Show jumping advice, headbanging!

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kez1001

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Feel like we are going round in circles! Horse raced til it was 6 and had a year off due to **** feet, so last summer we went and did some riding club ode and tried strathallan BE80 but got eliminated SJ! :(
So originally winter plan was to get stuck into sj but we had terrible snow and were stuck on frozen yard unable to do anything but muck out for weeks and months, we started sj training again in march, just a lesson a month and trying to jump once a week at home. And i do have to admit i'm not the worlds braver sj rider. But it is becoming so inconsistent, some times we jump fine and others its like she just panicks and bolts then stops very quickly.
Had a lesson with Ian Stark last week at retraining of race horse and he said i have to try and ride with lighter hands as this is why she is stopping but today i took her to do clear rounds and she was fine in warm up then completely lost it in main ring, jumped first and tanked off then stop start as refusing, rushing or jumping very big! So she is then very strong and i cant let go or she will take off ten times round the school!
Anyone got an exracer who they have sj issues with, any advice appreciated!
Dont really want to use stronger bit as she is rushing as she is panicking. My original game plan was to try and do a grid every week and then go to clear rounds every week too? Would that be too much to do every week? i think half the battle is that we dont do it enough and are probably quite novicey together. She jumps xc prenovice easy so height isnt out of her scope, but she was having a tizzy at 2ft 6 today! Argh help!
 
I have an exracer who USED to hate SJ. She would rush and then refuse and dump rider!!! She loved XC I think due to the space and forwardness! She would never refuse XC and would jump huge jumps despite me hanging on for dear life lol!

I was told by my trainer that she was obviously lacking in confidence over SJ and we think she has had a bad experience in the past. I was also told by my trainer that I actually was not helping her confidence as I was slightly dropping her before the fence 1-3 strides out (due to my lack of confidence)

We took her (and me!) right back to basics with lots of small grids, placing poles, cross poles and all from trot to start with. We also did lots of exercises where you halt before the jump and after the jump to keep her guessing and stop the rushing. I also really had to work on holding her head to the base of the jump.

It has taken a year of training but now she and I are confident jumping 2ft 9 SJ courses (she still prefers XC!!!) but it is so nice now to have a horse that calmly canters around a nice course clear!

Maybe for you going back to basics with SJ will help but continuing with the XC that she is happy with. Oh and I also was advised in the early days to jump her at least once a week which I did - now she is calmer I only have to jump her every two weeks and she is fine. So as long as you make the grids and clear round easy easy for her then I think that is fine once a week. And try not to worry about dropping the height SJ so they are literally so easy she can step over them if you have to. It sounds like all the rushing, jumping big and refusing is her telling you she is not confident - assuming all the usual medical reasons have been excluded.

Hope this is useful. Good luck x
 
I have an ex-racer that was given to me straight off the track about 18months ago - as she had steeplechased, when jumping she used to charge at the fences, going straight through them and when doing grids or poles she used to try and jump the whole lot. I have had no professional help with her as all my money goes on training and eventing my other horse but have found that the key to better jumping is a better canter. After months of working purely on establishing a rounder, more balanced canter and getting my mare to slow down and carry herself on her hindquarters more, her jumping has improved so much and she no longer stands off them as much and is hitting take off at the right spot. She also makes a much better shape over the fence and does not knock them down as much. I had to be really strict with myself as a rider to make myself ride a slower canter and keep in a rhythm, as I am quite confident and wasn't put off by the speed, but it helped so much!
With regard to you not wanting to let go of your horses mouth - I found that once my horse learnt to accept the contact and go forwards
into it, not against it then i could ride with a much lighter hand.
This seems quite long so basically what worked for me was establishing a consistent canter with rhythm and balance.
Hope this helps-good luck :)
 
Can she walk over a line of poles straight without rushing? I would bet not... Go back to basics, walking over a line of poles, doing a turn on the haunches,then walk back over them. Do that in trot,until she is listening, relaxed and not rushing,then do it in canter. Then make a course of poles, working on rhythm and getting to the right spot to each pole. When you've perfected that, work on adjusting the canter down a 20yrd distance, getting 4 or 5strides down it, keeping the canter the same all the way round to the poles and over them. Then start with fences,but start with a line of poles to a little fence, until you've perfected keeping everything the same down to the fence. When you can do that with poles, have a pole 3 strides (16yrds) from the fence, and again, work on keeping the canter all the way down over the pole,and keep riding the same canter to the fence. This will help you set the canter up and keep it the same down to the fence. Then you should find a course easier!
 
Thanks for replies
Saint - i was thinking along similar lines to you and I am guilty of dropping her if i get panicky too and cant see a stride. Will def need to try and be more consistent myself. its so hard when at the end of last year she was starting to go really well and calmly into fences yet this year she has hit the spring grass and it seem to have undone anything she has learnt!
Jess ditto the balanced canter, at very end of last year i went for some stressage boot camp and we has a couple days intensive training then headed to a sj comp at weekend and the difference was amazing nice canter round the course! seems as i have said the new grass has given her too much energy and she is not listneing and just getting stronger but apparently sugar levels drop over next few weeks so hopefully she will start to listen!
Kat - if you had asked me earlier int he year about the pole work i would def have said yes no problem but now i think she may not be able to do it, she seems very head strong at the moment! But i guess i just need to be more insistent and take a few steps back! i guesas i am maybe in too much of a rush to get her out doing things when i need to be plugging away at our homework. when i first got her a line of canter poles were our worst enemy and she would bolt down them, in lesson with instrustor in april we did big line of canter poles (about 14 in a row, arena is huge!) and i was impressed she managed to keep an even canter! though when we added a few fences into the line of poles she lost it slighlty as she made a mistake and hit one and she hates to touch them! think this is maybe why she loses confidence easily too as she tries too hard and wants to please, bless her. thanks for your input though and i think i will take it on board and go back to basics! argh, one year we will get to do something!

Thanks again everyone, fingers crossed we get there eventually! :)
 
Theres no harm in having a few sessions on the basics again! I have taken my girl back to poles on the floor in between competitions. She has been placed everytime she could have been out SJing this year (not many times!), and had very few poles (they've been my fault when she has!) but is only 5, and so very early in her training. Going back to pole work can only help, as it makes you ride the canter, be more accurate, and keeps them confident :) It won't be long before you are out and about again :)
 
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