putting head down after jumps *HELP*

[jcberry]

wasnt reallly sure where to post this,

We have owned Oscar (cob) scince Febrary this year. He has been off with a sidebone all summer, so he has only just got back into work about a month ago, and has started jumping.
When we first got him he had a tendency to put his head down and go towards the fence, the gate, person in the middles, another horse...etc. He did this when he dcided he didnt want to do any more work. We fixed the problem just before being diagmnosed with sidebones, so he had to have all summer off.


Now we are starting to jump, and he has got back into the habbit of putting his head down again. mainly straight after jumps, so he catches you leaning forward and almost going out the side door. Today i had to jump with no position at all, i had to lean back over the jumps, so not to get pulled out of the saddle. This isnt doing anything for my position and definatly not his. Sometimes he does this putting his head down thing when we are schooling too. The thing is, he had stopped before the holidays, now gone back to do it, and he does it quite often, he probably did it about 10 times tonight.

Is there anything i can do to teach him not to do this? i have tried daisy reins, but he is strong and can pull through them.
Any ideas?

Thanks Sophie x

 

[Jemayni]

Do you think hes thinking about having a cheeky buck, but doesn't quite dare?

Watch your position make sure you aren't on his back over a fence.

Also make sure you really ride him in and away from fences, this should encourage him to keep his head up!

Did you try the spurs?

 

[jcberry]

thanks! No havnt tried them yet, will do though, need to find some to borrow first.

 

[eohippus]

depends why he is dropping after a fence. Is he charging off on the forehand, is he trying to gain his balance after a jump, is he jumping with a good bascule or flattening over the jump? are you dropping him just before a fence?
you need to get a good instructor to come a see what is going on from the ground. It is very hard to advice based on what you have said.
regards
Dawn

 

[dixie]

I would put a canter pole after the jump so that he had something to focus on after he landed. You could put several if you had enough room and that would hopefully encourage him to canter nicely after the jump.