Pony refusing to jump at competitions - out of character

[Titchy Reindeer]

I took my Little Madam to the regional SJ championships and it did not go as expected. We managed to clear one jump out of two courses over two days.
This is very unlike my Little Madam who normally seems to enjoy show jumping: she perks up at fences or even ground poles and starts getting quite excited if we try to go against the clock. She is also normally generous to a fault and has in the past attempted jumps she really should have stopped at due to rider error. I am highly confused as she was jumping fine in the warm-up and didn't feel "off" or "sluggish" as she sometimes can when in season. I'm hoping someone may have some suggestions or paths to explore. I can't stop thinking about it and wondering what to do next.
For bit of background, Little Madam is 14, roughly 1m50 and we're currently competing at 95cm. She saw the chiropractic vet a few weeks ago following a short unexplained bout of lameness that appears to have resolved itself. The chiropractor sorted out some compensatory pain in her withers that came from the lameness. She has also seen the dentist this month.
I've had look back over our competitions this year and end of last year. We started back on 95cms in October after a period at 85cm needed for me to get my confidence back in myself. Since then and until February we rode in 5 classes at 95cm, all clear and 3 wins. Things seem to have started to go wrong in March where we had one unexplained refusal (crash into the fence really) but got it back together for the rest of the round. The next competition we had a nasty pole down, possibly the cause for the later lameness and a couple of weeks ago we had a refusal on the first jump before a nice round. This last one was written off as the jump being a vertical (rounds generally starts with an oxer over here), going away from the door and with an unusual filler (not that she normally looks at anything). At the championships we didn't even get over number one on the first day and only got up to number two on the second day. I don't know if this is relevant, but all these jumps were away from the gate (this has never been an issue before).
There's an internal competition at my riding school on Saturday, so the plan is to have a go at that and see what happens. If she stops, we know there definitely is a problem. If she doesn't, all we know is that the problem didn't manifest that day.
Any ideas on what to do / look for?
So many things come to mind, I'm not sure where to start
Oh, and I live in rural France so access to (competent) professionals can be complicated...

 

[TGM]

First of all, what type of ground are you jumping on? Grass or a surface? If grass could she be feeling the hard ground (ground is very hard here in UK, not sure about the current weather in France!) Alternatively, you say a while ago you lost some confidence, then recently you had a 'crash' and a 'nasty pole' - could this have rattled you and caused you to ride more defensively? Have you had your rounds videoed so you can see what is going on?

 

[AandK]

Many years ago my now retired horse started stopping SJ. He was doing a fairly dirty stop off a good stride, which he would never do usually (liked a good spook but never stopped right in front of the fence). Long story short, he had a suspensory branch injury. He rehabbed fine and went on to compete again.

 

[dixie]

A horse stopping out of character would be having a vet workup asap for me.

All the horses that I’ve had that have stopped out of character when they normally wouldn’t have, have had a medical reason.

It sounds like you’ve had a couple of little signs and with her being lame recently this might have something to do with it - or not !

 

[Cowpony]

The only time my very honest mare has stopped was when she had a sacro-iliac problem, so it's definitely worth considering a physical issue

 

[asmp]

One of ours stopped jumping when his saddle no longer fitted well. We had to buy a new saddle.

 

[doodle]

My horse started refusing jumps which wasn’t like him. It was a new rider and he was getting different signals as she was getting more nervous, but I got the vet out as I was concerned about hocks. Vet could find nothing wrong. We agreed that the rider would stop riding him and I took over just hacking and dressage. A year plus later he went lame and sure enough it was his hocks. I think the refusing was the first sign of his hocks but I didn’t think to get the vet watch him jump. I don’t know how he would be to jump now, I don’t want to jump and so we will never find out.

 

[sbloom]

Saddle fitter, bodyworker/vet. Suddenly starting to refuse is so often an early sign something's not right.

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

First of all, what type of ground are you jumping on? Grass or a surface? If grass could she be feeling the hard ground (ground is very hard here in UK, not sure about the current weather in France!) Alternatively, you say a while ago you lost some confidence, then recently you had a 'crash' and a 'nasty pole' - could this have rattled you and caused you to ride more defensively? Have you had your rounds videoed so you can see what is going on?

We were on a surface (ground also very hard over here at the minute). I don't think it's my riding. I lost confidence due to mental health issues about this time last year and we built up gradually again and all seemed fine. Up until last weekend, all the incidents were written off as "once-offs", but I think its now starting to add up to something more than once-offs. Most of my rounds are videoed (though I find it hard to really see what's going one on videos, even on the computer screen) and nothing stands out.

 

[AmyMay]

Time for a veterinary workup

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

Many years ago my now retired horse started stopping SJ. He was doing a fairly dirty stop off a good stride, which he would never do usually (liked a good spook but never stopped right in front of the fence). Long story short, he had a suspensory branch injury. He rehabbed fine and went on to compete again.

Thank you for the success story, they're always good to hear. The last time Little Madam put in a stop other than this year, she developed a abscess in her neck within a few days (due to vaccination, we think).

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

A horse stopping out of character would be having a vet workup asap for me.

All the horses that I’ve had that have stopped out of character when they normally wouldn’t have, have had a medical reason.

It sounds like you’ve had a couple of little signs and with her being lame recently this might have something to do with it - or not !

Thanks, I think that's what I need to do.
That's it isn't it, it could all be related, or not, and she won't tell me in plain English! (I'll also take French if she insists).

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

The only time my very honest mare has stopped was when she had a sacro-iliac problem, so it's definitely worth considering a physical issue

Thank you, definitely considering a physical issue, I just wish it were a bit more obvious.

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

One of ours stopped jumping when his saddle no longer fitted well. We had to buy a new saddle.

Thanks, this could be the case, I'll get it checked.

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

My horse started refusing jumps which wasn’t like him. It was a new rider and he was getting different signals as she was getting more nervous, but I got the vet out as I was concerned about hocks. Vet could find nothing wrong. We agreed that the rider would stop riding him and I took over just hacking and dressage. A year plus later he went lame and sure enough it was his hocks. I think the refusing was the first sign of his hocks but I didn’t think to get the vet watch him jump. I don’t know how he would be to jump now, I don’t want to jump and so we will never find out.

Thank you. A very good idea to get the vet to watch pony jumping if nothing is found before, I wouldn't have thought about it either.

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

Saddle fitter, bodyworker/vet. Suddenly starting to refuse is so often an early sign something's not right.

Thank you

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

Time for a veterinary workup

Yep, looking for an equine veterinary clinic at the minute.

 

[Tiddlypom]

You want a 'loss of performance' workup. At my vets they will also see the horse ridden, too, though I'm not sure if there are jumps.

Good luck.

 

[IrishMilo]

1) Rider errors
2) Pain
3) Fear

Nothing else.

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

You want a 'loss of performance' workup. At my vets they will also see the horse ridden, too, though I'm not sure if there are jumps.

Good luck.

Thank you, I've found a place on line that says they specialise in loss of performance that's not too far, now I need to do some digging to see what their reputation is like. I don't think I know of anyone that's had a loss of performance workup over here.

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

1) Rider errors
2) Pain
3) Fear

Nothing else.

I don't think it was rider error this time (though obviously not impossible) and she's not afraid of much, that unfortunately leaves me number 2) to explore.

 

[IrishMilo]

You want a 'loss of performance' workup. At my vets they will also see the horse ridden, too, though I'm not sure if there are jumps.

Good luck.

From experience they will have pinpointed an issue or at the very least have a very good idea of where to start without the need to take anything over a fence