Shattered Dreams

[ladyt25]

I think this is really good advice. Trot is probably not the pace you would be working from ordinarily in a competition and establishing a safe, forward and respectful canter might be more appropriate and easier for you and him. You may find it easier to hold him together more in canter and you might find it better to be taking on slightly bigger jumps - especially if he is a big, capable horse. A horse I had was a bit like this and needed something bigger to help him focus on the jumping rather than the excitement! Much to my terror initially, bigger courses were safer for us. A martingale would be a good extra as might a bit re-think. Don't give up - he sounds like he enjoys the work, though perhaps he thinks he has a little attitude!

Sounds a bit like this really. A mixture of nerves on your part transferring to him, he's excited and yet you're trying to make him jump from a trot - this isn't actually easy for horses, especially big ones and it is much easier for them to jump from a nice, balanced canter as the jump then becomes part of the stride. Having to jump from a trot would be a lot more tricky, especially for a horse with previous back issues I would have thought?

In all honesty, I feel there's little point practising jumping from trot as you're not going to do this at a competition. Get a canter established and have some more lessons. You may need to review your tack/bit to give you a little more confidence in control.

It at least sounds like he wants to do the job, which is a positive, but sounds also like he's panicking a bit under pressure.