Xc issues

[showjumpingharry]

Bit of back ground, Pony is 13, I've had her on loan a year. Her actual owner has had her 10 years. She spent two years before I had her with a novice loaner and wasn't looked after very well. Her actual owner did everything with her and she was always placed or winning xc up to 90.

I can hack her alone and in company, she is fine. I've reschooled her on the flat, as any knowledge of schooling was pretty much non-existent. She is also absolutely fine to sj. Her owner always xc her in spurs, because she napped badly as a youngster. Last year we did two hunter trials, the first one she was fine at, the second one she tried to nap and it was quickly squashed and she was fine and flew after the 3rd or 4th fence. She was also xc schooled in between those two outings where she napped pretty badly both times. However, as soon as there is an atmosphere she reverts to the napping. Did it at her first ODE this year, with no schooling beforehand, and was eliminated. Went xc schooling a few days later, wearing spurs at suggestion of owner. Absolutely fine to leave my other horse who was being ridden in an arena at the venue, ride past another group of horses and onto course. Tried to nap a couple of times but very quickly got her through it. This weekend we went and did our first BE together (80) and she was fabulous until we went to warm up for xc. I had worn the spurs in the sj and she was lovely and relaxed and went clear. Xc warm up she was cow kicking and getting very wound up, leaping, spinning trying to go up etc. The last time she did this was riding club champs at Lincoln last sept, again where there was an atmosphere, in the warm up. Went out the start box fine, tried to nap after first fence but didn't get a chance to nap properly. She then took off and galloped everywhere, before flying down the hill and scaring herself at the fence, having three refusals. I had absolutely nothing when she took off, and she is ridden in a tom thumb and grackle (she goes best in a grackle so wears it for everything) and tom thumb is what I xc her in last year fine.

So I guess the issue is in the past she has napped, and the solution was to gallop her at everything, so she doesn't get a chance to spin, but now she assumes that is how it's done. I've tried other bits in the past and she has a lot of scar tissue on her lips that she came to me with so now I'm not entirely sure where to go with this next, as she is fine to do everything else on grass, just not xc or anything with an atmosphere (previously done inter-hunt relay and been to David Broome a couple of times as well as competing locally so it's not like she isn't used to it).

TIA and cookies for anyone who made it this far

 

[be positive]

She sounds as if she has never learned to really enjoy xc, napping as a youngster was probably dealt with by putting on spurs rather than educating her properly, she then possibly got rushed everywhere to gain placings/ stop the napping and may have got up to 90 without ever really learning what it was all about or enjoying herself, the wins and placings are not always a reflection of real success and can be more due to luck than judgement leaving the pony in a state of confusion when a new rider gets on.

It seems that you are in a bit of pickle, pony has not been going well xc generally yet you are expecting her to get on with it and going to events without getting to the root of the issue which may be bad training but equally could be discomfort from tack or something physical that is worse when she gets lit up, lack of confidence often causes napping, rushing also goes hand in hand with that as they end up panicking when chased for the napping, vicious circle then continues unless something major is done to change the way they are ridden.

If she were here I would go back several steps, after doing checks to ensure she was physically ok, take her out schooling with another horse to make it fun, keep everything low key and treat her as if she was 4 not 13, I would do a few pairs hunter trials if possible, build up her good experiences and confidence and only enter a ODE once I felt she was genuinely ready rather than risk having a set back, it could take a couple of months or may take until next season to get her really established.

Some are best having a complete break from things they find stressful and just gradually introducing it little by little, others are best doing what they do enjoy or taking up new challenges they have no history of.

 

[showjumpingharry]

She sounds as if she has never learned to really enjoy xc, napping as a youngster was probably dealt with by putting on spurs rather than educating her properly, she then possibly got rushed everywhere to gain placings/ stop the napping and may have got up to 90 without ever really learning what it was all about or enjoying herself, the wins and placings are not always a reflection of real success and can be more due to luck than judgement leaving the pony in a state of confusion when a new rider gets on.

It seems that you are in a bit of pickle, pony has not been going well xc generally yet you are expecting her to get on with it and going to events without getting to the root of the issue which may be bad training but equally could be discomfort from tack or something physical that is worse when she gets lit up, lack of confidence often causes napping, rushing also goes hand in hand with that as they end up panicking when chased for the napping, vicious circle then continues unless something major is done to change the way they are ridden.

If she were here I would go back several steps, after doing checks to ensure she was physically ok, take her out schooling with another horse to make it fun, keep everything low key and treat her as if she was 4 not 13, I would do a few pairs hunter trials if possible, build up her good experiences and confidence and only enter a ODE once I felt she was genuinely ready rather than risk having a set back, it could take a couple of months or may take until next season to get her really established.

Some are best having a complete break from things they find stressful and just gradually introducing it little by little, others are best doing what they do enjoy or taking up new challenges they have no history of.

Thank you for replying, that’s my plan more the minute I think, she’s recently had back, saddle and teeth done as well as her yearly ‘mot’ so I think it’s not really a pain problem, but it’s how she’s learnt things. It’s just a massive shame as she is starting to show just how good she could be😕