how do you jump a horse that wont jump?

[TheHoglet]

i realy want to start jumping when the wether gets nicer my mam says that i can learn on her show jumper but i realy want to learn on my pony but he just wont do it!!
i'm not a very confidant rider (we have just sort of getin the hang of cantering) and you realy have to push skittles to make him go and i get to nervous. i know he can jump because he has won jumping classes and xc clear rounds with mam. when i take him over a jump he just lolops up to it and knoks it over then other times he gets carried away and A) jumps 4ft over an 18" jump or B) goes mental galoping uncontrolably round th feild. once or twice i have managed to get him to trot up to a jump and jump it aceptably but then my position is awfull and i pich foward all the time!

so if any one has any ideas/coments/suggestions please let me know!!

[horse__obsessed]

Not very useful, but you could always learn on your mums Showjumper and then jump your pony when you have a bit more experience.

[*Sez*]

If you're feeling nervous, then your pony will pick up on that and will feel nervy himself. Have you tried trotting poles? They are the best way to learn to jump. I learnt by positioning myself correctly for a jump as we went over the pole, and once I was comfortable doing that at a trot and my timing was good, put one end of the pole up a few inches. Your pony will have to pick his feet up higher and stretch a little to get over the pole. Don't forget to use the jumping position as you go over, and give with your hands.

When you feel confident doing that (and it may take a while- give yourself time), prop up both ends of the pole, so that the whole thing is raised a few inches off the floor. Your pony might percieve this as being much bigger than the pole half propped up and cat-leap over it. Just be prepared with your jump position and be careful not to catch his mouth. Eventually, you'll feel confident enough to move on to slightly bigger jumps, raising them as your confidence grows. Your horse needs to trust you to keep him safe, and if you're nervous then he will think "well if you're not sure it's safe, how can I trust that it is?"

[TheHoglet]

~bump~

[Ross]

I think it would be a good idea to learn on your Mum's show jumper - then at least one of you is confident :) Then once you're happy and balanced you can teach your pony. But there's a lot to be said for learning on something that knows the job - otherwise you're both trying to learn at once, and that's normally a recipe for disaster.

In the meantime, with your pony, start off with a couple of poles just lying around in the school (not in a line or anything) and every so often make your circles or serpentines or whatever go over them, preferably at walk, trot and canter. Once he learns that that's not really all that exciting, move on to proper trotting poles, in a line. Then once that's going well, you can change the last trotting pole to a cross pole.. and before you know it oyu're jumping :)

Ross

[sallymallett]

If you are nervous and are not confident in your position then i would suggest many transitions and i mean many - around 50-100 per hour schooling - to get confidence in your pony that he is going to listen to your aids you will then find over time he listens to you when youtell him to jump. He sounds quite cheeky! If you have only just started cantering though i would perfect this before starting to jump.