Rushing at fences

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251libby

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3 November 2008
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The second I turn into a fence my horse literally uses the turbo and lanches her self at the jump.
What can I do to slow her down.
Atm the scarier the fence the better she is
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this will sound bonkers, but Jack always used to rush at jumps, discussed this with my instructor who said i should literally drop the reins and let him sort himself out. incredibly scary at first, but definatley worked lol

x
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I have no idea how experienced you are as a rider so please don't be offended when i say firstly make sure it is not something that you are doing that your not aware of.

A very good exercise to do with a horse that rushes is to start with a pole on the ground, ride a small circle on the approach to the pole, probably about 4-5 strides away, go over the pole and then back onto a small circle(stay on the circle until the horse is listening to you) Ride the circle in walk and then trot/canter as you come out of the circle literally about 4 strides or so away from the pole, then make a cross and do the same, then an upright and so on, i'm not sure i've explained it that well,it's difficult to explain in writing but it really does work!!!
 
I am currently working on the same with my mare. The things im doing to combat this is

- having a small grid with placing poles
- approaching in trot, if she breaks into canter or rushes the trot circle away from the jump - a small 10 metre circle
-Keep circling right in front of the jump and only let her go over the grid when she is relaxed and going at your pace
- Whilst approaching in trot I am counting the pace - "one two, one two, one two etc"
- This will gradually progress to canter when she gets it right in trot

She also rushes away from the jump - so im working on-
- halting after the jump then either turning left or right - and keep alternating this
- or turning straight after the grid then halting
- Basically just keep her guessing and keep her control.

Hope this helps, its just about showing the horse you have the control and they get rewards when they are relaxed and going at your pace!
 
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