Steady him up! *vid*

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pixiebee

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Here is the video to my pics I just posted, any advice on how I can steady my boy after jumps? He zooms off which means I find it hard to do anything other than super wide turns. I half halt sit back and use my voice but he gets a bit strong and carries on, I know its probaly a combination of excitement, lack of balance and my riding. Ignore the little spooks the jumps, he is a bit fresh lately!!

 
im gonna have a shot here but really i could be talking crap lol

to me he doesnt look like he is actually going forward, it looks like you are having to ride with the handbrake on all the time. I say this as I have had a horse like this and I do know how it feels, its not the nicest feeling. I dont think bitting up is the answer - Id go right back to schooling in a snaffle over poles on the ground etc with an RI you can really work with.

Or that could be total rubbish lol, gorgeous horse btw!!
 
I can put him in a snaffle in the school but as soon as I get jumps out, my god he is strong, problem being im 5ft nothing and he used his neck and shoulders, I end up having to haul on his mouth :-( Your very right with the handbrake, if I were to drop the reins he would literally GO!!!!!
 
pixiebee said:
I can put him in a snaffle in the school but as soon as I get jumps out, my god he is strong, problem being im 5ft nothing and he used his neck and shoulders, I end up having to haul on his mouth :-( Your very right with the handbrake, if I were to drop the reins he would literally GO!!!!!
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id still try and work on that in the school, with a pole on the ground and simple schooling. What I found, to my peril,was that by having to ride like this - with the handbrake on - you cant create impulsion or a decent quality of canter hence you get duff strides, cat leaps and hollowing over fences and ultimately it ends up being dangerous. I had a nasty fall with this btw, xc :o I do also sympathise as Im only 3 inches taller than you and quite slight, but honestly i used to hate people saying this to me, but schooling is the answer.
 
grid work without reins - nothing for him to pull on and has to think for himself - would obviously keep it small!
ETA: if you're going to ask with your leg you must allow forwards - how about schooling round jumps, lots of transitions so that the association of the jumps doesn't mean tense steps, you just continue as if they aren't there and when there's a calm pace pop a fence. really sit in the saddle and think uphill
 
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coss said:
grid work without reins -
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that sounds rather scary!!!!! I can vision him jumping out the school if I dont steer him round the fence haha I ought to give it a go though as I dont like having to ride with the strong contact like I do. I try my hardest to steady with my seat but he gets his head in a tizz and goes!! Im glad he enjoys it though! What do you mean by let him go forewards? What I was trying to do was shorten the stride rather than fast and flat if that makes sense. I think if he goes too fast at the jump he will fall over it or something so dont have the confidence to let him go foreward.hmm jumping lessons in order!
 
Poles poles and more poles! Make them boring! I always have poles and jumps in the arena (even if I don't jump them huge as I am a big chicken when it comes to jumping anything over 2 foot!). I'm the first to admitt I am more of a dressage rider, but I do think that pole work is very valuable so still do quite a lot of it, and even when doing an hour of so called flatwork, I will pop the odd jump. I never do just jumping lessons.
 
knot your reins, run down the grid, if he locks on to the end of the school fence, you can always grab your reins back and stop him. At the moment it's a tug of war. He can't tank off down a grid line - he will have to steady up and balance through them or he'll crash. If you're not interfering with his mouth, he will learn to carry himself and not pull against you for balance or for speed. When you do pick your reins up again, they should have more meaning to him, because of the greater contrast and the fact you've not been fighting up to that point.
 
at the moment as NSN said you're riding with the handbrake on - my horse has a tendancy to do a similar thing in that the legs can move very fast so you feel like you're going fast but in actual fact its all behind the leg. unfortunately you have to have horse infront of leg to get a bigger but slower stride and the slower stride means horse can balance more. Even on a forwards (fast horse) you have to use your leg and ride into the bridle to create a rounder step. having the rein on to stop flatness doesn't give the full package.
 
JFTD said:
knot your reins, run down the grid, if he locks on to the end of the school fence, you can always grab your reins back and stop him. At the moment it's a tug of war. He can't tank off down a grid line - he will have to steady up and balance through them or he'll crash. If you're not interfering with his mouth, he will learn to carry himself and not pull against you for balance or for speed. When you do pick your reins up again, they should have more meaning to him, because of the greater contrast and the fact you've not been fighting up to that point.
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ahhh now that makes sense. I do think we both rely on the contact, I think it has become mine and his comfort blanket! I worry that he will run out as when I first got him he would have a mean duck out suddenly to the left and nearly exited out the side door several times, I think that by having the contact short and ready, I can grab him if he tries to leap sideways!
 
coss said:
at the moment as NSN said you're riding with the handbrake on - my horse has a tendancy to do a similar thing in that the legs can move very fast so you feel like you're going fast but in actual fact its all behind the leg. unfortunately you have to have horse infront of leg to get a bigger but slower stride and the slower stride means horse can balance more. Even on a forwards (fast horse) you have to use your leg and ride into the bridle to create a rounder step. having the rein on to stop flatness doesn't give the full package.
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ah ok, so in theory I need to keep my leg on and lighten ther contact a bit and trust him. I think your right about the speed, he has a very fast choppy stride so has a tendancy to rush and motorbike ( we are working on this in the school) so in order to get longer strides I need to ride him more foreward???
 
yes - i'd do a lot of lateral work to try and get horse accepting leg doesn't mean fast all the time - means bring hind leg under more and engage. and yes - there is a trust thing there too. In trot - consciously slow your rising even if it goes out of time with him so that he can't balance at the speed with you going slow and he should slow to come in time with you
 
yes but its not just about a longer stride,its about getting him under you and infront of the leg,making the cater adjustable and good enough quality to jump from. Honestly,its taken me a long long time to get my head round this, I really recommend getting a good RI to work with. Horses who rush are often lacking in confidence and if he is motorbiking that suggests he is unbalanced.Schooling will help with both these issues and help you achieve the above. Its all easier said than done as well, you really need someone good on the ground to help you.
 
pixiebee said:
I think that by having the contact short and ready, I can grab him if he tries to leap sideways!
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neckstrap, hold on, ride straight and trust him. If he doesn't deserve your trust, stick guide poles up to keep him straight. Ultimately, there is some risk involved - you have to take the chance he might monkey around in order to allow him the freedom to jump well (does that make sense?) You can ride without reins, or with loose reins and take up a contact when you need it (if he thinks about ducking out), if your reactions are quick and you read his intentions well, but that does take practice and you need to try it to be confident it's possible :p
 
JFTD said:
knot your reins, run down the grid, if he locks on to the end of the school fence, you can always grab your reins back and stop him. At the moment it's a tug of war. He can't tank off down a grid line - he will have to steady up and balance through them or he'll crash. If you're not interfering with his mouth, he will learn to carry himself and not pull against you for balance or for speed. When you do pick your reins up again, they should have more meaning to him, because of the greater contrast and the fact you've not been fighting up to that point.
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Please don't do this! Especially on a horse that runs through the bridle as yours does, is green and also as you say has a bit of a stop in him.

Work on getting a smooth and consistent canter with him a little softer in your hand, until you have that you will really struggle. Poles on a 20m circle work well. First start with 2 at 6 and 12 o'clock then when you have that cracked add ones at 3 and 9 clock. You can then progress to small fences instead of the poles, keep remembering the canter rhythm is the thing.

Grids could be helpful but always keep the contact on something that is a little green like yours, many find it a bit overwhelming and really they need to accept your leg a little more than your boy does currently, as you should use your legs to keep him straight.

Good luck with him
 
JFTD said:
knot your reins, run down the grid, if he locks on to the end of the school fence, you can always grab your reins back and stop him. At the moment it's a tug of war. He can't tank off down a grid line - he will have to steady up and balance through them or he'll crash. If you're not interfering with his mouth, he will learn to carry himself and not pull against you for balance or for speed. When you do pick your reins up again, they should have more meaning to him, because of the greater contrast and the fact you've not been fighting up to that point.
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my coloured used to run through the bridle and rush, I followed very similar advice as a 16 year old and ended up with a broken face because the horse ran blind. Your hands and your bottom will be your friend or your enemy, find a good instructor, tell them your story, and let them advise you how to bring the situation forwards.
 
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perhaps I wont be trying that then! Thats my fear, he will go so fast and fall over the jumps!! I did a few 3ft jumps on him the other day in the school, not a course, just popped over the same one a couple of times and he cleared it with ease but feel until I can sort full control I ought to be working on small jumps!! I find that if I allow him the rein in schooling, he trips over himselfs and runs on so end up holding him up! I shall be booking myself a jumping lesson after easter I think, well probably a flatwork one first! Thanks so much for the advice, much appreciated.
 
re the tripping - he's running to forehand so i'd be slowing everything down and doing small circles, spirals etc so that the exercises slow him rather than the hand
 
pixiebee said:
perhaps I wont be trying that then! Thats my fear, he will go so fast and fall over the jumps!!
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and this is exactly how I ended up with a near rotational, where the horse came down with me and I lost all my jumping confidence, gave myself ongoing pelvis issues and ultimately sold my horse. Not worth it. Im sure you'll get there,there just isnt a quick fix and Im sure your lessons will get you on the right track, all the best.
 
NeverSayNever said:
and this is exactly how I ended up with a near rotational, where the horse came down with me and I lost all my jumping confidence, gave myself ongoing pelvis issues and ultimately sold my horse. Not worth it. Im sure you'll get there,there just isnt a quick fix and Im sure your lessons will get you on the right track, all the best.
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ooohh you poor thing :-( I nearly gave up jumping when I pretty much snapped my ankle in half jumping when I was 15 (now 28) Its taken me this long to drive myself to do it, I must enjoy it or I wouldnt do it!!! Im hoping to do some mini (2ft3 max) hunter trials next month, its designed for novices so I will get some lessons in before then and I think if I do goI will take my time and trot round if I have to!! (well thats my plan anyway!) I have a fun ride today and there are a few xc jumps, so if I dont feel I have enough control today then I probably wont take him next month!
 
Little clarification. My initial statement was gridwork, small, complicated little grids he will have to steady up to think about and you will have to put your leg on to get impulsion.
The comment about knotting reins was clarification of coss's suggestion of no reins grids. Obviously this would depend on him tackling the grids in a calmer fashion - only an idiot would drop their reins on a tanking horse into a decent height grid. If he knows the drill with gridwork, you should be able to drop your reins and he will not crash through it.
As for always having contact on a green pony, I don't agree. I prefer horses to sort themselves into fences, regardless of what I am doing. I can't guarantee I will always get it right, so personally prefer a horse that thinks for itself...
 
My advice, get yourself a good instructor to help you with this issue, if for any reason you cant, you could try these exercises, but have a helper with you.
Your canter is everything, keeping a good rhythm will be your friend, gradually increase a grid of canter poles, 3,5, etc,then ride straight to the the bottom of the school, trying to maintain the rhythm, sit up and half halt, rebalancing for your corner, looking where youre going, come around then if listening keep it going, if not back to trot/ walk, then when rebalanced, back up to canter, and down your grid again till the penny drops into the slot, if you feel he's taking off, try a smallish circle to slow him down 12-15 metre, or back to trot till rebalanced.
Another good one is the clock, on a 20 m circle start with 2 poles on the ground at 12 and 6, gradually add in 3 and 9 trying to keep your striding between the poles the same by maintaining your rhythm.
Both exercises can be developed when listening to you down the grid of poles add a x pole to the end of your grid, then if still listening change your grid to gradually add a small series of jumps with 1-2 strides between them until your horse gets the exercise, support through contact, allow by relaxing your arms then support again, try not to hang on or he'll hold on to you and rush.
With the clock you might find it more difficult, only start to gradually lift each pole, when you can maintain a reasonable canter around the clock, try lifting the outside end of each individual pole at first to see how it goes, if ok, lift the pole on pole pods, then if coping , small x then small straight bars, they dont need to be any more than a foot high, this exercise is about control not height.
As others have said, try not to "hang on to him " but still support him,use loads of half halts, and your body to ask him to wait .... As said before, have someone with you when doing this, as there is always the chance he might end up standing on and rolling a pole until he can balance and keep his rhythm.
good luck.
 
To me it doesn't look as though your horse has yet learnt to work over his back, so instead of rounding his back and carrying himself, he hollows and scuttles a little behind, which is exacerbated after a fence as he then falls on to the forehand, so has no where else to go other than speed up to keep his balance. If he were mine, I would do lots and lots of transitions on circles, inc spiralling in and out, to teach him to hold himself. Once this is established, I'd probably start with cantering over poles on at the four points of a circle and progress to fences in this way.
This is a bit of an essay, but in short, to me it looks like he lacks balance! Lovely looking boy, by the way.
 
JFTD said:
Little clarification. My initial statement was gridwork, small, complicated little grids he will have to steady up to think about and you will have to put your leg on to get impulsion.
The comment about knotting reins was clarification of coss's suggestion of no reins grids. Obviously this would depend on him tackling the grids in a calmer fashion - only an idiot would drop their reins on a tanking horse into a decent height grid. If he knows the drill with gridwork, you should be able to drop your reins and he will not crash through it.
As for always having contact on a green pony, I don't agree. I prefer horses to sort themselves into fences, regardless of what I am doing. I can't guarantee I will always get it right, so personally prefer a horse that thinks for itself...
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I rarely post on threads but felt compelled to with your previous advice of knotting reins and grids. I don't agree with your advice in this post or the one above. I do wonder what your experience you have of green blood type or competition horses. Prior to tackling fences, be they grids or courses horses need to be between hand and leg else you are asking for trouble, having a contact has nothing to do with not letting a horse think it is all about a horse that listens, is adjustable and ultimately safe. As you correctly identify a horse needs to be able to get rider and itself out of trouble, it stands far more chance of doing this if it isn't running away from, or dead to the leg and soft rather than resisting into the contact. It has time to think and adjust itself.
 
Just wondered, did you do anything with him before jumping him? I would suggest a schooling session before you even consider popping a jump so you have him calm collected and forward. He seems very green (and lovely) and I agree there's a lot more work to be done with poles and flatwork as other posters have suggested.
 
1t34 I'm not interested in bickering with you - I clarified my point as I felt it was open to misinterpretation, and I stand by it. I do agree, however, that the horse needs to accept the leg more than the op's.
 
just to clarify btw, what happened to me wasnt from bowling on through grids or dropping reins or anything. It was merely from carrying on with a very similar situation to yours without going back to schooling, I was entering hunter trials and schooling round fixed fences, trying stronger bits etc. Horse didnt have the balance or quality of canter, handbrake was on, horse was running through the bridle, hollow, no impulsion, behind the leg... stride was duff... whack:o

one of the hardest things to learn is that an onward bound, strong keen horse often is the type that needs the most leg ;) but you have to sort out the rest to be able to do this.
 
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Not bickering JFTD just questioning and offering an alternative to your suggestions which in my humble opinion do not seem informed. Its important for the OP to receive alternative advice that will make her jumping experience, safe and fun, with what seems a lovely horse.
 
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