Jumping from canter

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bex1984

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I have recently started learning to do little jumps on my ponio. He hasn't done much jumping, and the highest we've jumped has been the huge height of 1ft!!!

I am totally incapable of jumping from canter - i get sooooo scared and freeze and the ponychops refuses. He speeds up when he sees a jump and I get worried and try to slow him down and it all goes wrong. I fell off 3 months ago when he refused and I landed on the metal cup thingy and i think that scared me.

We managed it once this weekend over a tiny 6 inch jump but he refused twice before that, and we only went over it in canter because he picked up canter a few strides before the jump and I didn't have time to freak out!

I'm trying to canter over poles on the ground to get used to it, but we just both lose confidence when cantering over actual jumps. Any advice or suggestions for getting over our fears? I know it's mainly my fault....I just can'yt bring myself to do it!
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practice, practice, practice and then a bit more practice
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Nice name
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Don't put so much pressure on yourself - take your time and do it when you feel ready. It's ok to push yourself a bit, but no point in falling of again and losing all the confidence you've built up. Take your time, build up your confidence some more in trot. You could try doing a grid (more than one fence in a row) - they are good for confidence building
 
Aw bless you - it's a horrible feeling isn't it?

What I would do is to continue to work over the canter poles but put the jump wings at the sides of the last pole, as if it was a jump. Then canter through them, again and again until you can do it backwards IYKWIM!!

Then just raise one side of the pole and leave the other on the ground - canter over this with the canter poles in front. treat it the same as the poles, try not to think of it as a jump. Then make it a cross pole - leave uprights until you are happy jumping a cross which is say 1 foot at the X, higher at the sides. Above all, don't treat the jump like a "jump"! Don't fold, or go into your jump seat, you won't need to at the height. Focus on getting a lovely swinging canter before and after the pole and just try and sit to the rhythmn the whole way round, ignoring almost that the "jump" is there.

Good luck! HTH!
 
I fully agree with Henry - canter poles is the absolute way forward. The method Henry sets out is absolutely ideal to get confidence up both for you and your horse. Just take it one step at a time and you will get there. Gradually increasing the final poles' height will build it up gradually for both of you. You'll be flying before too long! Good luck!
 
Again, I agree with Henry, and especially not folding into your jump seat at this height. If you are tipping fowards your legs will come back and you'll go straight out the side door! Sit up and look up and keep your legs forward - just give with your hands to allow your pony some room to stretch over the fence and you'll be away. Enjoy it!
 
Agree with the others - canter poles, canter poles, canter poles.

If you're having issues with them all lined up then scatter them about a bit and canter over them singly until you are quite happy that nothing awful is going to happen, then line three up, then get up to about five, then put the wings at the end, then raise the pole by tiddly amounts.
 
if he's still green then I'd still be trotting him into jumps to get his confidence up!

Alot of horses can lose their confidence all together by moving up to canter too quickly....
 
Thanks for all the advice folks, will do more canter poles, and more jumping in trot for now
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Probably a very dense question, but how far apart should canter poles be?!
 
Oh gosh - I'll probably be corrected as wrong but I think its 9ft apart (well 9 of my feet anyway!). I think they should always be in odd numbers too, i.e. 3 or 5 poles. Your pony may find that a bit long, in which case bring them in a tad.
 
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