fold over the jumps because of this issue, regardless of which pony she rides now, so I would recommend get a good instructor and work on it because additionally the anticipation of the flight is going to affect how you ride, plus I am sure the anticipation from the (cheeky little Welsh) pony of feeling the rider's expectation of being dumped added to the allure of ditching the rider and being able to chomp grass.

 

[Lollii]

I have the same problem with my new horse although he doesn't stop he snatches at the bit after a jump and pulls his head down and the reins out of my hands so I have nothing to hold on to and no steering and as he is 17hh it's not funny!

I have had his teeth checked and it seems he has a cross jaw that needs a lot of work as it is causing him discomfort in his mouth.

I have booked the dentist to come with his power tools and the vet to sedate him next week, fingers crossed this will cure the problem!

 

[JessandCharlie]

I rode a horse that did that too once. I think some tiny grid might help, or try a placing pole both sides of the jump - might act to buy you some time to get your balance again after the jump in case he does stop!?!

 

[Lollii]

Grid work realy helped my horse, we had four jumps with poles before and after each jump all in a row! it really made him think and it makes you kick on for the next jump.