Spooking at fences

ktj1891

ktj1891

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What is the best way to ride a horse to a fence they are spooking at or you anticipate that they are going to look at?

Looking for ideas on how to ride my horse confidently to a fence to avoid unnecessary stops!
 
This would depend on why the horse is spooking (e.g. is the horse otherwise brave but isn't confident with a particular type of fence? Is the horse generally spooky? How experienced is the horse, the rider, and the combination?) and what it actually does when spooking (e.g. put head down and look, head up and run, slows down, speeds up, goes sideways, over-jumps etc.).

Generally speaking, the best way to avoid unnecessary stops is simply to practise over as many types of fences as you can find, and to make each session a positive experience for the partnership.
 
As already said it depends on why and how the horse spooks but normally if they are just a bit green and looky I would say come back to trot to set up, it allows you more time to react, keep them straight and ride forward in a positive way, if they still try and duck out or stop it is easier to sit tight if they are not going too fast.
I do loads of trotting into different fences with all horses at home, even older ones, so they are used to jumping out of trot, although obviously once they are jumping bigger they need to canter, if they are stopping when competing they would drop down a level so they could do the whole course in trot if required.
 
As others have said there are so many variables. With youngsters I will open my hands wider to keep them straight, I think of it as a channel for them to follow. Keep your leg on, but don't let them get too quick.
Lots of practice over anything you have, if you don't have a lot at home then hire an arena or get creative. I once found an old wooden coffee table at the tip and painted it and used as a filler. Obviously make sure it is safe if they hit it. Paddling pool can be held down by poles to make a water trey etc.
With a really spooky horse then keep the fences really small so they can walk over if necessary.
 
He is 10 year old TB and he has been to a number of shows but not consistently as we don't have our own transport so rely on lifts.

Generally he isn't too bad but lately he has gotten more spooky than normal! He tends to back off a few strides out and then stop as he is looking at it (he isn't genuinely scared of anything). The only thing that he tends to look at a bit more is water trays and ditches.

I am not the most confident of riders and we jump around 80cm at shows and 90cm at home. I am also having jump lessons but only had 2 so far with my current instructor and theres not many fillers etc to play with at home. I have recently been using an florescent exercise sheet under fences and over them at home and he has stopped at those first time but then jumps 2nd time but is still unsure of them.

As I said generally over SJ he is quite genuine and is never a nasty stopper but has gotten a little funny lately. I have an eventers challenge this weekend and would like to go clear with no stops so not sure what I can do in terms of my riding to help ensure no stops happen as I know if I turn him to a fence a second time he will jump!
 
i'd keep the courses tiny till the spooking got better. If your nervous at all you are better going down to a height that you can walk over them if needed. I kept my ex racer at starter stakes competitions for ages till he knew his only option was forward and straight, and jump first time, there was no circling or second approach. Keeping the height small means you don't get unbalanced or catch them in the mouth if they jump oddly.

The other thing would be to pay a pro to ride him a few times around courses and get their advice about the right appraoch to take with him. Some horses just need you to be 100% confident or they start having doubts.
 
Having watched both videos, plus a bit more of a training one, I would not think of him as a spooky horse as such, in the Elmwood round he starts ok then goes disunited, loses concentration, gets in close with a couple of not so good jumps so by the time he is at the double his confidence, and yours, has gone slightly so he chips in gets deep pops in 2 strides to jump out, totally normal for a fairly genuine horse that needs a bit of help, he finishes the round ok so the confidence has not gone completely but rounds like that chip away at the confidence until they do start to stop, I guess that is where you are now.

There are many things you can do, first make sure he is comfortable, it can be the first sign of something starting to hurt, with one of mine it was his feet although he was sound and the vet was happy he was not.

I would ride a little more forward generally, forget my earlier post about trotting!! try and get a bit more power in the canter, not any faster just more in front of your leg so he is sharper that should help with the way he lands, he regularly goes wrong or disunites because he is not engaged enough, if he jumps one fence badly and lands flat get after him before the next fence, you don't have to beat him but react in some way rather than accepting a poor effort as that poor jump often causes the following one to be worse, or they back off, by telling him to get on with the job he should take that as a reason to keep going forward and not dwell on what has just happened.

I see this regularly, the horse jumps one fence badly and the whole round goes downhill if the rider lets it, if you give him a tap, growl, whatever it can turn it back into a decent round, be positive and proactive especially if you have a whoops moment, don't wait until the next one to do something, it will usually work and should give him more confidence that you want him to go, not dither about thinking things over.

You may benefit from having your stirrups up a hole, at times you are rather bracing on your knees and your lower leg is not there when needed, I would also be tempted to get rid of some of the padding under the saddle if you can, like me you have fairly short legs and it may not be helping to be further away from him than you could be. Work on the canter on the flat and see if you can really engage the hind leg, that would enable you to get him more in front of you and react more quickly when you really need him to go.
 
Having watched the video, he is exactly like my lad jumping. He just looks like his brain doesn't keep up with his body going around the ring. I really had to use corners to slow and get him together. I used to have to bring him back to trot at first, balance him and get a better canter on the right leg, with his hocks under him more. Eventually he would naturally balance coming to corners and we would do a smoother round.
 
I think as you approach the fence because you anticipate him stopping or running out you are holding him in, in such a way that he isn't going forward enough. Rather than fiddling with his head, widen your hands on the approach and keep your leg on.

He seems to ping you out the saddle as well and while it was hard to say for sure on those vids I got the impression you sometimes catch him in the mouth on landing due to that.

I think BP is right get rid of some of the fluff and raise your stirrups.

I would also keep the jumps smaller until it becomes more flowing.

A good SJ coach would be better than us trying to work it out from videos as well.
 
thanks for the replies guys and a lot does ring true, I am very short but my stirrups already go up 6 holes from my flat so don't think I can shorten them anymore as I will really feel perched on top then!

I agree lots to work on and I have just had my second lesson with a SJ instructor so hopefully as time goes on I will improve. I am only competing at 80 so I will be sticking to that until everything clicks and gets better. I also agree hes not incredibly spooky but he does look at somethings, in generally he is very genuine and honest for me!
 
be positive said:
Having watched both videos, plus a bit more of a training one, I would not think of him as a spooky horse as such, in the Elmwood round he starts ok then goes disunited, loses concentration, gets in close with a couple of not so good jumps so by the time he is at the double his confidence, and yours, has gone slightly so he chips in gets deep pops in 2 strides to jump out, totally normal for a fairly genuine horse that needs a bit of help, he finishes the round ok so the confidence has not gone completely but rounds like that chip away at the confidence until they do start to stop, I guess that is where you are now.

There are many things you can do, first make sure he is comfortable, it can be the first sign of something starting to hurt, with one of mine it was his feet although he was sound and the vet was happy he was not.

I would ride a little more forward generally, forget my earlier post about trotting!! try and get a bit more power in the canter, not any faster just more in front of your leg so he is sharper that should help with the way he lands, he regularly goes wrong or disunites because he is not engaged enough, if he jumps one fence badly and lands flat get after him before the next fence, you don't have to beat him but react in some way rather than accepting a poor effort as that poor jump often causes the following one to be worse, or they back off, by telling him to get on with the job he should take that as a reason to keep going forward and not dwell on what has just happened.

I see this regularly, the horse jumps one fence badly and the whole round goes downhill if the rider lets it, if you give him a tap, growl, whatever it can turn it back into a decent round, be positive and proactive especially if you have a whoops moment, don't wait until the next one to do something, it will usually work and should give him more confidence that you want him to go, not dither about thinking things over.

You may benefit from having your stirrups up a hole, at times you are rather bracing on your knees and your lower leg is not there when needed, I would also be tempted to get rid of some of the padding under the saddle if you can, like me you have fairly short legs and it may not be helping to be further away from him than you could be. Work on the canter on the flat and see if you can really engage the hind leg, that would enable you to get him more in front of you and react more quickly when you really need him to go.
Click to expand...

I think what you are saying is pretty much spot on and its something to work on. I do need to get after him a bit more as he is generally a laidback horse. Its getting the right canter and being able to adjust it to make it more forwards and slower. All a work in progress but I think my aim at the moment would be to ride more positively to fences and forwards!
 
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