School Horse rushing at fences!

[lady ridealot]

Recently i have been riding a gorgeous horse belonging to the riding school, she is really sweet and quite forward going. When jumping her in an individual she was good as gold as there was only me and her, however after returning to the group lesson this week she was really starting to rush around!
When waiting our turn to jump the fence she was practically bolting so i had to circle her as the horse in front went! When we went she cantered normally at first and then as we approached the jump she started racing towards the fence... well i can sit her fine and she was clearing the jump, but she was taking off slightly early. The problem is that my instructor told me to still be urging her towards the fence (although shes such a lady she would take you over whatever!)
But i dont know how i can slow her down whilst still encouraging her forwards!?! Without just using the reins forcefully - as i dont want to hurt her mouth and she doesnt deserve it as she is so sweet but she is very strong! I know this can be solved by schooling but in a group lesson i cant circle her away or train her so is there anything I can do!?! Please help!!

Sorry it's a bit long!

Thankyou!

[galadriel]

Sounds like she's anxious in a group (also sounds like you've noticed that). And rushing the jumps will cause her to have a more shallow jump, less of a bascule--so she'll have to take off earlier and land further away. You commented on that too.

Since she's getting strong, and since you're not going to cure her anxiety, then you're going to have to use what you can to make her more balanced on the approach. This unfortunately may mean more with your hands, since a horse who's rushing with a hollowed back often is not sensitive to leg and seat aids.

What you can *try* is to distract her. Ask her to do a lot with every step: use lateral movements and make her concentrate (flex left & right; leg yield left & right; shoulder-in if you can, transitions; transitions within gaits {more collected/more forward}). If you can ease her anxiety by getting her to focus on her work, it may help.

As you're approaching the jump, if she starts rushing and throws her head up, then you can use rein--but not a solid pull. If you just lean, she'll lean right back and ignore you. Use repetitions of pull-release constantly. It may help to use both reins at the same time, to alternate reins, or to hold one rein more fixed while using pull-release on the other. This may help you get her somewhat more balanced and listening.

Rough situation to be in. Good luck.

[lady ridealot]

Thanks for your help i'll try your suggestions next lesson!! :)

[hometrotter]

Unfortunately some horses just don't like to jump. Perhaps they have had some bad experiences with being pulled on or sat on too hard or it's painful. It is sad when a horse who is a pleasure to ride in a flat class gets headstrong and bolts towards the jumps because you can just see they don't enjoy it. Either it is scary or painful to them. I would step back and just work on the flat and do some cavelleti poles and give the horse more time to trust me.



http://home.netcom.com/~tdmt/hometrotter

[lady ridealot]

Hometrotter - I dont think the problem is that she doesn't like to jump in general as in an individual she seems to enjoy it a lot more and her jumping is much more controlled. The problem is in the group lessons, unfourtunately i cant take time to school her and i cant restrict her to flatwork as she is a riding school horse who belongs to the yard, and is rode by other people as well as myself!

[JaniceH]

Just out of interest was this Tammi?

If it was, then even though I have never cantered her, she does tend to really really lean and pull on your arms, to keep her at the speed you want. For example, when trotting large, if I tried to keep the same tension on the reins the whole time, by the end of the circuit, I would be having to really hold tight onto the reins to stop her from going a lot faster. It was almost as if the tighter I held the harder she pulled. Carolyn taught me when she is like this to do lots of strong half halts with the reins only, a quick but strong squeeze (and the first one may have to be stronger than you think), then release, squeeze, release, then her ears will start listening to you again, and you will be back in control. Tammi does love jumping but is incredibly impatient and hates waiting for anything, she finds turning on the forehand awful for this reason and I know from seeing her jump, that she is often circled before her turn. She is terribly on the forehand, but try doing the half halt's as you start and then she will be listening to you. Tammi is not sensitive to seat aids, other than changes of direction, and leg aids, it depends on how much she is listening too you :D But have fun on her - she is lovely :D

[lady ridealot]

Janice - Well spotted! Yes i do mean Tammi! lol Thank you for the advice, it is nice to hear that its not just me who has this problem with her! She really is lovely and such fun to ride but she is just so strong and forward going, she just takes a bit of work to keep her controlled!
:) Thanks! :)

[hometrotter]

Hi again, I think I understand better now what you are saying. I used to ride a very forward thoroughbred mare who as soon as she got the jist of the lesson in her head she took "anticipation" to a new level and as soon as she knew it was her turn to do whatever instruction we were working on she would run into it. She sort of had the idea in her head that "I know what you want me to do, just let me do it and the faster the better because then I will be at the end of the line again!" I don't know how you can prevent that from happening when you are in a lesson where you are doing something "one at a time" except for half-halting and circling until you have the pace you want. Maybe you need a really BIG half-halt, you know elbows and shoulders back with leg on so she moves up from behind. Happily she is much better for you in an individual class with only you to concentrate on. That is where you will win her confidences. Another thing too that I notice about myself, is that when I am in a group working on an instruction (one at a time) I get a little competitive where I try harder and tense more because "everyone is watching". I know the horse picks up on that too. We sure do find out some interesting things about ourselves through the horses. She sounds like a wonderful school horse though because you will learn a lot on a smart lady like that.

[Still Falling]

It seems that your horse is expressing fear over fences which is causing him to rush over them. Horse tend to rush because they feel that it will all be over when they reach the over side of the jump.

To work on this you need to go back to basics. Jump only very small jumps with some gridwork included in it. The idea of putting poles in front of of small jump will encourage the horse to slow down and first think of what he is jumping before he jumps it!
This can be done ridden or whilst loose schooling.

It will take a while to re-boost your horses confidence and it may seem boring only jumping small/easy fences, but it is well worth it beacuse after a while you can be jumping better than before!

Remember that jumping is not about speed but about having fun!:D

[lady ridealot]

Hi ya again!

Hometrotter -

She sort of had the idea in her head that "I know what you want me to do, just let me do it and the faster the better because then I will be at the end of the line again!"

This sounds about right! lol - I was talking to my instructor and she joked, she likes to play with the little ponies! (Tammi is over 15 hands, im not certain how tall) And most of the other horses were smaller! he hee!

[DITZ]

I had the same problem with mine in group lessons. In the end I gave up with the group lessons. It just seemed alot of money to spend getting nowhere. I came to the conclusion he is nappy with other horses and quite frankly at the moment I have no intention of doing any competition that involves sharing the arena with 4 other horses so I dont see any need to educate him in the finer points of sharing!

Personally if I were you I would have a private lesson maybe half as often as the group one if money doesnt permit. You'll get far more out of a private lesson anyway!

[lady ridealot]

Hey Ditz - as i ride at least once a week I am planning to have one lesson, every three lessons as an individual. However it's quite dificult as the instructors are usually quite busy and its hard to find time!But i do find i get a lot more out of an individual especially as the horse concentrates more, makes my job a bit easier lol!

[DITZ]

exactly. you spend so much time in a group lesson battling with a nappy horse that the quality of the lesson is really poor. I was paying £15 for 45 minutes private lesson and £25 for an hours jumping clinic in which I just looked like a prat whilst my horse charged around with neither of us learning a damn thing. Waste of money!