Mare won't accept a contact/ rushing fences

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YellowCaterpillar

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I've been helping a friend of mine with her pony for the last few months but still have major issues and was hoping somebody might be able to give some tips that might help.

6yo 14.2hh jumping pony. Seriously talented, jumps 1.40 with ease. Has had vet, back, teeth and tack fitting checks - no issues

She has always had issues with rushing fences, avoiding contact and generally just bombing around. As soon as she sees a jump she just gets so excited and hyped up that she's a nightmare to control.
We took it back to basics, did lots of lunging, side reins, flatwork and now she's riding really nicely, even holding a frame without any issues for most of her sessions. The problem still comes with the jumping. As soon as she sees a fence, even a tiny cross pole, her head goes straight up and she gets really strong and fast. She is in a martingale but this seemingly has 0 effect on her.
We've tried schooling over canter poles - no problems, really calm. Adding in trot poles / guide poles into fences doesn't slow her down. Bombs through grids, no matter what the distances are.
Tried different bits - she's in a basic loose ring for flatwork so we tried some stronger and milder bits: French link, 3 ring, hanging cheek, loop ring gag, mullen mouth, happy mouth, copper and sweet iron bits - no difference.
The owner hopes to compete with her but if she's like his at home I dread the thought of her at a show...
I'm really running out of ideas here so if anyone has any advice it'd be very much appreciated!
 
How long has your friend owned the pony?

It sounds as though she might have been overfaced, and is now rushing the fence in anxiety.

My best advice would be to get a really good jump instructor, as they will be able to assess the situation as there are many reasons that horses rush.
 
When doing the flat work and schooling, are the jumps in the arena and up? Or taken down?
 
LJR is right. It sounds like a defence mechanism. She's scared herself somehow and now rushing in is all she can think to do to save herself. We had an ISH do this - the more you tried to keep control and to hold him back and make him look the worse he got. It got into quite a vicious circle as the more he rushed the more the rider would hold, the more mistakes they would make and the more unsure both became in one another. I can be fixed - you need a good jump instructor used to bringing on youngsters to help.

For us the answer was to not hold him. Sit very quiet just offering a little bit of support from the rein and ride entirely from the leg and body. But it does take professional help to move safely to that position. Don't just drop the reins!
 
Without seeing what is happening it's very difficult to offer advice but I would echo what Shay has said about gentle rein support and guiding her with the leg. She sounds very like my boy who was evented and completely over faced. He would rush and jump long As a defence mechanism. We took him away from jumping and worked on his schooling, making sure that he was adjustable in all paces and that he was truly connected from inside leg to outside hand, he's now a much reformed character. And it sounds as if you need to tighten up the martingale, once she has her head up past the point of control you have no chance. Good luck and I hope she calms down
 
Thanks everyone for the replies! I don't have a video but I'll try get one tomorrow. We've done flatwork both with jumps in the arena and without and she doesn't bother with them unless she's brought into the fences, that's when the she gets hyped up.
I never thought of it as a defence mechanism, she just seems really excited. We have been keeping the jumps very small to try to calm her down, like 60 cm straights and small cross poles.
She has owned her for about a year now and keeps her at the yard that broke and schooled her so she's known her for about 2 years
 
I don't think horses get 'excited' in a good way about things, as humans do. One of my horses rushes fences and gets quite het up jumping (trying to work on it), I have been told a few times that 'she's excited' or 'she loves it', but it doesn't sit well with me, I see it as adrenaline fuelled anxiety and stress. This isn't to say horses can't get pleasure from jumping or other things we get them to do when they are confident doing them, but I don't think rushing at fences is the horse having positive associations with jumping.
 
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