jumping an ex racer!

[clares]

Hi i have a 12 year old ex NH TB who ive had for over a year and a half now, i used to look after him when he was in training since he was 5 though. he is so laid back its unbelievable but he also has a very stubborn streak! he is very much along the lines of "if its not my idea then i will fight it" hes not nasty about it its just things like dropping his head (he will throw it about and get reachy) or collection work. he has improved dramatically with his flat work since i have owned him but his true love is jumping.

Now we are having regular lessons and are tying different techniques/methods to transform him from a chaser into more of a showjumper but has anyone got any advise on how to get him to stop brushing through the poles? as a racehorse he was taught that this is acceptable and correct. also we have a problem with striding. he was taught from a young age to see striding and distances himself and to sort himself out accordingly, this is causing us countless problems as he is trying to take off so he can brush through and im trying to get him to take off from the "correct stride" ive tried troting up to the jump, collecting him back onto his haunches, gridwork, heavier poles amongst other ideas but im curious how others have managed to break their ex racers jumping habits? i dont think its a trust issue as i have done quite a bit of ground work and natural horsemanship with him.

Sorry i dont think ive worded this right but its fustrating me that i cant help him clear the poles and i would love to do cross country with him but i worry if he tries brushing through something solid then he would somersault. any advice would be appreciated.

 

[khalswitz]

Hi i have a 12 year old ex NH TB who ive had for over a year and a half now, i used to look after him when he was in training since he was 5 though. he is so laid back its unbelievable but he also has a very stubborn streak! he is very much along the lines of "if its not my idea then i will fight it" hes not nasty about it its just things like dropping his head (he will throw it about and get reachy) or collection work. he has improved dramatically with his flat work since i have owned him but his true love is jumping.

Now we are having regular lessons and are tying different techniques/methods to transform him from a chaser into more of a showjumper but has anyone got any advise on how to get him to stop brushing through the poles? as a racehorse he was taught that this is acceptable and correct. also we have a problem with striding. he was taught from a young age to see striding and distances himself and to sort himself out accordingly, this is causing us countless problems as he is trying to take off so he can brush through and im trying to get him to take off from the "correct stride" ive tried troting up to the jump, collecting him back onto his haunches, gridwork, heavier poles amongst other ideas but im curious how others have managed to break their ex racers jumping habits? i dont think its a trust issue as i have done quite a bit of ground work and natural horsemanship with him.

Sorry i dont think ive worded this right but its fustrating me that i cant help him clear the poles and i would love to do cross country with him but i worry if he tries brushing through something solid then he would somersault. any advice would be appreciated.

Once they learn to take down poles, it's very hard to undo. A good show jumper doesn't want to touch them. My current exracer is the other way - I have trouble with him refusing when on a bad stride etc as he really doesn't like knocking them. Harder in the short term but now his confidence is building he flies round.

My old horse knocked poles all the time and liked to chase jump. It is a long slow process to try and fix and not necessarily completely fixable, but the things I did were:

LOTS AND LOTS of grids. Bounces, double bounces, triple bounces, poles on each stride so he takes off in the right places. Keep them small and make them longer and more athletic rather than increasing height. I never jumped my old horse over single fences.

Make them scary - jump secured barrels, square hay bales, use traffic cones as fillers, put rugs/jackets over jumps. If they look scary he'll be less likely to want to touch them.

Wooden poles. Those light plastic ones just get no respect. And when you can, jump his as much as possible over logs and things out hacking that if he knocks, won't move. Cross country schooling also good for this.

And most importantly - I didn't over jump my old horse at home. He was sharper with his feet out competing, so at home we jumped small and only really grids etc and only a few times a month - when competing he was then much cleaner. Not so much use whilst still retraining his jump, but worth thinking about.

Another thing I was told with my old lad is that the flatwork is paramount. Once they learn to engage the hindquarters and have a forward, impulsive canter on the flat, they then don't need to rush so much to have enough power to clear the fence. So flatwork, flatwork, flatwork.

 

[clares]

thank you

 

[Lolo]

See, Al does almost the opposite with Reg to what khalswitz did- her careless one gets jumped at least once a week when he's in work. Nothing big- he's doing BE100 now, and never really jumped more than that at home, but lots of polework exercises and thinking stuff, which helped Al keep her eye in, and kept him on a more even keel about jumping. Like he needs constant reminding of how to do it.

Gridwork is really good, but I do think that's easier to do with someone on the ground who's either very obedient or knowledgeable...

With ones who genuinely are careless, a lot of it doesn't seem to be teaching them not to be but making it easier for them not to be. If you've got the right canter and the right approach and they vaguely know what's going on, it's a lot harder for them to be careless. It's been 4 years now and Reg only really stopped being a proper pole-basher last season. And he still had a few 24 faulters...

Have you got a good instructor? If you're East Anglia, I really recommend John Adams. He has been an enormous help to Al over the past year and she's got a lot from their lessons.

 

[claracanter]

I am following this thread with interest because I too have an ex hurdler, but mines only 7.

He doesn't respect poles and the highest part of his jump is often just after the jump( if you get what I mean as he can sometimes revert back to his hurdling technique)

He's never jumped a clear round ( 8 faults is his best performance) but to be fair we've only done a handful of show jumping rounds. He usually has them down in front.
I'm having SJ lessons with him. We do grid work, doubles, bounces, often approaching from trot and giving him quite short distances ( he is very long striding) so he has to get his shoulders up. He is learning to snap up quicker in front. I find he jumps better when he sees a fence for the first time, so grids have to be varied because he gets complacent after a few goes. I jump him without boots now because we thought that might make him try harder. He is improving as he doesn't go on a long one like he used to( all a bit scary). I can get a really good canter to a fence now as his flatwork is greatly improved. He can do canter poles now which was something he found had to begin with. He loves his jumping though and always takes me to a fence.

I totally agree with Lolo about having someone on the ground when your jumping at home. I think my boy learned if he had it down I would get off and put the pole back. It was like that was what he thought I wanted him to do!!

Like you I was worried about him' brushing' through XC fences but he never has(touch wood) although I have only done 3 HT's and an ODE so far but he's got better each time, felt really safe ( apart from slight braking issues!) but I was exactly like you and thought we'd be on the floor.