Turning When Jumping

[Olivia&Archie]

My horse is pretty green and we have regular flatwork lessons and have improved immensely over the last year or so. He is 7 years old and we have taken things very slow (have had him since he was a yearling).

The only thing I am struggling with is jumping a course. Our flatwork seems to go out the window and steering becomes tricky!
If we are doing purely flatwork, he listens to my leg aids and moves off my leg nicely. When jumping, he almost seems to try cut corners and doesn’t listen to my inside leg and falls out through the shoulder?! I can only describe it as something like a “jump off” when it’s not necessary!!

He genuinely loves jumping and instantly lights up so I don’t feel this is an anxiety issue.

I am wondering if anyone has any bright ideas or experienced similar?
Thank you!

 

[neddy man]

Only put 2 jumps up in the arena when schooling, 1at B and one diagonally at X. Keep changing rein so that you jump at B in different directions and X can be jumped in either direction during a diagonal rein change. Take your time and don't overjump. Miss having a jump for a couple of circuits until he is listening, if you school for 20 minutes you might only jump 8 times so he doesn't get excited, a calm approach and patience will reap rewards.

 

[Olivia&Archie]

Only put 2 jumps up in the arena when schooling, 1at B and one diagonally at X. Keep changing rein so that you jump at B in different directions and X can be jumped in either direction during a diagonal rein change. Take your time and don't overjump. Miss having a jump for a couple of circuits until he is listening, if you school for 20 minutes you might only jump 8 times so he doesn't get excited, a calm approach and patience will reap rewards.

Thank you! I will give this a go!

 

[sbloom]

"Instantly lights up" can mean tension because of lack of balance. Even on HHO, over recent months especially, you'll see more comments like this about horses that apparently love their jumping. That excitement, speed etc is more likely a symptom of mild or more serious dysfunction and resultant stress than it is actually about some kind of pleasure.

Jumping a course is a huge test of balance, so that's where I'd look, and balance starts in walk, and so often with fundamental straightness which can only come from an ability to carry weight behind (flex the pelvis and joints), to not get stuck in one ribcage rotation and to be able to push up in front. It's more complex than that but I find it a really useful way to look at healthy movement.

 

[Olivia&Archie]

"Instantly lights up" can mean tension because of lack of balance. Even on HHO, over recent months especially, you'll see more comments like this about horses that apparently love their jumping. That excitement, speed etc is more likely a symptom of mild or more serious dysfunction and resultant stress than it is actually about some kind of pleasure.

Jumping a course is a huge test of balance, so that's where I'd look, and balance starts in walk, and so often with fundamental straightness which can only come from an ability to carry weight behind (flex the pelvis and joints), to not get stuck in one ribcage rotation and to be able to push up in front. It's more complex than that but I find it a really useful way to look at healthy movement.

Thank you. I did wonder whether balance was a big part of this. I will have a look at some thing we can do to improve his balance!

 

[sbloom]

Thank you. I did wonder whether balance was a big part of this. I will have a look at some thing we can do to improve his balance!

I bang on about it all the time but a great place to start is the Slow Walk Work group on FB, free and based on fundamental classical principles it's not reinventing the wheel but it IS user friendly and will get you looking at and thinking about things differently. Start with the featured posts and her free ebook.

When we just use exercises, arena patterns, to "fix" balance issues we are likely to be missing the fundamentals.

 

[millitiger]

2 things I would try.

You can practice a course and just have poles on the floor, rather than jumps.
Secondly, don't be afraid to put in transitions or circles when you are jumping a course. At this stage, your number 1 priority is education and long term ridability. So if you feel your inside leg is being ignored on a turn, pop a circle in until you get the feel you want and then carry on with the course. Same with transitions, if you feel he is just getting a little 'dull' to the aids, you can do a canter/trot/canter transition and again, repeat if needed or circle AND a transition.

 

[Olivia&Archie]

2 things I would try.

You can practice a course and just have poles on the floor, rather than jumps.
Secondly, don't be afraid to put in transitions or circles when you are jumping a course. At this stage, your number 1 priority is education and long term ridability. So if you feel your inside leg is being ignored on a turn, pop a circle in until you get the feel you want and then carry on with the course. Same with transitions, if you feel he is just getting a little 'dull' to the aids, you can do a canter/trot/canter transition and again, repeat if needed or circle AND a transition.

Thank you very much! Very useful and makes sense!

 

[Identityincrisis]

I would say this is definitely a balance issue, therefore expect it to take time to improve. I kept jumps small. Now my horse is stronger and more balanced (10 years old) i can adjust his pace which also helps, which came from improving flat work and him being able to take more weight behind. If you have no competitive aspirations, like me, then I think lots of variation of hacking (hills) Flatwork and jumping will get you there slowly but surely