XC schooling - we have a ditch issue

[Angua2]

Ru and I went XC schooling with a friend at the weekend, and we had a lot of fun round the baby course and the 2'6" jumps. Except.... we managed to frighten ourselves over a ditch.

We went with a lead and I rode positively and Ru misread the whole question and tried to step down into the ditch realised she couldn't panicked, shot back awkwardly unseating me, and then cat leaped. Sadly it meant I was totally and utterly unseated and in the few canter strides after the jump was thrown around like a rag doll until gravity took over and I hit the deck heavily on my left side..... all the bits the hit air didn't protect. Owwww. On the upside my poor neck that still isn't right from a fall in Feb was totally protected

Poor ru was totally freaked by it all and on representing put me neatly into the ditch. At which point I was feeling extremely battered and very very wobbily and called it a day with the ditch. We finished the session by popping over a coffin or two and some nice inviting tyres.

So in-light of the above I am on the first step of recovery by admitting we (as in both of us) are a bit (!) phased by the whole ditch thing. How on earth do I get past it or rather over it

And none painful suggestions please.

 

[Lolo]

Could you go armed with a lungeline, someone she likes, and some sweets and tempt her over on foot. And then with you on board with someone on foot, with a neckstrap to hold onto and the person leading her being mostly in control of her not turning away so you can hold the neck strap so if she leaps you'll be able to stick it.

And then just keep going like that until it's boring.

Smokey was really unimpressed, but once he understood it wasn't scary he was really happy and cocky about them.

 

[paddi22]

i'd get lunge ropes, a helper and a lungewhip (if needed). and just hop her inhand (with you on foot) over a few tiny ditches, and reward her when she does them. Keep it very easy and small and Get the horses confidence up. Keep them small till it's no longer an issue,

Then do the same thing with you on board holding mane or neckstrap.

 

[paddi22]

/\/\/\/ cross posted!

 

[dollymix]

If you've both lost nerve, you could do with borrowing a confident horse and confident rider and switching for a session. You jump the ditch on the confident horse to get your nerve back and then get a confident rider to jump the nervous horse (ideally following you and the brave horse).

Once you are both jumping the ditch confidently, switch back and pop over a few times yourself. Try to go back XC soon after and pop the ditches again. LOTS of praise when she jumps

 

[Gamebird]

If you finished jumping a couple of coffins (were they with bigger/smaller/nicer ditches?) then it may well be that ditches in general aren't the problem, more that specific ditch. I'd go back to the coffins you were happy with and break them down so that she (he?) Is just jumping the ditch element on its own. I'd try the scary ditch unmounted, as someone else suggested, too until she/he understands the question and isn't scared of it. It's a common problem but ytou should be able to sort it. Get help early on if possible before it becomes an 'issue' to either you or him/her.

Hope you're not too sore.

 

[Angua2]

Could you go armed with a lungeline, someone she likes, and some sweets and tempt her over on foot. And then with you on board with someone on foot, with a neckstrap to hold onto and the person leading her being mostly in control of her not turning away so you can hold the neck strap so if she leaps you'll be able to stick it.

And then just keep going like that until it's boring.

Smokey was really unimpressed, but once he understood it wasn't scary he was really happy and cocky about them.

i'd get lunge ropes, a helper and a lungewhip (if needed). and just hop her inhand (with you on foot) over a few tiny ditches, and reward her when she does them. Keep it very easy and small and Get the horses confidence up. Keep them small till it's no longer an issue,

Then do the same thing with you on board holding mane or neckstrap.

Right then two votes for the lunge rope scenario. I will give it a go, the ditches of doom at Berwick are not going to beat us *said in a small voice*

If you've both lost nerve, you could do with borrowing a confident horse and confident rider and switching for a session. You jump the ditch on the confident horse to get your nerve back and then get a confident rider to jump the nervous horse (ideally following you and the brave horse).

Once you are both jumping the ditch confidently, switch back and pop over a few times yourself. Try to go back XC soon after and pop the ditches again. LOTS of praise when she jumps

I like that thinking.. but .... and now I am making excuses.... the horse gets increadably arsey and upset (with a look of total betrayal) when others ride her and I really don't want her to break anyone else.

beginning to think I may need one of those new bondage contraptions that JFTD mentioned the other week to go with the BBP's

 

[Angua2]

If you finished jumping a couple of coffins (were they with bigger/smaller/nicer ditches?) then it may well be that ditches in general aren't the problem, more that specific ditch. I'd go back to the coffins you were happy with and break them down so that she (he?) Is just jumping the ditch element on its own. I'd try the scary ditch unmounted, as someone else suggested, too until she/he understands the question and isn't scared of it. It's a common problem but ytou should be able to sort it. Get help early on if possible before it becomes an 'issue' to either you or him/her.

Hope you're not too sore.

The coffins were the same width but shallower, the type she could step in and get out easily, the ditch of doom was about 2 foot deep.

I have to say it is a little bit of an issue already, but I am going to beat it, I have to, as I really really want to ride a low level ODE

As for sore...... I am finally getting full movement back in my wrist and thumb without too much discomfort

 

[dixie]

I have also found that getting off and letting them follow you over until its not an issue useful.

 

[Twiglet]

Who's issue was it before, yours or hers? Because I feel like when I talk about ditchy horses, I meet lots of ditchy riders (me included!).

Agree wholeheartedly with the leading over scenario, it's going to give her the confidence to work out how to tackle a ditch in her own balance without worrying about the rider. Just take it slowly and let her figure it all out and give her tons of praise for doing it well.

I am preaching what I hope to practice this evening....mine has never stopped as such but slows down gawping and throws in enormous leaps that keep unseating me, so I'm inevitably riding into the ditches with my heart in my mouth.

 

[Angua2]

I have also found that getting off and letting them follow you over until its not an issue useful.

We tried that after I had hit the deck the first time, but I was greeted with a flat refusal to budge and even go within 5 feet of the offending ditch and despite a demonstration by myself that it was actually doable (which was filmed by my friend as she thought it was hilarious) Ru wasn't having any of it

Who's issue was it before, yours or hers? Because I feel like when I talk about ditchy horses, I meet lots of ditchy riders (me included!).

Agree wholeheartedly with the leading over scenario, it's going to give her the confidence to work out how to tackle a ditch in her own balance without worrying about the rider. Just take it slowly and let her figure it all out and give her tons of praise for doing it well.

I am preaching what I hope to practice this evening....mine has never stopped as such but slows down gawping and throws in enormous leaps that keep unseating me, so I'm inevitably riding into the ditches with my heart in my mouth.

Twiglet, I think you are right, it may well be me followed swiftly on my heels by the girly. I lost my bottle on a XC course many moons ago (20+) as a kid, and it is only in the last 2 years that I have screwed up to courage to address it. It is just sometimes I don't know or have the tools to be able to even start to fix this. The thought of the rather large unseating jumps does worry me too. So you may be right about how much negative feed back I am giving without actually realising it.

I am NOT *stamps foot in emphasis* going to be beaten by a ditch that I can even jump over!!

 

[JFTDWS]

The ditch in question is deep and dark, in a gap in the trees and on sunny days you're jumping into / out of shade. It's not a particularly nice ditch and does cause a fair few issues for people, even though it's not wide.

Not that I have anything helpful to add.

 

[Angua2]

The ditch in question is deep and dark, in a gap in the trees and on sunny days you're jumping into / out of shade. It's not a particularly nice ditch and does cause a fair few issues for people, even though it's not wide.

Not that I have anything helpful to add.

LOL.....

I hadn't noticed that change in light! but your right it could I have just had a look at the course photos I took a couple of years back. The video doesn't seem to have differing light but it could just be the angle All I can say is thank god it is only a short way from the water and its terraces otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get back on.

thinking about it she has the same attitude about ditches in the forest, the only difference with those is I haven't fallen off (yet)!

Lunge lines and ditch desensitisation schooling here we come

 

[wildcard]

I recently had a few ditch issues with my young horse resulting in me ending up in it. totally my own fault but we ended up both feeling pretty miserabgle about ditches and not all that confident,

i got some black rubber matting out of my stable and put it in our arena like a ditch with white pole at either side to make it look similiar to a x country ditch. i lunged my mare over this in our arena somehwre which she new and was confortable with and we had lots of silly cat leaps, stag jumps and snorts but eventually she jumped it completely normally and i introduced a coffin scenario, made it into a trakener put things in it etc and by the end she was flying it so i jumped on board and having seen how her confidence had grown with it i rode much more possitively towards it with no problems at all.

few days later took her x country schooling to put it into practice and boom one confident rider at ditches resulted in one confident horse, jumped our first ditch at the weekend in area ode with no problems at all.

sometimes i think making it all very simple and relaxed takes away the pressure for both the horse and the rider!! Not sure if this will help but worth a try!!

 

[Angua2]

I recently had a few ditch issues with my young horse resulting in me ending up in it. totally my own fault but we ended up both feeling pretty miserabgle about ditches and not all that confident,

i got some black rubber matting out of my stable and put it in our arena like a ditch with white pole at either side to make it look similiar to a x country ditch. i lunged my mare over this in our arena somehwre which she new and was confortable with and we had lots of silly cat leaps, stag jumps and snorts but eventually she jumped it completely normally and i introduced a coffin scenario, made it into a trakener put things in it etc and by the end she was flying it so i jumped on board and having seen how her confidence had grown with it i rode much more possitively towards it with no problems at all.

few days later took her x country schooling to put it into practice and boom one confident rider at ditches resulted in one confident horse, jumped our first ditch at the weekend in area ode with no problems at all.

sometimes i think making it all very simple and relaxed takes away the pressure for both the horse and the rider!! Not sure if this will help but worth a try!!

This sounds similar to our situation - sitting in a ditch isn't much fun. I hadn't even thought about doing a mock-up - something simple I can do in the safety of the arena.

Thank you all. I am sitting her feeling far more positive and not alone. So many useful suggestions, all of which I am going to take on board and implement. I will report back with how it all goes

 

[hrimfaxi]

I was reading your original post thinking that it must have been a particular scary ditch... then you mentioned Berwick and I knew exactly what ditches you meant!

I think those are especially spooky ditches, very deep. I am not surprised that a bad experience there would put you both off. I would work on more friendly ditches for a while to build up confidence. Even at Berwick there are a few more, the coffin as you said, the one by the trakehner, one into the woods over the back and the little ones up by the small course.