HumanBean
Member
I have a 5 year old who I’m trying to produce for low level eventing (BE90/100). He’s got all the attributes to do this well and I believe I can overcome this issue we are having but just looking for some approaches that I’ve maybe not thought of!
Firstly I’d like to mention that he is an absolute saint when it comes to showjumping and XC schooling, I’ve shown him all the scariest fillers, planks, water trays etc and he does not care at all! XC schooling he is fine too because generally we will warm up around the jumps so he has time to assess what’s in the field. He only has this problem when going into “unknown territory” and when he can’t see the jump in advance… (e.g a competition, or farm ride where the jumps are more spread out).
Basically what happens is he starts spooking and backing off about 10 strides out from any new obstacle - it’s almost like because he can’t quite see it up close yet he starts freaking out thinking it’s some weird object going to eat him. He grinds to a stop, eyes on stalks and threatens to spin and run off. We usually end up walking reluctantly towards it until he’s close enough to realise it’s a jump, where I pretty much hear him go “ohhh it’s just a jump, ok then!” and then depending where we are, we can jump it from a couple strides out, but most times we’ve lost all momentum/impulsion so we have to re-present and then he’s fine.
It essentially comes down to him not being brave enough yet to canter (or even trot) up to unfamiliar obstacles in open spaces, assess and jump them first time. It’s like he has to always “investigate” first and then he will jump it no problem. But obviously this is no good in a competition setting - I can’t physically make sure I’ve jumped every jump beforehand ?.
I’ve tried having a lead but he’s a very independent horse who doesn’t seem to really care what other horses are doing around him so it doesn’t make much difference.
So far all I can come up with is:
- just continue taking him to as many places as possible and just trot him confidently into new fields, through woods etc and expose him to loads of different jump types
- fun rides, he’s actually ok on fun rides because the jumps tend to be a bit more overgrown and less “stark” if that makes sense
- doing some small hunter trials and just miss out the scarier jumps (of course I will technically get eliminated but low key ones tend to allow you to continue regardless). My thinking here is I’d rather attempt half of the jumps and go “clear” than have a load of sticky jumps and stops. I’d rather him get into the habit of at least finishing/seeing the whole course
- take him hunting, this is an obvious one and I do plan on finding some meets this winter
Essentially I’d like to hear some ideas or maybe some success stories of horses like this who turned out okay - am I over reacting? Is this just normal green/young horse behaviour? Or is he destined to be a show jumper ?
Maybe I’m expecting too much of him too soon. I think I just get disheartened because I see all these pros taking their 4/5yos round BE events and going clear first time with these seemingly bold as brass horses ?
Firstly I’d like to mention that he is an absolute saint when it comes to showjumping and XC schooling, I’ve shown him all the scariest fillers, planks, water trays etc and he does not care at all! XC schooling he is fine too because generally we will warm up around the jumps so he has time to assess what’s in the field. He only has this problem when going into “unknown territory” and when he can’t see the jump in advance… (e.g a competition, or farm ride where the jumps are more spread out).
Basically what happens is he starts spooking and backing off about 10 strides out from any new obstacle - it’s almost like because he can’t quite see it up close yet he starts freaking out thinking it’s some weird object going to eat him. He grinds to a stop, eyes on stalks and threatens to spin and run off. We usually end up walking reluctantly towards it until he’s close enough to realise it’s a jump, where I pretty much hear him go “ohhh it’s just a jump, ok then!” and then depending where we are, we can jump it from a couple strides out, but most times we’ve lost all momentum/impulsion so we have to re-present and then he’s fine.
It essentially comes down to him not being brave enough yet to canter (or even trot) up to unfamiliar obstacles in open spaces, assess and jump them first time. It’s like he has to always “investigate” first and then he will jump it no problem. But obviously this is no good in a competition setting - I can’t physically make sure I’ve jumped every jump beforehand ?.
I’ve tried having a lead but he’s a very independent horse who doesn’t seem to really care what other horses are doing around him so it doesn’t make much difference.
So far all I can come up with is:
- just continue taking him to as many places as possible and just trot him confidently into new fields, through woods etc and expose him to loads of different jump types
- fun rides, he’s actually ok on fun rides because the jumps tend to be a bit more overgrown and less “stark” if that makes sense
- doing some small hunter trials and just miss out the scarier jumps (of course I will technically get eliminated but low key ones tend to allow you to continue regardless). My thinking here is I’d rather attempt half of the jumps and go “clear” than have a load of sticky jumps and stops. I’d rather him get into the habit of at least finishing/seeing the whole course
- take him hunting, this is an obvious one and I do plan on finding some meets this winter
Essentially I’d like to hear some ideas or maybe some success stories of horses like this who turned out okay - am I over reacting? Is this just normal green/young horse behaviour? Or is he destined to be a show jumper ?
Maybe I’m expecting too much of him too soon. I think I just get disheartened because I see all these pros taking their 4/5yos round BE events and going clear first time with these seemingly bold as brass horses ?
. I have weighed up all my options and have actually decided to send him to a pro (4* eventer) who has XC facilities at their yard so he can do a small bit of XC after every ride for a few weeks. I definitely agree that repetition is the answer - I'm hoping that if XC and seeing "new" jumps in a field just becomes a normal part of his routine, he'll soon realise it's fun (because he does find it fun once he gets going!) and hopefully get a bit more bold. It's going to be a fair investment but I hope worth it in the long run, I guess I've just accepted that I don't have the time/logistics/facilities to do what I need to do with him right now and there's no point sporadically trying to sort this issue out when it's probably something that a pro can resolve fairly quickly/easily! They also have lots of other horses working all the time so have asked if they can practice getting him going away from other horses (kind of simulating a competition environment) as a bonus! He's going in the next couple of weeks so I'm really excited to see what happens