Rushing Jumps and canter too fast!

lizijj

lizijj

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Hi, my 9 year old very green but very talented Warmbred mare seems to only go full tilt at canter and jumping. She is naturally very highly strung, has huge potential and we are making lots of progress on the ground, hacking and at walk and trot.
I would be really grateful for any tips on schooling exercises to slow down, control her canter and also control her into fences. She jumps like a stag, but just seems to panic.
Many thanks!
 
You could try popping a little fence up, something they can walk over, and just trot over it on a 20m circle, then if she rushes, go to a walk until she walks calmly over it, then back to trot, then to canter etc....you ought to do it everyday or every other day for a week. Had really good effects on both horses i have known it used on and was recommended to us by the event rider Sam York. It's basically supposed to lul them into a sense of calm when jumping as they relate it to the circle exercise, and really helps them get used to it. It's also good as if they are having another rushy day, you can just go back to the circle and calm them back down again. Hope this helps, and you start making some progress with her. She sounds sweet :)
 
You could go back to jumping at a walk, taking speed out of the question and teaching them to use themselves rather than doing it as fast as possible :)
 
My Warmblood was very similar to yours, I changed his feed and he suddenly calmed right down and started to go beautifully at SJ. There was too much protein in what he was getting. A look at feed might therefore be worth a try?!
 
Thank you - she is really sweet! Very honest, but her background means she doesn't trust humans a whole lot - it has taken over a year to gain that trust back, and even now I can never take it for granted! I have been circling her back to a walk, then trot, take the fence then miss the fence - I guess it all comes down to a lot more schooling before we start competing again. Last season was a bit of a bugger as I ended up with time faults for slowing down so much.
 
Canter poles and gridwork would be good. Also put 4 poles on a circle so one at either A or C and then one at X and the other two inbetween -this may make her concentrate. Also there were some exercises i found online to help the canter so google 'canter exercises'. Im not home so i cant post them but you may find something to help
 
Hi, she is only on strip grazing grass! I try to only feed forage and feed by the eye. She is just naturally that way. We have done endurance rides - the last one, got lost and did double the distance - she was still hyper on an empty fuel tank!
 
Will do - thought of doing some canter pole exercises. She was previously only really used a bit for hunting, anything I can do to collect her canter would be great - so ideas really appreciated!!!
 
Hi there :) I had the exact same problem as you with my mare at the beginning of this year; she rushed all her fences, was very on the forehand and had no rythym. She has a fantastic natural jump and it was as if she knew that she could clear anything 2 strides off, so she didn't bother to listen and just did it her own way.
First thing I did was find a good instructor who understood what was going on. She has been amazing and helped us so much. So I would recommend you start having a few lessons if you aren't already :)
Secondly I worked non stop on her canter, which was long and flat and horrible. I would pop up to canter and then go onto a circle, getting gradually smaller to about 10m. This really helped her to get her hocks underneath her and bouncing and improved her canter no end. Do this on both reins and altenate between circles and short straight stretches (which will become longer as she gets the hang of it) so that she isn't always relying on the circle. Keep her between your hand and leg and hace the canter as slow and short as possible, you want her to feel like a bouncy ball. This should help with her rythym.
I also taught my poy walk to canter transitions and use them at all times now, rather than trot to canter. This made her keep her hocks underneath her and push up into canter from behind, rather than just running infront from a fast trot.
Grids helped a lot- short bounces of 3 x poles, then a plank on the ground then an upright. Keep them low to begin with and build up as she gets confident. Use uprights rather than spreads as these are harder to run into and you will be able to jump from deep spots which will make her push and go upwards from the power in her hocks, rather than spreads which will encourage her to dive and speed up to make the wider distance. You can also jump out of trot which should slow her down and have a knock on effect in the canter.
So basically concentrate on getting a good, bouncy canter in a ryty, at all times, and insist that she jumps from her rythym.
Hope this helps, sorry its a bit of an essay :)
 
Not an essay! That's fab, thank you! The more ideas I can gain the better! I have tried various instructors, including a GB clinic, but to be honest, (following a break from riding in my early 20s), I just get really stressed out and find that no-one is teaching me any more than I already know from my earlier years (I was very lucky to have an excellent relative as a daily instructor). My biggest problem now is that I am older, and find it is easier to loose my confidence - and my mare isn't confident so the cycle can continue. Today I made a make shift school in my field with some makeshift jumps and BOY did it feel good, relaxed and how I used to school my ponies years ago, just enjoyment and fun! So now I want to continue to school at home for a bit, then maybe go back to some external instruction.
 
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