strong horse jumping! Help!

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eagleowl

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I have a 16.1 irish sports horse. I have just started jumping him. He is in a martingale and hanging cheek snaffle with a flash bridle. He is fine to school in this however he is very strong before and after a jump. Any advice as to what I could use to hold him back a little more
 
I'm not an expert on bits etc. so I'll leave that to others, however do you know why he is being strong into fences? Is it because he's over excited so gets strong or is it more that he's perhaps a little unsure of himself so rushes into fences?
Personally I would work on understanding why he is being strong rather than trying to hold him back all the time. Continue doing lots of work on the flat, with lots of transitions etc. so he's really listening to you as this should help when jumping. Also when jumping try to keep the canter really 'up' and bouncy so that you channel his energy rather than fighting it by holding onto him, and remember to keep relaxed yourself. I regularly jump a horse who is a very nervous jumper and can get quite strong and rush into fences and it took me a long time to learn that the more relaxed I was, and the less I tried to hold onto him, the softer he was and the better he jumped (easier said than done I know!). It might also be an idea to have some jumps permanently up when you're schooling so that he doesn't get over excited when you suddenly put the jumps up for a jumping session. Also you could try just popping 2 or 3 jumps straight after a hack so he learns jumping isn't something to get over excited and strong about.
Failing that get a good instructor to help work with you and your horse! :)
 
I think if he needs a martingale & flash to do flatwork then imo you need to improve on the flat before complicating things by jumping.
 
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