struggling with jumping, help/ advice appreciated!

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Cinders

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i m guessing the majority of you dont know me so here's a little bit of background info. Got my pony when i was 12 and to be fair i was a complete novice and rather a nervous rider as well. Cinders wasn't a stupid pony and quickly realised that as i thought jumping involved just pointing at the jump and hanging on, was also novice, keeping pony at home and didn't have lesson so think you can guess what happened! cinds started refusing as why should she jump when i didn't ride her properly. This habit quickly spiralled out of control and although i was having lesson through PC rallies etc it got to a point where she would stop at everything mainly because i was so scared about jumping her i d basically let her stop!!

finally got a decent instructor who wouldn;t let us jump for over 3 months until we'd improved our flatwork and confidence and when we came back to jumping pony was super keen and although it took ages to get me feeling confident we didn't hardly any stops!

however, refusing is something thats never been totally put to rest and we still had the odd one or two stops xc or sj but that was understandable and normally down to riders bloody nerves and lack of positive riding (used to have a bad habit of freezing if there was a jump i was worried about and not putting my leg on at all)!!.

things got really good for us recently and confidence had been cracked and we began to jump 2ft9-3ft courses at home and in lessons and still this was hardly pushing cinds as she's got a cracking jump when she puts her mind to it. Ok so i ll get to the point, took her to a 2ft6 xc and sj comp and got her round the courses but had a ridiculous amount of refusals but thought maybe i d over faced her so 2 weeks ago i went sj and went in the clear round class and then aimed to do the 65cm class nice and tiny and was suppose to be an easy, confidence building day. cinds point blank refused at every jump and i had 2 falls and then we got eliminated at the first fence in the class despite the fact that she'd already been over the same jumps in the clear round. Very disapointing but thought it was partly my fault as i rode like a muppet and didn't ride positively enough.

She had a couple of weeks of fun hacking and went no where near a jump which did me the world of good as i came out on sunday with a different and very positive attitude. went to a different place and did clear round plus entered 60cm another supposedly easy run for her. clear round was horrendous, couldn;t get her near anything, very hard work and had to get dad to come in and take back rails off and drop poles just to get us round. going into the actual class she was running backwards and refusing to go in but apart from the stop at the first fence we did make it round the rest clear.

My first thought is it has to be pain related as the stops just dont feel naughty anymore so going to get vet to check her over completely although dads not happy as he thinks they'll charge a fortune to tell us there;s nothing wrong with her. the fact that she went round nice enough in the actual class makes me think it cant be pain, she's always been a bit of a difficult mare, always thinks she knows best lol so it hard for me to pin point the cause as its not like she's never stopped in her life before but i do find it odd that she's so reluctant to go when lets face it 60cm she could do with her eyes shut!

She's 16 now and i ve had her for nearly 5 years and its very important to me that she's happy. she's certainly not over faced or over jumped at the very most she's jumped once a week but most weeks it will be every 2 weeks. she's hacked out 3/4 days a week and i try to keep everything fun for her. we dont just compete in sj we do dressage, xc, ode's etc

I ve had some very weird and wacky suggestions such as cantering up to jumps and pulling her last minute so she can see how it feels to be refused with
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god knows how that will teach her anything!! also been told to jump her bridleless with just a neck strap so she can have her head over jumps! i dont have a death wish so wont be trying that either! one thing that has seriously concerned me is some people saying to me that maybe she cant/ really struggles to jump with me as i m now so tall on her that i could be throwing her off balance? i think thats a valid point but i ve been this height on her for a couple of years now so i wouldn't have thought it could become a big issue now could it? before anyone jumps on me i am aiming to move onto horses this summer so wont be crushing the poor pony for years to come! lol

obviously if there's nothing physically wrong with her then the the simple idea would be to give her some time off jumping and then bring her back into it slowly. sorry for the really long post but so confused and upset with recieving constant criticism from people! lol

oh and here's the video from yesterday from the actual class, i know i ride like crap but am only using it to show how she doesn't particularly look in pain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVAWA24SJ6I

so i guess my overall ask is, is there anything i m doing thats completely wrong? would just welcome other peoples views on things.
 
Your riding doesn't look too bad to me. Bit tight with your hands over the first few jumps, but that's understandable if you're riding a sticky horse.

Have you tried jumping other people's horses? You might just have a horse that's indifferent to jumping, so you might not be doing anything wrong at all. Not all horses are mad keen on jumping! From what I've seen, I wouldn't blame yourself. Try jumping a keen horse & see how you feel.
 
I have watched the video and you rode a very nice round. From what I could see the time she stopped you were leaning forward too early, It sounds as though she is taking the mick when you are at shows and everything is rather tense and new.
Not having seen the clear round I can only give you advice on what I saw, but from that all I would say you need to work on is keeping your shoulders back on approach so that you can be a bit more defensive infront of the fences.
 
Please dont blame your riding!

I've said to you before that you sit really well and you look a very tidy picture.
However, I do think your pony is taking the mick a bit.... She's very capable, you havent put her wrong to the fence and it's just a slight lack of faith on both of your parts. She can jump that height from a stand still, easily.
I think you need to get a tiny bit tough- I dont mean beat her or shout at her or anything drastic but when she stops like that, keep her facing the jump, give her a couple of pony club kicks and make her jump it from there! The stick doesnt need to come into play unless she tries to turn or backs up. Whatever you do, dont turn away, keep pointing her at the jump until she realises the only way out of the situation is to jump the jump.
 
Agree with Boss, I think you ride nicely and sit very still. I thought your pony at the first fence was just a bit naughty, she needs to know you mean business and that you expect her to jump first time every time. She could jump them from a standstill easily. So give her some a few pony club kicks and expect her to jump each time and everytime, even if she stops last minute, don't turn her away. GL
 
You ride beautifully - and your pony looks to be enjoying herself. Why the Kimblewick? - I'd be inclined to pop a snaffle in - not hold on quite so tight and just go for it.
 
I agree with Boss and EJ123 that you need to be tougher on her and not let her turn away from the fence if she refuses. Big pony club kicks and a positive "over it, under it or through it" attitude should help!
 
ditto others you look fine on board, very quiet and perhaps with her thats the problem she looks like a very 'knowing' pony and i think shes taking the mick. give her a good few boots and make her realise you mean business, always have the stick ready in case she decides to try it on, you need to be quick with these types of pony as they are sooo clever they will stop in a split second. practise at home and perfect the one hand technique(made that one up!), one on rein other on stick so she doesn;t even think about stopping. i think once you show her you're not taking any messing she'll be a different pony with you.
 
I agree with everyone else.

Your not too big for her either. Im 5ft5 and my pony is only 13.3. I am a little top heavy but like you they cope and learn to adjust. Just keep your shoulders back all the time and you'll find that she can lift her forehand easier.

She is just being a moo isnt she. Mares can be soo stubborn when they want to. Get tough and she'll soon realise you mean business.

Love that bit of advice you got by the way about pulling her out 'so she knows how it feels' LOL some people are amazing!
 
Lots of PMT-Positive mental Thinking.

Def try the snaffle as then at least she is going forward!

Go back to poles on the floor and having fun again. My grade B did a high suspensory ligament and wouldnt go near a pole for almost a year-even now we just pop round 2'3" sj compared to the big opens we used to do its nothing but keeps her happy and me not on the floor, mares just need a lil extra time sometimes and ignore their attidute!

Good luck!
 
god i love you guys, cant tell you how happy you've all made me feel! Was in two minds whether to do this post in the first place as i was worried everyone would jump on me for doing something wrong! lol

will definately try and be tougher with her, i know i m way too soft and to her i m an easy push over! the minute she does something wrong when there isn't any one experience to tell me to get after her i instantly think its me thats done something wrong lol

i was trying when she stopped to not let her turn away, make her stand in front of it then turn her away and smack her then come at it again, thats how i ve been taught but the smack didn't seem to have much effect, many because she knew i wasn't dead serious about it! my instructors always saying cinds needs to realise that i m more scary than the jumps but i doubt that will ever happen as cinds thinks she makes the decisions. also i ll try making her jump from a stand still when she stops, was pathetic as no amount of kicking could even get her to hop over them from a stand still grrr

to those who asked why she was in a kimblewick, she's been in it for a while now because believe it or not she used to take off with me and i had very little control jumping and with a pony who throws in last minute stops it wasn't much fun! also started with it for xc as she really was uncontrollable so then i used it for sj as well. her flatworks so much better now so i m sure she'd be better in a snaffle, will give that a go as well!

feel so much more positive now and cant wait to get her out jumping again to sort her out, thank you so much everyone really really appreciate it!!
 
All I can say is have some faith in yourself and really go out there and give it a go. You seem tense but you ride well, so overcome those fears and get out there and enjoy it - the round was lovely.
You can do it hun
x
 
I can only help with my experience. Pony who came to 3 of us. Was ridden hard and not treated the best(stupid little children)
Threw in the towel completely.
Now he is the 2nd/3rd horse in terms of importance, rarely competed. I also made jumping fun, doing one class at a show are most, stopping and treating after jumps at home. It may seem silly but fooling around, doing loads of other stuff and no pressure he only occasionally stops, v. rare indeed.
Maybe take the pressure off? Only enter one class. She has learnt to do this. I also used the theory of a smack when he did stop, and he was going over
 
thanks both of you!

GabbY8tIa- i know, i can definately see the tension myself lol was definately made worse by how bad she'd been previously and i was trying so hard to get the damn pony over the silly jumps lol not really an excuse though i know! hehe

TripleSandH- will definately take on board what you've said, will try and make things fun without any pressure although i dont think she's put off by pressure as any jumping comp to me is treated as a schooling session and particularly at the moment we're only doing one class and its only tiny jumps lol
 
First the positives;
1. You have a lovely, elegant and quiet position.
2. Pony looks sound, fine, not unhappy.
Now the negatives
1. Although your position is very correct, it seems a little er...decorative rather than functional....would be nice to see some strong leg aids/a smack for the refusal.
2. The sound was poor, but I could swear I heard Pony chuckling as it stopped...I heard it whisper to its mates at the end 'She's not really serious...if I stop she doesn't care...and I think she expects me to anyway... I'll jump when I'M ready!'
You need to ride her more positively forward as she doesn't look in front of your (decoratively still) leg. Give her a smack with a whip if necessary. Consider galloping her as a warm up as she looks half asleep.
Cute pony, nice rider....but you both need to do more!
S
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lol shilasdair!! what you've said is so very true! will try and ride her from now on rather than sitting on her! hehe thanks for the comments!
 
To be honest, you remind me of my friend. She wins a lot with her boy...but every time she goes to a SJ comp, she sits there like an ornament til he refuses the first fence....THEN she starts riding him...but of course has lost.
I've tried to persuade her to ride him BEFORE the first refusal...but she hasn't quite got it yet, LOL!
I'm sure you'll sort little smug Miss Cinders out so your poor camera man isn't 'clicking' himself to death on your behalf!
Take care
S
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pmsl!! dad had the nerve to say to be afterwards that all his clicking made cinds jump! *rolls eyes* and yes i do sound like your friend lol has always been my down fall with horses as i m naturally a sort of person who gives in to keep the peace so when bossy little cinds comes along, she's won the battle before i ve ever started fighting! lol never mind, in 10yrs time we might have sorted things hehe
 
Equal rights for riders!
I think little Miss Cinders is quite a cunning, clever little madame...she could write a few books on 'How to train your human'.
Fight back, before she takes over the world.
And gag your dad.
S
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