Over enthusiastic jumper - help needed!

[Tangerine]

Hi all - new to site today and looking for some help! Recently bought a wonderful 9 year old Dutch warm blood. Absolutely adores jumping and has loads of scope but gets completely over excited and charges at fences or dances sideways all the way up. He's had a sore mouth so has been in a happy mouth for a few weeks after having his teeth seen to which hasn't helped. Any thoughts on how to stop him rushing or what bit I could try next? Circles doesn't really help and he even rushes complicated grids if he's in the mood, relying on his scope to get him out of trouble!

[ashlingm]

sort him out with lots of flatwork using poles..once hes able to go over poles quietly then you can put up small jumps, only jump every now and again when doin flatwork (maybe once every ten mins) and do flat work around the jumps so he learns to calm down a bt around them.

[Tangerine]

Thanks - I will give it a try. He gets so bored doing flatwork - has the concentration levels of a gnat! But incoporating the odd small jump woudl help to keep him interested I'm sure

[HillBilly Rhaks]

Gridwork helps slow them down and concentrate on you :)
I also find that sitting still/not interfering helps with my man, it shows him that Im not getting excited - so why should he?
Not sure it works with every horse though :)

x

[Palomino Mare]

hi, my horse does this - did bsja far too young.

anyways, start with a long row of trotting poles (like 10) and then put a jump(wings) at the end of them - do not put the jump up yet - leave it as the last pole. only when he is calm doing these can you put a small cross pole up (this may take a few sessions).

the same excersize can be done no with canter poles - but keep the jump low.

grids would also help. i would forget about height atm, my horse can do 1m30 tracks with scope for 1m45 but i jump tiny baby poles as there is no point until he is slow and steady.

you could also set loads of jumps up and work around them- walk up to them and circle away, do serpentines through them extra. experiment and have fun!!

p.s. the first excersize i explained could also be done loose schooled - making him take care of himself and work it out for himself so that you are not doing the work for him. i also lunge with poles going round the circle which really gets him thinking.

good luck!

amz x

[vimto92]

I have a magazine with an article all about this soo... Ill type out the important bits and simplify.:p

Why horses rush fences:

Nerves - rushing and nervousness often fall into the same bracket
Lack of knowledge - your horse may be young, inexperienced or naturally excitable
The rider - rushing can be a reaction to rider excitement and/or nerves
A bad experience - the problem may be connected to a bad or frightening experience of jumping in the past
General health - jumping problems can be attributed to back, teeth and general health issues. It's always best to get your horse checked by a vet, equine dental technician or chiropracter.

JP Sheffield, an eventer suggests that if your horse is prone to rushing over poles, you should ask for downward transitions in between poles or after the last one, it may take time but its a good exercise as it removes the horses anticipation to rush. Soften your hands as you move into the downward transition to avoid resistance and reward your horse before moving forwards.

Gridwork will boost confidence, help with striding, help with rhythm and will teach the horse to bascule effectively.

How to ride your grid:
1) You need 9 jumping poles (to make crosses), 10 jump wings and a helper to help with altering your grid.
2) Build your grid with 5 ground poles, 3 human strides apart, a bounce stride is usually 12ft.
3) Trot down the poles, concentrate on keeping the same rhythm all the way around the shcool, keep your lower leg forward to help with balance if they start to rush.
4) Once confident in trot, ride it in canter. Make sure its a good quality canter and flowing.If the horse revs up, dont be tempted to take your leg off, this means you arent "with" the horse and can lead to a stop or run-out. Keep your leg on to teach him not to rush, and and always reward.
5) Raise the last to a cross pole. Stay chilled and focused and if necessary ride a 20m circle before the grid to regain rhythm. Keep a light seat to encourage your horse to round. Keep your lines straight , look where your going.
6) Once you are confident with this, change the last fence to an upright, turn the third pole into a cross pole so its POLE, POLE, CROSSPOLE, POLE, UPRIGHT. Dont drop your contact as you land over any part, this will encourage the horse to rush because you arent supporting him. Don't tip forwards on the way to the grid, as your horse will think "FAST!"
7) Finally you can build up different parts of the grid to suit your horses ability and what he can cope with. Keep him short and collected.

ETA: Lungeing and long reining can help settle your horse and help them find their own stride. Can make them focus on your other aids such as voice and body language.
Lateral work will gain there attention especially if they have a short attention span, it will supple the poll, neck and back.

[dilaika]

one thing is to is to keep switching it up so that he can't anticipate things, for certain horses anticipation is the root of all evil, lol. If you're doing the same jump, come at it from different approaches and different directions, one time halt before, one time after, etc.

I agree with trying it over poles, but again don't let him get bored

You also might consider your position...if I sit back to slow Chester, he gets faster, he collects and listens to me much more easily if I stay up (back issues..but also a style thing)

One excercise that is similar to what someone else suggested is to work with a long line. You need help on this one...set up standards for a long line of jumps (maybe 6) with between 1-3 strides in between. Put a pole in each, just trot and so on. However, instead of putting them up in order or at the same time, keep switching it up. Maybe start with a x-rail at the end or the beginning, maybe once in the middle, maybe next the 1st and 3rd...you get the idea. You can keep the poles on the ground or take them out...just keep switching it up, making him learn that things will change and he has to pay attention to what he is doing.

[Tangerine]

Hi All,

Thanks so much for help so far! Got lots to do haven't I! Any thoughts on bits?

Thanks!!

[dilaika]

Depends on how he goes and what he's used to, as well as how quiet your hands are...Chester (who seems similar to your guy in certain...speedy...ways) goes in a slow-twist snaffle, occasionally a corkscrew (particularly for shows), but due to previous experience he has a hard mouth, and doesn't like a lot of pulling, so I need that strength to give him a check every once in a while.

[helenc]

Hi All,

Thanks so much for help so far! Got lots to do haven't I! Any thoughts on bits?

Thanks!!

Whats he in now? What does he do to evade the bit? Is he putting his heap up or down or is he tensing his neck & ignoring you?

[Tangerine]

He's been in a simple happy mouth snaffle til this weekend when I tried a straight bar Happy Mouth Dutch gag. He was brill. Did a double with small cross and three strides to an oxer which we finished at 1.30 with no rushing to speak of! He seemed to really enjoy himself too!

To answer the other question he has tended to shoot his head really high in the air giving me limited stopping power! The gag did seem to help with that. I was also on my own though too - the other times other people were jumping and we were going in turns - perhaps he didn't appreciate the standing around!

Going to stick to grids and the gag for jumping for now and keep snaffle for flat work. What do you think?

[helenc]

Well I'm glad that things went well for you but personally I would get the basic schooling in place with the snaffle first & forget about jumping 1.30m until I had full control. Sometimes they can take exception to a stronger bit & start refusing which is the last thing you want. That's just me though - other people quite happily compete in strong bits without any problems at all but I always think that if you're in a strong bit & the horse starts charging again... where will you go from there? An even stronger bit? What happens when he starts charging again?

I think you've had some really good advice from people on here & none of it has been about changing the bit, it has been about changing his way of going :)

[Tangerine]

Thanks Helen. I do agree don't get me wrong. I do much more schooling than I do jumping. I was just pleased to have some control back and that he seemed so much happier. Going back to basics now I have some control with poles and small grids. I thought I might incorporate cavalettis into flat work occasionally too. My friend said this worked for her horse who had a tendancy to rush. She used them on figures of eight or one in each corner with poles to help stop her horse anticipating jumping.

[helenc]

Yes, good idea.

I didn't mean just flat schooling anyway - just because a horse is good on the flat doesn't mean he will be jumping. I meant schooling over fences, not just jumping but doing jumping exercises which it sounds like you are doing anyway.

Keep us informed

[k8_doran]

I just found this link via another post on the forum:

http://lorienstable.com/articles/jumping/200-rushing_jumps/

[CurlyWurlyRach]

I have 5 trot poles, a jump (upto 3ft) and then 5 trot poles. It has really helped to slow my headstrong girl and now after 8 months of work she actually waits to be asked to canter and keeps a clear head, meaning she's brilliant to jump now.

When the jumps got bigger we had trot poles, a canter pole, jump, a canter pole and then trot poles.

[Tangerine]

Great! That all sounds really useful thanks all so much. That document also helps a lot with the diagrams etc. I'm moving him home soon (on livery at the mo) so I'll be able to do much more structured stuff instead of having to queue to get 30 mins in the arena with whatever poles they've left out!
Gosh this site is great - can't believe how helpful people are!