Pony stopping at every jump help please ?

[maisiemoo]

Had pony for 4 months all was going fine, daughter learning to jump and was doing clear rounds and 1ft 3 with no problems but all of a sudden pony is stopping at every jump , puts the brakes on from about 5 strides away, she isn't over jumped and can't find anything physical , been to indoor jumping tonight and an experienced rider took her in but still could'nt get her over [ did manage a couple ] tears of frustration from daughter who pony can do no wrong in her eye's but we can't understand what's gone wrong, pony does like to stay with her friends but does'nt nap as such , do we go back to basic pole and grid work , we have our instructor coming out tom for lesson anyway . Pony is 13 and lovely temperment . any thoughts welcomed ,

 

[Vodkagirly]

Every single jumpwith a different rider? sounds physical. Get back, tack and teeth checked.

 

[Magicmillbrook]

I presume you have done tack, back & teeth and possibly had 2nd opinions on tack back and teeth. Failing this you are doing the right thing by getting an instructor out. The pony may have lost confidence or be getting mixed signals from your daughter.

Goo luck

 

[horseygirl28]

Had pony for 4 months all was going fine, daughter learning to jump and was doing clear rounds and 1ft 3 with no problems but all of a sudden pony is stopping at every jump , puts the brakes on from about 5 strides away, she isn't over jumped and can't find anything physical , been to indoor jumping tonight and an experienced rider took her in but still could'nt get her over [ did manage a couple ] tears of frustration from daughter who pony can do no wrong in her eye's but we can't understand what's gone wrong, pony does like to stay with her friends but does'nt nap as such , do we go back to basic pole and grid work , we have our instructor coming out tom for lesson anyway . Pony is 13 and lovely temperment . any thoughts welcomed ,

Take a break from jumping, 3-4 weeks and give the pony a change of scene. It sounds like the pony has gone "sour" and is bored of jumping.
I have had a few that have jumped, jumped, jumped and they just get bored but give them a break and they always come back ok.

 

[ecarylloh]

I had this problem with my Arab X which stopped me jumping for a few years. Then teacher came along and pointed out that she may have been imbalanced and going too quickly at jumps and scared herself. We spent lots of time doing pole work, trotting then cantering over it and focusing on keeping her rhythm steady and controlled. Then put up the tiniest crosspole at the end of the poles. She stopped but with encouragement stepped over it. Then we trotted, then cantered at it and haven't had any problems since - she's been a dream and enjoying her jumping again. So may be worth going back to polework with the instructor and teaching your daughter to control the pony's speed more (don't know if she does this already - I know when I was younger I didn't!)

 

[Equus Leather]

Possible gastric ulcers?

 

[Shay]

I've seen this happen with several freinds and PC colleagues over the years. I think HappyGirl may well be right.

The first step is always teeth / back / tack. I would think particularly if pony might have points on its teeth or has somehow been caught in the mouth when jumping. Especially as your daughter is learning to jump too. One thing almost gaurenteed to put a previously willing pony off is being socked in the mouth (or having a sore mouth) on landing. If you think this might be an issue you could try a midler bit; use a neck strap for the rider so they don't hang onto the reins or buy those reins with elastic inserts in them.

Then - turn away completely for 3 - 4 weeks. Pony is saying as loudly as it can that it doesn't want to do this anymore. You don't say how often you've been jumping, doing poles or grids. But if it is more than twice a week then it is too much. Ponies go sour if you over do it. Other than the teeth thing this is the most common reason for a previously willing pony giving up.

What you really don't want to do is wait for pony to figure out that it works better if you not only stop but then also duck out. Thats a much harder problem to fix because basically the pony is right. And believe me they figure this one out, especially in competition. They stop 3 times, they get to go back on the lorry. Easy. They duck out, especially if they also drop their shoulder so the rider falls off, they get to stop too.

The good news - it is emminantly fixable. I suspect we've all done this or gone through this at some point. Take heart!

 

[MrsMozart]

Little Lad can jump, but sometimes puts in a stop on the last stride. He has an almost panic stricken look on his face. We stopped jumping him. Saddler thinks that due to his long, sloping shoulder, the points of the saddle tree were digging into them on landing . Poor lad was hurting every time.

I'm with the others, get all checked out, paying particular attention to 'knottiness' where the points of the tree are on the pony and the overal fit of the saddle.

 

[Tonks]

Firstly, you should rule out a physical cause. Have the teeth checked, saddle checked, feet check for correct medio-lateral balance and then it may be worth getting vet out to perhaps thermogragh/radiograph if they think necessary. Once a physical cause has been ruled out move onto the psychological.
There is a basic pshychology to a horse refusing. When we ride/train horses properly there are four basic movements which we as riders ask for and the horse performs. These are a) stop, b) go, c) turn d) yeild. Basically, when horses refuse there is a dysfunction in the 'go' response. You may be finding that your daughter is constantly having to use/tap/nag with her legs on the pony. As such, the pony doesn't really understand the signal for go because there's always some form of constant pressure! Therefore, the 'go' response has to be re-trained. It is vitally important however, that your daughter has lessons in order to fully understand how to ask for go/stop/turn/yeild properly.
Probably in addition, your daughter may not be properly balanced over a fence and 'caught' or jabbed the pony in the mouth. As such, the horse is also receiveing conflicting signals in the mouth to stop! All in all, the horse is saying this is uncomfortable and/or in pain either physically or psychologically. Refusing should always been taken seriously and seen as a symtom of pain or incorrect riding. It may also be that you have over-faced your pony and put the jumps up too high. If your pony is not of the brave type, their jumping work needs to be progressive. That is, start small and build up gradually in accordance with temperament and physical strength and development. Either way, there are still problems with the 'go' response. Also, you should look at whether yo have over-bitted your pony. You may feel that the pony needs a strong bit because your daughter can't stop properly. unfortunately, again, it means there are problems with the stop response. Here, riders often put a leverage/stronger bit in the mouth when they can't stop. This is because there is no clear release of pressure when the rider asks for stop/slow where the horse doesn't really then understand what this pressure means. You may find that your daughter 'holds' onto the mouth when cantering or coming into a fence and the horse is then confused by what pressure in the mouth means. Similar to the 'go' response the rider needs to release at the correct time (within 3 footfalls) the moment the horse performs the movement. This again needs to be re-trained.
Personally I would: A) give the pony a break whilst your daughter has lessons on another horse (trouble is, school horses don't teach how to ride the 'go/stop/turn/yeild' aid/signal/cue very well as they've become desensitized to this pressure!) B) At the same time get a professional to re-train go, etc. Here, it is very important that the fences are kept little and can be jumped from a standstill to keep the foward momentum. This teaches the horse what the 'go' cues/aids mean. They should be kept small because every refusal is REINFORCING. This means that with each refusal a) the horse learns this is the correct response in this situation b) the discomfort stops and the horse learns that it's an effective way of controlling/limiting the discomfort felt. Once your daughter is then better balanced and skilled, I would start her off with the pony again doing simple exercises such as go/stop, etc and jumping small until the horse knows that 'go' means 'go'.