What to do - advice please.

[speednut]

I need some help on what to do.......

I own a 7yr old ex-racehorse who I have had for 3yrs and have bought him on myself having bought him cheaply as a rescue case.
He is the loveliest horse to do and very easy in all ways so cannot fault him in that department.

I bought him on and started eventing him, he is never going to do Badminton but was placed at Intro and jumped clear round 3 PN's.
Our downfall is the SJ. He tends to tip the front rail off parallels but has now started stopping. I have had to retire him twice this year at PN as he was going no where and it is always at the spread fences. I have taken him low level SJ to get his confidence back but now he is saying "no" at intro aswell.

I have also ben doing dressage and he has 106BD points and has qualified for the novice and elementary winter regionals.

I can only afford 1 horse and want to event, my dilema is:

Do I sell him as a dressage horse even though it will break my heart
or
go back to the beginning with jumping to see if we can sort ourselves out.

Gut feeling is he is more suited to dressage and will never go novice BE but selling them is so hard!!

Advice and experienced please.

 

[dianchi]

I never understand why horses jump clear XC but cant sj??
have u tried just going to unaffil sj and practicing? also do u ride dif in sj? Sometimes eventers ride lovely frward xc rounds but then ride backwards in sj. If he can jump round xc dnt see any reason for not going round sj

 

[Sarah_Jane]

Difficult decision and difficult to advise without seeing the horse. I am presuming there is nothing physical and teeth, back and tack are ok.

Sounds like he is lacking confidence and in trying to make him more careful he he has lost his confidence. What does your trainer say?

I think my inclination would be to sell he has a good value as a dressage horse and why push him to do a discipline he is not enjoying. It is hard but it sounds like his talents lie elsewhere and if your passion is eventing then you are better getting something different. Go with your gut instinct.

 

[ESH_Jess]

[ QUOTE ]
I need some help on what to do.......

He tends to tip the front rail off parallels but has now started stopping. I have had to retire him twice this year at PN as he was going no where and it is always at the spread fences. I have taken him low level SJ to get his confidence back but now he is saying "no" at intro aswell.



[/ QUOTE ]


has he started stopping because he started hitting them?

 

[Daisychain]

before you dismiss him i would send him to a professional showjumper for a few days, and see if he does the same with them, if he is having the front rail could he be coming in to close to the fence? he then might be thinking he hasnt got enough power to jump over... just a thought.

 

[KatB]

Sounds like a confidence thing on his behalf. If he is having a front rail, it is normally due to the horse dithering about going or not and therefore getting too close and taking the frnt rail. Does he chip in at all? What is his technique like? Does he tuck up infront?

 

[Nosey]

Could he be a bit sore on his front feet? having to stretch out over oxers may make him less confident about landing?! Esp. as TB's often have thin little soles. Only a thougt as something similar happened to my TB but he was fine XC (suppose sometimes landings and take offs more prepapred XC, whilst some event SJ courses I found were a bit firm and didn't always have the best grass cover). Have you tried him on a surface?,.. and do you get the same problem? After trying loads of other things and getting nowhere mine came back fine after a break.

 

[MissDeMeena]

[ QUOTE ]
I never understand why horses jump clear XC but cant sj??

[/ QUOTE ]
SJing requires a whole different way of going, and therefore use of different muscles...


You say he's an ex-racehorse? have you had him looked at by a proper physio as there might be an old racing injury that is starting to hold him back/make jumping uncomfortable... I had an ex-racehorse to event last season who had a real panic attack about SJing and it turned out to be a torn (never to mend again properly) muscle in his shoulder, therefore he didn't like landing from fences.. however the season before when he first started eventing, he was fine.. these things take time to develope!!