Why do horses get excited by jumping?

[bluewhippet]

Hope you're not all going, d'uh? at me.

My horse is almost 10 and quite typically arab and highly strung. We are just starting to jump - he has never learnt before, not really having been ridden much since 4 y o.

He loves going fast and hacking and usually misbehaves in the school, although he is much better lately. He finds any jump quite an ordeal: tries to nap but then clears with an extra huge unseating leap until he is quite convinced that it's safe.

But as well as being scared he is very excited. Wants to race at the jumps, moves sideways etc, those tiny half-rears. Definitely not fear. He gets very het up by does seem to be enjoying himself. He clearly likes doing poles as well. They have made schooling a fun experience.

Jumping is such an unnatural activity, isn't it?. And my horse is a real coward as well. Just wondered if this is very standard behaviour - and why?

 

[caterpillar]

In most cases it is because the rider gets nervous/excited/forgets how to ride and just rushes/tenses up. If the rider stays calm, relaxed and effective the horse will normally be calm and relaxed.

 

[bluewhippet]

I don't think my behaviour is changed. We are only doing tiny jumps.

It's not that I am worried about his excitement: and it is definitely not fear, he makes his dislikes quite apparent! I just wondered why horses enjoy jumping - when it really is something so unnatural for them (or perhaps it's not - that's why I was asking...).

 

[Shantara]

Ned is the same! 10yr old Standardbred. He gets so excited when jumping with other horses and motorbikes around the corners! Rearing and leaping all over the place!
He's much better when he's alone, however!

 

[ladyt25]

I have actually learned that this 'excited' behaviour and rushing fences is actually a sign that the horse is nervous nd lacks confidence. I would certainly say that could be the case if he is napping and then over-jumping. This would scream that the horse does not feel balanced and is lacking in confidence so just wants to get to the other side as quickly as possible. It can be mis-read as them being excited. Of course, it COULD be yours is just excited, it's difficult to judge without seeing. I would consider some instruction if I were you so someone can assess your horse and his behaviour.

I say this with some experience having bought a 'jumping pony' when I was 16 - he had all the talent and had been BSJA'd since he was young (too youngin my opinion). However, i don't think he'd ever done the basic schooling and didn't know how to balance himself. If I knew then what I knew now and if I knew the people then that I know now i would have taken him back to basics and tried to conquer his nerves (don't know if we wouldhave succeeded). Unfortunately at the time, the only assistance I had was the more 'old school' type which for him did not work.

 

[Janah]

My boy loves jumping, something I've done very little of with him. If there are jumps up in the arena when I ride he will try to head towards them. This negates the me getting tense as I have no intention of jumping them!

 

[bluewhippet]

I have actually learned that this 'excited' behaviour and rushing fences is actually a sign that the horse is nervous nd lacks confidence. I would certainly say that could be the case if he is napping and then over-jumping. This would scream that the horse does not feel balanced and is lacking in confidence so just wants to get to the other side as quickly as possible. It can be mis-read as them being excited. Of course, it COULD be yours is just excited, it's difficult to judge without seeing. I would consider some instruction if I were you so someone can assess your horse and his behaviour.

I say this with some experience having bought a 'jumping pony' when I was 16 - he had all the talent and had been BSJA'd since he was young (too youngin my opinion). However, i don't think he'd ever done the basic schooling and didn't know how to balance himself. If I knew then what I knew now and if I knew the people then that I know now i would have taken him back to basics and tried to conquer his nerves (don't know if we wouldhave succeeded). Unfortunately at the time, the only assistance I had was the more 'old school' type which for him did not work.

This is how I would expect him to be. We do have instruction and he is much more balanced in flat work now - very proud of him actually.

If this is fear, which I would expect from him, he is just exhibiting it differently. We are taking it all very gently - i.e. have gone from 6 inches to 9 inches in about a month and before that were on poles until he could trot them normally.

I just do a few round of our tiny jumps - either before or after hacking - a couple of times a week. I have no ambitions in this area: just enjoy jumping small jumps myself and want him to be all round sort of horse (although he is with me forever now).

Is there more I could do to help him? Other than the transitions, circles etc, pole work, I do to get him working better generally? I have finally got a saddle that fits him and he is coming on brilliantly, after being very sore and tight and hollow backed from when I got him and before.

 

[Tuffles 23]

Hi i have 2 ponies who get very silly when a jump is put up but jumping is there job and they are very good at it so to get any sensible jumping we start with poles and grids and lots of it
my 2 get excited because they love there jumping so maybe your horsey has found something new and fun so keep at it and have fun .
also years ago a friend of mine had a 14.2 arab who could jump anything and won loads so you never know

 

[blackislegirl]

My chap was 8 when I bought him, had never done any jumping to my knowledge, and was wildly excited by it at first. We had several lessons where jumping one 12 inch cross pole would be followed by galloping round the field or arena several times. This was not great for my confidence but I never felt the pony was frightened. On the contrary, he was sweetly oblivious whenever he knocked anything down. He could leave a trail of collapsed jump wings and poles and not twitch a muscle. But all this was not good for my confidence.

Now, a couple of years and many lessons later, he is turning into a little star who can be exuberant when jumping but is always under control and is almost always really genuine and honest. We've done WHP and SJ and XC at 2 ft 3 inches And I feel confident enough to be contemplating 2 ft 6 inch classes on him as a goal for the coming season. At my age, after a break of 8 years from jumping anything much, that feels like progress.

So basically, I think the trick is to find a way of channelling the excitement and to get out and jump enough so that is becomes business as usual and not an enormously big deal. Good luck to the OP.

 

[mulledwhine]

I might be going against the grain here !!!! Is it because it is fun??!!

And when we stay on much love and affection is shown? So there fore reinforcing the good behaviour ?

I know I do, and have regretted getting sooo pleased, that happy jumper turned into a jumping fiend!!!

Just a thought

 

[Littlelegs]

I think in some cases, rushing through lack of confidence & balance can be mistaken for excitement. If the horse is also cat leaping everytime & has no basic schooling I'd assume that's the case with the odd exception.
Whereas if the horse had the schooling & balance to do the size fence your asking, I'd put it down to fun & real excitement.
Mines older now, but still gets excited at anything resembling a jump, if we leave them up in the field she's out in & she is having a mad half hour, its not unusual for her to jump them herself just for fun.

 

[Lintel]

Mine doesn't...
But then again I am very laid back with everything including jumping, have a complete *Lazy Arse*
We did abit of jumping today and Bailey's best effort had to be over a 2,6ft crosspole, bless him!

-Sometimes I wish I was Highly strung... I can send any horse to sleep

 

[Kiristamm]

I know my pony loves jumping. I turned him out in a field full of jumps. He jumped each one from both sides and then jumped out of the field.

 

[tallyho!]

It may surprise you that horses, are not natural jumpers.

As perhaps one of the less "springy" of the ungulate order, in the wild, they prefer to run around obstacles rather than jump them unlike their cousins the deer, who willingly fly over anything to get away from prey. That is not to say they will NOT jump over obstacles if forced to.

So, it's natural for a horse to get "excited" or perhaps that should be anxious! This is pushing a horse out of its comfort zone. So, unless this ability is taught, then developed, it will always have a high anxiety factor. Nowadays in breeders yards they are almost born jumping! The fear factor has gone.

If you are bringing a horse into it fresh, you have to see it from his point of view. It can be taught which is why there are good ways of teaching and bad ways. You have to take the fear factor out of it or you will always have evasion techniques like running out or stopping. Even those with natural tendencies will still need teaching to accept it as part of the course.

If you start scary big, it will always be big and scary no matter how hard you try and make the horse jump... It will nearly always end in a "you first" syndrome... and I have had enough to know how big is too big gauging on how many shoulder ops I have had

 

[Honey08]

Some horses love to run and to jump. Most good competition horses enjoy their job and "meet you half way" by taking you to a fence. Would you say 90% of show jumping and eventing horses that enjoy jumping are stressed?

 

[tallyho!]

Some horses love to run and to jump. Most good competition horses enjoy their job and "meet you half way" by taking you to a fence. Would you say 90% of show jumping and eventing horses that enjoy jumping are stressed?

No honey that is not what I am saying.

They do enjoy the job quite right. I have a fair few that do myself but also some that do not.

I am giving horses that don't a fair shot. It is hard to jump confidently, in balance with a decent bascule that allows you to land evenly and not hit anything. I am just saying that the 90% that do it, do it well and enjoy it. They have been taught well and find that once they know how, it's easy.

This is not the case all of time and we have to remember this or we could end up ruining the few that just need a bit more time to get their heads around it, do you see what I am saying?

 

[bluewhippet]

No honey that is not what I am saying.

They do enjoy the job quite right. I have a fair few that do myself but also some that do not.

I am giving horses that don't a fair shot. It is hard to jump confidently, in balance with a decent bascule that allows you to land evenly and not hit anything. I am just saying that the 90% that do it, do it well and enjoy it. They have been taught well and find that once they know how, it's easy.

This is not the case all of time and we have to remember this or we could end up ruining the few that just need a bit more time to get their heads around it, do you see what I am saying?

Thanks. That is what I was getting at: jumping seems highly unnatural to me, so odd that they should enjoy it. And I think Lady25 answered my question about excitement in my horse, and you have just echoed that. He is worried and trying to get it over with. So I should carry on being incredibly cautious and slow about the whole thing.

Strange that so many of them do seem to enjoy it though.

 

[be positive]

I am with Tallyho on this, a good competition horse should love its job, enjoying its jumping and doing everything confidently. It will have had plenty of preparation, education and probably been chosen for its natural ability in the first place.
A less able or inexperienced horse that rushes, cat jumps and gets excited is often stressed, not really understanding what it should be doing and often just tries to get it over with as fast as it can or resorts to stopping, napping or running out.

 

[VioletStripe]

No idea - my overgrown Connie just loves it! Only keep it small as he's still young but anything to do with poles he's utterly fascinated by xx

 

[Honey08]

Yes I see what you meant. At first I read it as ALL horses that rush and get excited are stressed and unhappy, which I disagree with. Now I read it as SOME are stressed if not trained properly, but those that have had the training (and some that haven't but are naturals) do enjoy it..

 

[tallyho!]

I guess the ones that enjoy it, know what to expect. That anxiety has gone, they know what to do and get one with it. I have one that is point and fire like that.

A few, never seem to "get it" do you know what I mean? I don't know why. Without knowing any history, we come across horses that just don't want to.

Like you say, back to basics. Cavalettis, grids, pole work, etc. Make it easy and the the confidence grows, push it too far, head blows... is a motto I seem to remember most from my jumping days.

 

[Littlelegs]

Tallyho I get what you mean its what I tried to get at myself, you just put it more eloquently.

 

[Waterborn]

Would you say that Cariad is stressed about it or enjoys it ?

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

 

[bluewhippet]

Tallyho I get what you mean its what I tried to get at myself, you just put it more eloquently.

Thanks. Littlelegs. I hate it when I get ignored when I give advice and then the op thanks someone else for the same thing! I somehow missed your post.

I think my horse is definitely a total unnatural at jumping temperamentally. But then so am I! Which is really why I want to be boringly slow about the whole thing. What I would like to end up with is a horse who is reliable over little jumps. Not after any flamboyance at all. At the moment he is quite terrifying over little jumps because he is so scared himself.

He does excel at going for very long fast and wonderful hacks in the woods, as he even went past two moving tractors today with very little hesitation.

 

[be positive]

Cariad looks like he is having fun, he is not rushing into the fence or launching himself over it just shaking his head after as if to say look what I can do. He is showing natural ability that with proper training should develop into a good jumping prospect.
He is also a Welsh pony they love to show off

 

[tallyho!]

Tallyho I get what you mean its what I tried to get at myself, you just put it more eloquently.

Sorry, should read posts before I reply shouldn't I...

 

[be positive]

Thanks. Littlelegs. I hate it when I get ignored when I give advice and then the op thanks someone else for the same thing! I somehow missed your post.

I think my horse is definitely a total unnatural at jumping temperamentally. But then so am I! Which is really why I want to be boringly slow about the whole thing. What I would like to end up with is a horse who is reliable over little jumps. Not after any flamboyance at all. At the moment he is quite terrifying over little jumps because he is so scared himself.

He does excel at going for very long fast and wonderful hacks in the woods, as he even went past two moving tractors today with very little hesitation.

I have worked with many that would be not the most natural or late starters to jumping and have found that doing a little almost every day, not over doing it but just making small jumps and pole work routine, can really help.
They become more relaxed, less stressed and excited and so does the rider. If you try this for a week then leave a week then another few days in a row you should really feel a difference as his confidence grows.
Arabs are very bright but sometimes find jumping more difficult, they often prefer natural xc fences finding them easier to jump off of a longer stride.

 

[bluewhippet]

I have worked with many that would be not the most natural or late starters to jumping and have found that doing a little almost every day, not over doing it but just making small jumps and pole work routine, can really help.
They become more relaxed, less stressed and excited and so does the rider. If you try this for a week then leave a week then another few days in a row you should really feel a difference as his confidence grows.
Arabs are very bright but sometimes find jumping more difficult, they often prefer natural xc fences finding them easier to jump off of a longer stride.

Thanks very much. That is what I am aiming for.

 

[Littlelegs]

Blue whippet- didn't mean it like that, tallyho did explain it better. someone else said a similar thing before I mentioned it anyway.

 

[brighteyes]

Would you say that Cariad is stressed about it or enjoys it ?

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

You have a Machno Carwyn pony? Legendary.