Some advice please (long)

TheBlackMoth

TheBlackMoth

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Although my children have been riding for since they were 4 and 5, it is only in the last two years we have had our own horses. We don't have great facilities at our stables and whenever I can I take them somewhere like Somerford for a lesson. Basically, I am trying really hard to help them learn and compete.

Abby, my youngest (15) wants to compete at BSJA and last week we took her and her pony to South View to compete on a ticket. It was a complete disaster as she tried the jumps twice but was eliminated both times because of refusals. The frustrating thing was we had been at Somerford earlier in the week and had had only one refusal in the hour long lesson.

I am not a horsey person and am not good at giving advice - basically as I don't know anything. Abby was really upset and frustrated - her pony used to do this at local shows but had stopped and in the last local show she did she came first in two jumping classes.

Is there anything I can say or do to help her. Is it worth her trying again. I don't want to affiliate until we can be sure that it wont be a complete disaster everytime.
 
Yes - they have a 45 minute lesson each each week = the instructor comes to us. She will ask the instructor and get some help - but I am not there at the lessons (as at work earning the money to pay for them!!). I just feel so helpless when I don't know what to say to her. Or even if we are wasting our time.

She can do so well - this is her doing a clear round at Croft.

 
Right, I don't know what height she has jumped upto around a course but there is a big difference between a clear round and a British Novice. Is there any centres that run Trailblazers aroudn your area? If so when she can jump around an 85cm and 95cm course clear most times then I would say she is ready to affilliate. There is no point joining until your daughter and the pony is confident and capable jumping around courses that are the same height as she will be jumping at BSJA. Go to local shows and she how she does in the novice, intermediate and open. We start all our young/inexperienced horses by going around clear round courses at good venues like Arena UK. This way they get used to the atmosphere and crowds and venues without the worry of big fences to put them off, we make it easy for them until they are pretty unfased by no matter what venue they are at. This is usually done over the winter at indoor venues. By spring we start to take them to local shows to shows them fillers, more diffcult course with odd striding etc. We also start taking them to 75cm-1.05cm trailblazer classes as these are like miniature BSJA courses without the height and technicality(sp?!) We don't go to win, just to use a better strided course that is more professional at good centres. By late summer?early autumn, they are mostly going clear at all trailblazer heights, so we afilliate them and they start doing Clear round and british Novice/Discovery though the winter, at the venues they have already been too doing Clear-rounds the previous winter.

Hope this gives you some kind of preparation plan to help your daughter and pony get upto BSJA and start going out and competing sucessfully. Don't give up but spend more money on getting out there cometing than endless lesson!! Even if it is just local stuff, get the pony around as many courses as possible. Do the days where it is clear round all day and you can set the course to whatever height you want, this way you will be able to complete a course and the pony will not learn to refuse.

Hope this helps a little
 
I should really try and be present at her lessons, watch what the instructor does, it is suprising how much you can learn of the ground! Watch when your daughter makes a mistake and see how it is rectified. When you go to your next show, make sure she goes in a class smaller than she does at home, this will boost her confidence, she will ride better, then when she goes in the next class up at least the pony will have been in before, you absolutely must stay low untill you are jumping without refusels. Also try and take her different places jumping for her lessons to get the pony jumping more confidently away from where it knows! Good Luck, by the way my parents where completely non horsey, so know where your coming from!!
 
Thanks for that - I will have a think about it. Sorry, I don't think I was very clear. She has been jumping at local shows for two years. When I said clear round - I meant she went clear in the class and also in the jump off to come third at that event.

The pony we have, Ebony, is lovely - but very stubborn - some days she will jump and some days she wont. She has no problem with heights - in fact she jumps much bigger than the jump as she doesn't like touching the jumps. She rarely has a pole down when she jumps - but she will just refuse to jump if she doesn't like the look of the jump. She will nearly always jump it the second time. For instance if Abby does two classes in a local show - she will often have trouble in the first class with refusals - but because it's a local show they nearly always let them finish the course. So once Ebony has been round the course once - in the next class she will jump clear with no refusals.
 
I wish I could be at the lessons - but unfortunately I work very full time - the only way the girls can have horses is because we have fairly close yard that they can cycle to. To be honest I am not sure how much I would understand. I love the horses but do not know very much about riding or jumping.
 
I completly agree with CentrestageSHS...

Going from unaffilated to BSJA can sometimes be a big step. Not only are the smallest classes quite big, but it can also be quite technical...from watching the video i can only really comment on two things - Firstly her stride is wrong at times, this can make it difficult for your pony to jump a sizable jump and BSJA tracks tend to be unforgiving...and secondly the jumps in the video seem quite small, so although she is wrong the pony still manages them.

Perhaps she needs a little more practise, there is obviously something going on if the pony stops, sure...she may be stubborn but in my experience a horse tends to stop for a reason. My horse and I jump Senior BSJA, and sometimes if i am wrong into a jump she can stop...it is only last weekend that i fell off because of it. You also have to remember that horses are HORSES, they arent machines. They have good days along with the bad. I would suggest starting with trailblazers first as this can give a good grounding, also have you thought of asking your daughters instructor to come with you to a show? It will cost you, im sure, but it can make the difference if your daughter is nervous...your instructor can help her warm up and perhaps see any problems before she goes in the ring.

I hope this helps, the main thing is that you keep positive...and in the end, enjoy yourselves!

Good luck!
 
tbh, and don't take offence, I've had a pony like that and depending on whether its green or established, ours never went far registered and it made both of us miserable trying to do jumps he didn't want to do (fillers etc.) and we were often eliminated.
Sorry not to be more positive, but if she's jumping 85cm at local shows clear, maybe its just more practise with 'pressure'?
 
Nuala, to be frank, from the vid she is no where near ready to do BSJA. Even pony BN has decent spreads etc. and requires a pony and rider who are bold enough and capable enough of going over much more than a cross pole confidently! It's really not fair on the pony.
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I understand it must be hard as a non horsey person but your daughter needs to understand she needs to stick at the CR for a while. IMHO anyway. xx
 
Could you join the local pony club, she would get lots of jumping experience then. Rallies are usually £5-7 with top instuctors, ours also hold summer clinics in the evenings which you could attend and they jump proper upto height courses. And then of courses there is camp where they ride jump everyday
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Really not offended and very grateful for the input. The video is a while ago and she has improved since then. She was jumping 90cm clear at Somerford with only one refusal in an hour. Obviously that is not with the stress of competition and all the other horses around.

I have looked at trailerblazers and there seems to be very little around. We are trying to get out somewhere every weekend. During the week is difficult as I get home at 6 at the earliest and the nearest places that do weekday events are at least an hour away. At the best we would get there at 7.30pm by which time most of them are ending.

If anyone knows any trailblazers events in the NW, I would be really grateful.

Thanks
 
Applechaff, do your TB stop then now for the finals??? Ours carry on throughout the summer?? That would be a real bummer if ours stopped!!!
 
Nuala, I am in complete sympathy with you, my mum is totally non-horsey and it does make the whole competing experience a slightly tougher one, well in my experience. I used to be really jealous of other kids with horsey mums who helped at competitions, knew all the rules and had all the gear. However, my mum did her absolute best, much like yourself, to ensure I could compete when I wanted to. I too, competed on a ticket before I was ready and sent poles flying everywhere...
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Because no one had told me I wasn't really ready! It was only when I bought a horse beyond my capabilities that I found an amazing instructor and got to where I am today.

Please don't think I'm saying it's bad to be or to have non horsey parents, my mum is helpful with the horses, attends events when she can and funds my BE habit as I'm sure you do for your daughters!

My advice would be to find an instructor that competes at BSJA level and have regular lessons. My biggest regret was never joining the pony club, I'm sure I would've progressed so much quicker, so I'd try to find a local branch and join.

Best of luck and I hope your daughter is competing at BN level soon!
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Thanks for all the advice everyone. I have a long chat with our instructor, who does compete at BSJA, and her advice is to sell Ebony. She says that Ebony is a lovely pony with a great jump but she is too spooky and will decide to spook for no reason whatsoever totally independent of how well Abby is riding her.

I now have to have a long chat with the girls - they really do not want to sell her!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I now have to have a long chat with the girls - they really do not want to sell her!

[/ QUOTE ] I think they have to decide where their hearts lie - are they happy to keep Ebony and know they are limited to competing at a lower level, or are they competitively ambitious and prepared to get something with more scope.

My daughter's pony is not 100% genuine when jumping at shows and from a competitive jumping point of view daughter would be better off with a different pony. However, pony makes up for it in lots of other ways - such as being excellent in traffic and willing and obedient in flatwork, plus daughter adores her, so she is staying put.

There are lots of pros and cons for you and your daughters to weigh up.
 
You must live somewhere near me, as i used to learn to ride at croft nearly 10 years ago. And sommerford is only half an hour from me aswel.

As regards to your daughter and her pony, maybe to sell ebony is for the best. But whatever you decide, i would suggest that your daughter is winning/ getting placed in riding club classes (opens/ intermediates) then the next step would be to move up to bsja.

You say it doesnt stop as much at a lesson and more in shows. This could be nerves ect. So untill they are both jumping round nearly everytime at lower levels then theres not much point in reg bsja.

This is familar to me, as my parents are not horsey at all. My dad has driven me to shows from riding club to pony bsja and i know jump horses bsja, with 3 horses! My poor dad is still not interested in learning how to put a headcollar on, let alone help me tack up ect. So its great that you want to learn so that you can help your daughter out!

If you do decide to sell your pony try and get something that has been there and done that, so that the pony can take her round the course and help her put regarding strides when she needs it. My old pony was great and i learnt everything off him, he was forward going and would never stop, that way you can learn how to showjump without the worry of refusals.

Hope this helps. Where abouts are you?
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Oh forgot to add, bold heath do trailblazers, and southview unaffilliated at night. Dont know if these are close to you.
 
Hi

We are in Didsbury in Manchester - about the worst place to be if you are interesting in horses. We were lucky enough to find a stables within cycling distance from our house as the girls have to get there and back on their own. Both horses are on diy. But the stables doesn't have much in the way of facilities.

Southview and Somerford are both about an hour away for us with the trailer.
 
I live near Somerford and compete at Southview all the time, BSJA.
My first BSJA was a disaster I had two refusals in as many fences!! Then the next time I took her we were prepared and did a lovely clear..It could just of been a bad day for horsey!!?
Do a couple more local shows, and maybe go to watch a couple of rounds at South View before she goes again, by the sounds of it, it could of been nerves!!
 
Arh so not far from us, we are lucky enough to live just outside warrington, and purchased 11 arcres about 4 years ago, we know have a small yard (8 stables) which are onlt 2.5 miles from our house.

Somerford and southview are about half an hour from us.
 
Ooh - you are lucky - or more likely you have worked very hard - my girls are so jealous. We are looking to move when the girls have finished school and we are thinking of moving to Warrington or surrounding areas. Whereabouts in Warrington are you. We have the Warrington Guardian in our stable of papers.
 
We live in Appleton, and our yard is in Whitley on the A49. I am very lucky to have fab parents, my dad built the yard.
 
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