Jumping - lifting feet too high

[maverick927]

This is probably a weird question as most people want their horses to lift their feet high going over a jump, but what happens if they lift their feet too high.

When Maverick jumps he has to wear a stud guard even though he doesn't wear studs. Maverick has worn his stud guard around 20 times and it is covered in huge gashes and at the moment I am currently nursing a 2 inch long cut where his leg was lifted so high that it actually missed the guard and he has basically ripped the skin.
Because of this problem I do not jump Maverick high but even when jump about 12 inches, he still hits the guard. i have attached a piccie at the bottom which shows how high he lifts his left leg.

Does anyone know anything that would make him stop this or anything that would give extra protection.

When show jumping we never knock polls down but Maverick does refuse as (I think) he is scared that he will hurt his tummy.

Can anyone shed any light?

[ggabby]

you may find that he is still jumping a little green if he is young,sorry cant remember how old he is. i would school him over small spreads this will get him to jump across and stretch rather then just jumping upwards. the idea of schooling over cross poles is to encourage the horse to get is legs up out of the way , so stick to verticals and paralles.
hope this is some help.

[andi42]

Though the picture you attached is very small... I think I might see the problem. He is, as you said, lifting his feet high... however, he is only lifting his FEET.. not his knees. He is pointing his forearms downwards and jerking his feet up underneath himself.. where you want his knees to jerk upwards, parralel to the ground. This is known as jumping over the shoulder, and this is most likely why he's refusing, too. It means that he is not rocking back onto his hindquarters and powerfing in an arc over the jump, but rather launching himself over (straight up, instead of the nice bascule you want.) I would suggest lots of gridwork to get him jerking his knees up.. he can't jump over his shoulder like it appears he is when you have three jumps in a row.. or he'll fall on his head! Please let me know if this is correct... I'm just going by the picture and it is very difficult to see. Good luck.

[maverick927]

thanks guys

i will try to do more gridwork, but it'll have to wait till the summer so i can get into the field again. i will try to do lots of parallels. i never thought of getting him to bascule more. i just like doing X poles.

thanks very much for your help
Gemma


P.S Maverick is 9 1/2 years old

[maverick927]

Here's another piccie and I can see what you mean by him only bending his knees, esp. from this pic.
http://berniesyard.homestead.com/files/gemmasmacXcou.jpg

[Kerri&Smarty]

Hiya Gemma and maverick!
i totally agree with andi42. U can really see it in the 2nd pic, the XC one. Aww poor maverick bless him :( He doesn't know any different, u will just have to try and help him with this one, it's pretty hard to change the way a horse jumps so hard work needed here! ;) If u tell ** instructor exactly what u want to work on (making him bascule over the fences and pulling his forelegs forward at the knee) then work on only that for a few lessons, it will be good having someone to watch him from the ground. U will get there! :)
I have attached a pic of me and smarty jumping, although smarty is not a perfect jumper, i thought it would be worth posting this pic to see the difference of the foreleg positon. We are also jumping a small spread which will help.

[rocketman]

I agree with Andi42. Gridwork should help. Also, set up some small bounce jumps to help him jump off his hocks more.

Does he get quick to his fences? Sometimes the horse approaches faster than his mind is thinking, so he doesn't allow himself time to get his knees up and jumps off the forehand.

If this is the case, the gridwork should help to slow him down and let his brain catch up with his body.

[tasha]

I have a friend whose £7500 horse does this-she thinks its a sign of a good jumper, I didnt!!

I have the opposite problem, Kally does not tuck up enough and because of this (and her speed!) knocks the jumps, although she never refuses. Anyone got any ideas? I'll attach a pic.

[Kerri&Smarty]

Tasha:
Again, gridwork will help get kally to snap her legs up neat. Lot's of bounce cross poles. Also, do u school over cross poles much or do u tend do jump uprights? Cross pole fences encourage the horse to tuck it's front legs up neat because of the higher sides. Try using them more when jump schooling if u don't already. Also, do u jump her in brushing boots? If u do, u may find it useful to try open fronted boots so that kally will feel the pole when she touches it down. With brushing boots she may not realsise that she has touched it. Like i said b4 changing the way a horse jumps is hard work but it can be done so keep at it and good luck! :D ;)

[tasha]

Smarty: I use open fronted boots for that very reason, but that pic is of XC and being a fine TB I feel that she should have more protection against solid fences.

I havent jumped for a while due to bucking problems, (and muddy ground!) but will keep that all in mind when I start again. Thanks v much!

[Kerri&Smarty]

Tasha:
Yes, i do agree with u about needing closed front boots 4 XC as he is a TB, that's true. Good that u do use them for show jumping though. I got some more info from a mag:

"Most front leg taps occur cos the rider is too keen to approach the fence, by going into jumping position too soon, moving your hand forward and letting your weight swing over the horses shoulder at the precise moment he wants to lift off. You need to ride more positively into a contact and holding it until take-off. As you jump, look up and wait for the horse's neck to come to your chest. A less keen approach from you will make it easier for the horse. You need to ride right up to the fence."

I don't know whether this is the answer to your problem as i haven't seen you riding. Do you have jumping lessons often? An instructor would be able to see whether u r actually a bit infront of your horse's movement. I have had this problem b4, getting in-front of the horse's movement, only slightly but i really noticed the difference when i sat down right until my horse's neck came up, felt like i was waiting too long and that i was going to get left behind but i wasn't, it also helped my horse come off of his forehand a bit more without my weight on his shoulders. I didn't realise that i was getting in-front of the movement at all, i was still in balance over the jump but it did effect my horses forehand.

I can't say whether this IS the problem or not, but just check with an instructor.
Good luck:)

[tasha]

Thanks Kerri! Dont think I do that though, as Kal's normal approach is JUMP!!! MUST GO FASTER!! so I'm just usually sat there trying to slow her down without interfering too much. Most of the time I get slightly left behind if anything!!!

Whereabouts in Hampshire are you? Im on the Hants/Surrey border, nr Guildford and Farnham.

[Kerri&Smarty]

Oh right! LOL:D Kally sounds exactly like smarty then! He also spots a jump then goes 100mph at it, i don't quite know how i used to get infront of his movement, maybe it was cos he goes so fast and i used to quickly get into jumping positon. LOL, don't know?!!
In that case, if kally's legs are left dangling and she approaches very fast, the problem is likely to be that she doesn't give herself enough time to tuck her front legs up cos she is going too fast. So, it would help if she approached slower so then she would have time to sort her front legs out. Hmm, now i know EXACTLY how u feel here, trying to get a horse who goes 100mph at a jump to SLOW down seems impossible, i haven't been able to slow smarty down much in the year and a half i have had him! :( But i have slowed him down a bit, he isn't quite as bad as he used to be, but he is still really fast on the approach. I have found that putting a pole on the floor around 9ft (that's for my 14.1hh so more as kally is bigger, maybe about 10-12ft) after the fence helps to keep their attension after the fence (does kally rush off after?). Also try putting 4 or more trotting poles in front (approx 4ft between) then leave about 12ft for a canter stride before the fence. This means that kally HAS to trot up then only take one canter stride. It sounds like u have no school to do these in, join the club i don't either :( but i do hire out one down the road every now and then. In the summer i use the field. It's hard to do all the gridwork without a school and some jumps! LOL. How old is Kally? Smarty is 11yrs but green as he was turned away for yrs b4 i had him and was also broken l8, so at 11yrs he is quite set in his ways, much harder to change things now.

Oh u don't live far from me at all then. Where exactly? I live in Fleet nr Farnham! :) Where is kally kept? I may know the yard? LOL! Smarty isn't kept at a livery, he's at a small private stables (not mine, i wish though!).

[maverick927]

We have had progress.

I've been working harder on trying to stop Maverick lifting his legs too high. I have been working over fur trees so it is a wide as it is high.
From the piccie you can see that he is stretching his front legs more which for me is great.

[happyhorse]

not sure if mine does it completely correct but i think he is more or less there after reading what people have said.

heres a picture hope it helps

[happyhorse]

aww its to big

[Cochise]

Hi Maverick, I agree with the spreads idea.
Just wondering do you ever use studs? Youchies if you have to! :(
I dont really have anything to add to Kerrí's suggestions, agree wholeheartedly :)

[maverick927]

i have never used studs. The damage done to his stud guard is terrible already, never mind with spikes on his shoes.

[Cochise]

lucky, I have to use studs for eventing in winter here, and sometimes showjumping if on a grass surface after a lot of rain, I really motor! He just has one on the outside of each shoe