Spooky horse catleaping over jumps

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emfen1305

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I have scoured the forum for an answer/advice to my specific situation but can't seem to find one so I thought I would seek some wisdom (brought on by the upcoming wh show that I am already nervous about!)

I have a cob who is very spooky in his nature and generally a worrier. Whilst it's got better over the last 2 years I've had him in terms of his general day to day behaviour, jumping can still be a bit of nightmare, especially if its anything other than a plain pole! The spooking comes in the form of cat leaping but in an almost slow motion way. He will slow right down to almost a stop and then at the last minute, he will sit right back on his hocks and launch himself about a meter in the air, of course meaning I end up about a meter out of the saddle. He is not usually a stopper but will sometimes put one in if he is looking elsewhere/not concentrating so I do have to sit back which means when he is in rocket launch mode I get left behind. I have tried pre-empting this and going with him but if I go to fold even a fraction of a second too early or try to get myself out of the saddle he will take the opportunity to stop.

What can I do to stop such a dramatic take off? Things I have already tried include:

- Lunging over the fence first, particularly really scary fences, which works but I can't do this at competitions
- Riding like a woman possessed at the fences, keeping myself out of the saddle to keep him moving forward - sometimes works, depends on his mood
- Sitting quietly and riding firmly using lots of voice - again, mixed results
- Longer reins so that he doesn't get so collected and bouncy
- Practicing over scary things at home but he will not associate the blue barrels or tyres at home with the ones at the competition so still have the same issue
- Not jumping - this has been the most effective solution so far!

Sorry for the long rambly post, just wonder what else I can try to stop me being launched into space!
 
How often do you jump him? I tend to think that when horses react like this it's best to do the scary/spooky thing day in, day out until it becomes boring - even if that means you are going over tiny crosspoles every day for a few weeks until he stops being a prat about it. You could always do 10 minutes at the end of a hack, until he is jumping more calmly, then praise him and stop. Then gradually and gently change the jumps and increase the height, and keep at it until that becomes more normal.

If he doesn't relate what he does at home to a competition situation I think your only option might be to go out lots - to hire a course of jumps, for example, so that you can create something that looks more competition-like. Expensive and time consuming, I'm afraid.
 
Abacus said:
How often do you jump him? I tend to think that when horses react like this it's best to do the scary/spooky thing day in, day out until it becomes boring - even if that means you are going over tiny crosspoles every day for a few weeks until he stops being a prat about it. You could always do 10 minutes at the end of a hack, until he is jumping more calmly, then praise him and stop. Then gradually and gently change the jumps and increase the height, and keep at it until that becomes more normal.

If he doesn't relate what he does at home to a competition situation I think your only option might be to go out lots - to hire a course of jumps, for example, so that you can create something that looks more competition-like. Expensive and time consuming, I'm afraid.
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Just once a week really it just depends on whether we are out competing or not but I do pop out scary things around the arena when we are schooling so maybe I could try and jump more consistently, I do find that consistency works with him, he likes being in work and keeping his brain ticking over. He is absolutely fine over plain poles and coloured poles and if there are fillers at the side, it's as soon as they are moved under the jump he feels the need to give them plenty of room!

Good idea about the hiring, I had considered it and then I reminded myself I do not have as much money as I would like to believe! But I could stretch to an extra couple of times a month on none competing weekends i suppose! Thanks :)
 
I'd say he's either in pain somewhere hence his reluctance to jump and then the dramatic cat leap, or he lacks confidence when jumping. Either way I'd look to get to the bottom of it before you end up putting him off jumping full stop.

Once you've ruled out physical cause for his behaviour, I'd look at doing some confidence building work with the help of a good trainer, hiring arenas, attending clinics etc. so he gets used to the different sights away from home without the pressure of a competition and see if he improves. If not I'm afraid I'd think along the same lines as AmyMay and think maybe jumping just isn't for him.
 
FestiveFuzz said:
I'd say he's either in pain somewhere hence his reluctance to jump and then the dramatic cat leap, or he lacks confidence when jumping. Either way I'd look to get to the bottom of it before you end up putting him off jumping full stop.

Once you've ruled out physical cause for his behaviour, I'd look at doing some confidence building work with the help of a good trainer, hiring arenas, attending clinics etc. so he gets used to the different sights away from home without the pressure of a competition and see if he improves. If not I'm afraid I'd think along the same lines as AmyMay and think maybe jumping just isn't for him.
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Thanks for your advice, I'm 99% sure it isn't pain related as he's had everything checked, scanned, replaced that I possibly can and he flies round over a plain course/fillers at the side ears forward with no issues, its as they move underneath there is a problem so it is more of a confidence thing. Unfortunately the more he does it the less confident I get at approaching scary fences so I suspect this is part of the problem too!
 
So he's a stopper, cat leaps and is less spooky if he doesn't jump - but he enjoys it? 😕

What's he like with a confident rider on his back?
 
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emfen1305 said:
Unfortunately the more he does it the less confident I get at approaching scary fences so I suspect this is part of the problem too!
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That's completely understandable, it can't be much fun for either of you at the moment and I suspect the more you push on the worse it will get. If you don't already have one, I would look for a sympathetic instructor who can help give you both confidence.
 
Sounds to me as though he jumps fine over plain fences and coloured poles, and is spooky only over fillers. The OP says he is 'not usually a stopper'.

Some of the comments are a bit unfair, if she has ruled out pain.

Interesting possibility though that the rider has become nervous when the fillers are there, which is affecting the horse. Emfen, has anyone else ridden him?
 
Basically that is inexperience on his part - it's what a green youngster does. Small jumps and lots of them, as often as it takes for him to grow in confidence. Do you have the means to loose school him over them, because that will do a lot for him
 
FestiveFuzz said:
That's completely understandable, it can't be much fun for either of you at the moment and I suspect the more you push on the worse it will get. If you don't already have one, I would look for a sympathetic instructor who can help give you both confidence.
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I think the same too so we've just spent some time getting our confidence and rhythm over plain fences at home but with showjumping and showing season coming up at the local yards, I wanted to try and do a bit more than just pick and choose the jumps I think he will jump (it gets quite expensive and i do like a rosette!) Once he's gone over them once he is usually fine but it's the getting over them once that is sometimes the issue haha! I will see if my instructor will do more with him :)
 
Abacus said:
Sounds to me as though he jumps fine over plain fences and coloured poles, and is spooky only over fillers. The OP says he is 'not usually a stopper'.

Some of the comments are a bit unfair, if she has ruled out pain.

Interesting possibility though that the rider has become nervous when the fillers are there, which is affecting the horse. Emfen, has anyone else ridden him?
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Yes this is what I meant, maybe I didn't explain it very well!

I do become more aware of him when fillers are there and I do worry slightly, a cracked rib last year has made me more cautious. He does still leap with my instructor and another girl who has jumped him for me before but they are not as easily shaken as me so they just push him on. I know the simplest answer here would be for me to stop jumping him over scary stuff and get my instructor to continue with the spooky training but I can only afford one lesson a week really so I was just wondering if there was anything I could do myself to help either sit to them better or at least make them less extreme. If not, I will just ask my instructor, I don't want to make it worse!
 
JillA said:
Basically that is inexperience on his part - it's what a green youngster does. Small jumps and lots of them, as often as it takes for him to grow in confidence. Do you have the means to loose school him over them, because that will do a lot for him
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I can loose school and have done over scary bits but not consistently enough really, perhaps I should add it in as a once a week thing rather than every so often! thanks :)
 
amymay said:
So he's a stopper, cat leaps and is less spooky if he doesn't jump - but he enjoys it? 😕

What's he like with a confident rider on his back?
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Occasional stopper, usually if he loses a bit of concentration and the jump takes him by surprise. The part about him not spooking if doesn't jump part was in jest, my fault, I was just making light of the situation

He still leaps with a confident rider but they will just bring him round again and again until he gets over it where as it shakes me a little bit and then i ride less effectively imo.
 
emfen1305 said:
I think the same too so we've just spent some time getting our confidence and rhythm over plain fences at home but with showjumping and showing season coming up at the local yards, I wanted to try and do a bit more than just pick and choose the jumps I think he will jump (it gets quite expensive and i do like a rosette!) Once he's gone over them once he is usually fine but it's the getting over them once that is sometimes the issue haha! I will see if my instructor will do more with him :)
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This generally isn't an issue (for long anyway) for horses that genuinely love jumping.
That doesn't mean you should immediately give up (!!) but do bear in mind that it might not really be his bag.
My advice would be not to go out competing until you have well and truely nailed it both at home and at clear rounds/course hire.
I would strongly recommend any money this stage is invested into a confident rider schooling him over showjumps on your behalf, then once/if he becomes confident hopefully you will both progress quicker as a partnership. Don't underestimate the negative vibes a horse (especially one lacking confidence) can pick up from their jockey.
 
ihatework said:
This generally isn't an issue (for long anyway) for horses that genuinely love jumping.
That doesn't mean you should immediately give up (!!) but do bear in mind that it might not really be his bag.
My advice would be not to go out competing until you have well and truely nailed it both at home and at clear rounds/course hire.
I would strongly recommend any money this stage is invested into a confident rider schooling him over showjumps on your behalf, then once/if he becomes confident hopefully you will both progress quicker as a partnership. Don't underestimate the negative vibes a horse (especially one lacking confidence) can pick up from their jockey.
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I mean he doesn't absolutely tank me into them but he does seem to enjoy it, I never have to force him and he pops over all of the easy ones all very sweetly with his ears pricked so I am hoping we just don't do enough of the scary jumping consistently.

The last few times I've gone to the two local SJ we did just the clear round and he was a superstar but as the fences go up the fillers tend to go more under and that's when the issues start, I don't mind staying at the lower heights but feel a little bit silly consistently competing at 60cm against 7 year olds, not to mention the comments i get from the mums!
 
emfen1305 said:
I mean he doesn't absolutely tank me into them but he does seem to enjoy it, I never have to force him and he pops over all of the easy ones all very sweetly with his ears pricked so I am hoping we just don't do enough of the scary jumping consistently.

The last few times I've gone to the two local SJ we did just the clear round and he was a superstar but as the fences go up the fillers tend to go more under and that's when the issues start, I don't mind staying at the lower heights but feel a little bit silly consistently competing at 60cm against 7 year olds, not to mention the comments i get from the mums!
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But that's my point. If he really enjoyed 80cm with a filler shouldn't be an issue.
Put any money you might spend on your own lessons and 60cm competing into a pot, add into it some more if possible, and then spend it on someone building your horses confidence over fillers for you.
 
My old horse was similar to this - he even took exception to some colour combinations on poles - for example, when I first started jumping him, he was very happy with yellow and blue stripes but absolutely horrified by red, white and black stripes! He used to launch me too as he had a very similar approach to yours - approach like it was going to kill him and, if pushed on, clear it by what felt like six feet! He was the same jumping logs out hacking - if they weren't scary logs (for some reason in his head) he popped them nicely but if they looked at him funny, we'd clear them by feet! I believe he enjoyed jumping - if he liked the look of it, he'd tow me in - but found it scary at the same time.

My best advice is to continue to sit tight but use a neckstrap, a) to help you stay in the saddle and b) so you don't interfere with his mouth if he over-reacts. I think the only thing you can do is practice over as many scary things as you can. You don't need to splash out on fillers - upturned buckets or a tarpaulin under a pole are great and, once they are mastered, you can always paint eyes or sheep or something scary on the buckets.

If it's any consolation, my horse did manage a clear round eventually, even though he cat leapt every fence. We got a great round of applause from the spectators who could probably see the next county between me and the saddle half the time. Hardest won rosette I've ever earned ;)
 
My girl was (sometimes still is) like this. It is lack of confidence and experience for her. The more regularly I jump, the better she has become! I don't mean every day, I probably jump once a week at the most. She is definitely doing it less, the more confident she gets.
 
I had a home bred mare who didn't really take to jumping but loved hacking - so we jumped a couple of jumps and her reward was to go for a hack. She became a really accomplished jumper - is there something he enjoys you could make his reward for tackling some jumps?
But the caveat is this was EVERY time she was ridden, not just now and again
 
Hi, I've not had time to read the other replies as I usually would, I was just having a browse before I popped out and this caught my eye.

My sister had a very similar problem with her event horse Joey . He would do a super dressage and would fly around the cross country like he was ready for badminton. However in the show jumping it was a nightmare. He would capleap and spook. He would always go over but it was dramatic. My sister is a confident and calm rider, she is heading for her first one star this year, so it was a mystery. That is until he broke down hunting. He had arthritis of the front feet. Over cross country his adrenaline was up and he coped, show jumping was less exciting and he couldn't.
It's worth a thought.
 
moleskinsmum said:
My old horse was similar to this - he even took exception to some colour combinations on poles - for example, when I first started jumping him, he was very happy with yellow and blue stripes but absolutely horrified by red, white and black stripes! He used to launch me too as he had a very similar approach to yours - approach like it was going to kill him and, if pushed on, clear it by what felt like six feet! He was the same jumping logs out hacking - if they weren't scary logs (for some reason in his head) he popped them nicely but if they looked at him funny, we'd clear them by feet! I believe he enjoyed jumping - if he liked the look of it, he'd tow me in - but found it scary at the same time.

My best advice is to continue to sit tight but use a neckstrap, a) to help you stay in the saddle and b) so you don't interfere with his mouth if he over-reacts. I think the only thing you can do is practice over as many scary things as you can. You don't need to splash out on fillers - upturned buckets or a tarpaulin under a pole are great and, once they are mastered, you can always paint eyes or sheep or something scary on the buckets.

If it's any consolation, my horse did manage a clear round eventually, even though he cat leapt every fence. We got a great round of applause from the spectators who could probably see the next county between me and the saddle half the time. Hardest won rosette I've ever earned ;)
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We seemed to have this the other night! The three scariest fences on the course (a tyre jump, a rustic ladder type thing with creepy scarecrows either side and a skinny with flower boxes at the the side) were absolutely no problem but he took real issue with the first fence which was a simple blue and white cross pole though i suspect it was because it was by the devilish shetlands in the field next door.

I have invested in a breast plate with a nice thick neck part, he is hogged which makes it even worse! My instructor rides him for 15-20 mins before I get on him and we've agreed that at the end of her time riding she will just pop him over a couple of low scary fences so he gets used to that and then I will free lunge him over some scary stuff once a week too!

Haha its such an achievement when you finally go round especially when you have people rooting for you! He has all the presence of a lovely horse, he is very uniquely coloured, two blue eyes and turns out smartly so he gets cooed over when i arrive at places but then they see him doing his best audition for nasa and they quickly take back their offers to "have him if i ever decided to sell"
 
teddypops said:
My girl was (sometimes still is) like this. It is lack of confidence and experience for her. The more regularly I jump, the better she has become! I don't mean every day, I probably jump once a week at the most. She is definitely doing it less, the more confident she gets.
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That's good to hear! I think it might be the same with Toby, consistency is key with him in every aspect so i just need to show him scary things more consistently!
 
emfen1305 said:
I have scoured the forum for an answer/advice to my specific situation but can't seem to find one so I thought I would seek some wisdom (brought on by the upcoming wh show that I am already nervous about!)

I have a cob who is very spooky in his nature and generally a worrier. Whilst it's got better over the last 2 years I've had him in terms of his general day to day behaviour, jumping can still be a bit of nightmare, especially if its anything other than a plain pole! The spooking comes in the form of cat leaping but in an almost slow motion way. He will slow right down to almost a stop and then at the last minute, he will sit right back on his hocks and launch himself about a meter in the air, of course meaning I end up about a meter out of the saddle. He is not usually a stopper but will sometimes put one in if he is looking elsewhere/not concentrating so I do have to sit back which means when he is in rocket launch mode I get left behind. I have tried pre-empting this and going with him but if I go to fold even a fraction of a second too early or try to get myself out of the saddle he will take the opportunity to stop.

What can I do to stop such a dramatic take off? Things I have already tried include:

- Lunging over the fence first, particularly really scary fences, which works but I can't do this at competitions
- Riding like a woman possessed at the fences, keeping myself out of the saddle to keep him moving forward - sometimes works, depends on his mood
- Sitting quietly and riding firmly using lots of voice - again, mixed results
- Longer reins so that he doesn't get so collected and bouncy
- Practicing over scary things at home but he will not associate the blue barrels or tyres at home with the ones at the competition so still have the same issue
- Not jumping - this has been the most effective solution so far!

Sorry for the long rambly post, just wonder what else I can try to stop me being launched into space!
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hmm
how old is the horse and how much jump training has he done.

it could be lacking in training or confidence

My Id mare does this but rushes at the fence and puts head in the air like girraffe and then cat leaps it by 2 ft higher than the jump and got me off at a sponsored ride a few weeks ago.


Now we are taking her back to basis as the previous owners must not have done any real proper ground work over poles and cross poll. This is vital in any jumping, to take it slowly and work to the horses and your capability. Speak to your trainer or get a jump trainer in to school over jumps for you and teach the horse the correct way to jump.

Sadly some people jump horses too young and miss out vital training as it is with my horse.

OP there are many jump trainers around, as we have check your area out or search only or word of mouth. Stopping jumping is not the answer unless pain is an issue or saddle, teeth, bit,eyes are causing it.

What area are you in
 
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I would stop competing and use the money to do course hire. The price of 2 SJ classes should get you at least an hours course hire. You will definitely need someone on the ground, instructor preferable, but anyone will do. Start no fillers, then with the fillers all to the side of the jumps and slowly bring them in. You don't have to get to fully jumping the fillers in one session, if he stays confident and jumps round with them with a small gap then praise and leave it there. If possible I would be aiming to do this at least twice per month. Placing poles might also help with the take off spot, but practice these at home first.
 
I have one of these!!

So, I took myself off for jumping lessons to see if it's something I'm doing or it's just him. A bit of both really - I was far to rigid anticipating his catleap

I've started him back to gymnastics grid work - just in x poles. 3 x poles in a line, once canter stride apart, taken him in in the 2 point position to really get him moving and apart from the first one, his jumping has improved. If he's green, he hasn't the foggiest what he's doing so go back to basics with gridwork with little easy jumps
 
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