Need help with cat leaps please

[sandi_84]

I've been doing a bit of jumping recently with Loki and it's all been going pretty well really the only problem being that occasionally he cat leaps over the jump. This resulted in my coming off twice today (no big deal really just a slightly scraped knee) and I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to help him get over the jumps (fairly small, up to 1 foot) and if there should be a cat leap moment how can I stick myself to the saddle?

 

[be positive]

A neckstrap is the most important bit of kit when jumping green horses, it will help you stay secure and enable you to leave him alone to work out what to do, then less cat jumps.

Are you using a placing pole to help, it should put him in a better place to take off, trot in to the pole/ jump and canter away will also help the horse jump more smoothly as you are focusing on riding forward from the pole, canter after the jump the bring back to trot for the next time, a few times doing this and he should start going more forward less up.

 

[Sleepeeze_dad]

My guy used to catleap and yes I used to come off. Neckstrap is a must but at least in my guys case it was lack of technique leading to lack of confidence that caused it. A few lessons with a decent instructor helped to resolve it as she could see the problems he was having... and as the above poster said, placing poles was the first port of call.

 

[sandi_84]

A neckstrap is the most important bit of kit when jumping green horses, it will help you stay secure and enable you to leave him alone to work out what to do, then less cat jumps.

Are you using a placing pole to help, it should put him in a better place to take off, trot in to the pole/ jump and canter away will also help the horse jump more smoothly as you are focusing on riding forward from the pole, canter after the jump the bring back to trot for the next time, a few times doing this and he should start going more forward less up.

I've not tried a placing pole because I'm not sure how far away it should be really My helpers for putting up the jumps are younger girls from the stable and I'm not sure if they know how far away it should be either. I'll get my instructor to help me out and then I'll know where to put one.

My guy used to catleap and yes I used to come off. Neckstrap is a must but at least in my guys case it was lack of technique leading to lack of confidence that caused it. A few lessons with a decent instructor helped to resolve it as she could see the problems he was having...

Yes it's definately a lack of technique on both our parts I would say
He tends to do it more if he's started to run out, I've put my leg on and he has to go over it and has a wee "moment" were his line is broken and just massive cat leaps it. I think I need to be quicker off the mark at correcting the sly move sideways that preceeds a run out
I'll borrow a stirrup leather for a neck strap and see how we get on with that, I could do with something to hang on to if I do become unbalanced. We were supposed to be doing a bit more jumping in my last lesson but stayed at flatwork as we were having serious difficulties with inside and outside flexion

 

[orionstar]

It sounds like he is running out because the take off point is incorrect and in making him jump he is having to put in extra effort to clear the obstacle. You'll need someone to give you a hand with placing poles/ground lines and a good deal of practise at strides to get his confidence up. There are plenty of guides on the internet re distances and placing poles you can google.

 

[sandi_84]

It sounds like he is running out because the take off point is incorrect and in making him jump he is having to put in extra effort to clear the obstacle. You'll need someone to give you a hand with placing poles/ground lines and a good deal of practise at strides to get his confidence up. There are plenty of guides on the internet re distances and placing poles you can google.

Yeah my sister was watching and told me that he does take off quite far back (and lands pretty far away from the jumps too - like half the length of a trotting pole away ) I don't know though I think the run outs are because he's a bit green and I'm just not keeping my leg on enough (too much riding schoolmastery types who pretty much aim themselves I think) I have to put a lot of thought into our line of approach and if I get it wrong and we start to drift slightly off the centre line I have to squeeze him over and the result is a cat leap. If we manage to get a good line of approach it seems to be a lot better. Maybe working up to slightly bigger jumps approaching in canter is a bit much for him at the moment and I should stick to smaller crosspoles in trot for now?

 

[be positive]

He needs to be building his confidence at this stage, everything should be kept small and made easy so that he is wanting to jump not trying to run out.
Go back to poles on the ground then once he is trotting over them properly and keeping on line put a small X pole at the end, having someone experienced helping you is really essential to avoid problems developing and help you both progress.

 

[sandi_84]

He needs to be building his confidence at this stage, everything should be kept small and made easy so that he is wanting to jump not trying to run out.
Go back to poles on the ground then once he is trotting over them properly and keeping on line put a small X pole at the end, having someone experienced helping you is really essential to avoid problems developing and help you both progress.

Ok back to basics for both of us I think! That sounds like good advice, thank you and I will definately be hijacking my RI for some help

 

[bluewhippet]

Everything Be positive has suggested has really helped for me with my very green 10 year old.

Just getting him so that he would walk and trot over tiny jumps, like they were no big deal. Took a few weeks of very casual practice and not going at it for too long and now we are doing 1' in a relaxed fashion!

Other thing, when he was running out/refusing I was treating it like a battle I must win and turning him in quickly and riding at it again. My RI had me doing large circles at a trot until he was balanced again and then turning to it calmly. Not looking at the jump, and just riding where we wanted to go. When he was balanced and we were both calm, he was doing fine.

Not treating it like a battle or a race and focussing on making him comfortable was the key for us.