Too excited about jumping?

Wings

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Nov 3, 2005
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I was hoping to be able to take Misty to a showjumping competition this summer, but I am starting to think that will never happen. She seems to be too excited about jumping. She loves it, but she charges at the jumps and tries to gallop around the jumping paddock.

I had a jumping lesson with Misty yesterday, and it didn't go so well. I am ok with flatwork (Misty and I have done a lot of flatwork), but I am only just starting to learn how to jump. My instructor said Misty is probably not a good horse to learn how to jump on, because she isn't very steady. I have only done single jumps with her, not a course. I trot her at the jump, in a nice outline, which is fine. A few strides before the jump, she really speeds up, starts to canter, LEAPS over the jump and canters/gallops off after landing. I then struggle to get her back to a trot or controlled canter. Basically, we end up almost hitting the fence at the other side of the jumping paddock before I regain control. My instructor said I will probably never be able to do a course of jumps with her, because she gets so excited. She said it will take a very experienced rider years and years of training to get Misty to do a course of jumps in a controlled way.

My instructor and I tired different things yesterday. I tried circling Misty in front of the jumps, and jump it when she had calmed down. I tried turning her into the jump at a shorter distance, so she didn't have too much time to get excited. My instructor also changed the jump every time (different height, cross, vertical, some poles before the jump etc), so Misty would need to look at it a bit more.

One of the best riders at our yard has done a course of jumps with Misty, but apparently Misty was completely out of control, charguing at all the jumps and generally flying around the jumping paddock. This rider is very experienced and completely fearless. If she can't do it, I doubt I'll ever be able to.

Anyway, what do you guys think? Should I give up on jumping with Misty? Is there anything that can be done BY ME? Keep in mind that I am a very novice jumper, I've always focussed on flatwork. Misty is 13, so perhaps a bit old to change her ways? Is there anything I can do to calm her down a bit? I feel bad for Misty, because the only problem is that she loves jumping too much! She would never stop, and we could have a lot of fun jumping, if only she wouldn't get so over excited about it.
 
Unfortunately you will just have to persevere with her, circling her and only actually jumping when she is calm, it may take several weeks even months but there is no quick fix with horses:rolleyes:

Years ago I had the same problem with a mare, did just that and eventually we qualified for foxhunters at HOYS

good luck
Kath x
 
Dont be fooled in to thinking that rushing in to, or away from a fence means the horse is getting excited and therefore enjoying itself. Most often it is because the horse is nervous of jumping and the flight instinct kicks in.
 
I'm not really that experienced with anything,(so you don't have to listen to me), but how often do you jump with Misty? I rode a horse recently that hadn't cantered for ages, so everythime we cantered she would just buck and buck and buck, because she was so excited about it. If she's not been jumping for a while maybe it would become less exciting to Misty, and she would slow down a bit??
I was also going to suggest lunging Misty before riding, but if she's sensible during flatwork, then maybe not??
~GG~
 
My pony has a similar problem. with her though its shear excitement, she just adores jumping! although david makes a very good point that it may be flight instinct kicking in. how often do you jump? try schooling in your arena with wings and poles about, then they don't seem so alien/exciting to misty. maybe incorporate jumping a small crosspole every schooling session into your routien, that way if it is excitement thats causing the behaviour it becomes less of a big thing.

you can try the circling method, but i've seen this backfire big time, namely with my pony with my little sis on board. if you even dare suggest pony circles before a jump she's on her hind legs quick as a flash.
 
Good points, thanks.

I realise now that I don't actually know if it is excitement or fear that is causing the problems. I was assuming it was excitement, because she doesn't seem nervous and would never refuse a jump. How can I tell the difference?

Misty hasn't jumped often at all. Since I started riding her in November, this is only the 3rd time she has jumped. That might be part of the problem. I do often ride in the jumping paddock while the jumps are up; not a problem as long as we don't jump them. I will try incorporating the occasional jump in a flatwork session, that's a very good idea. Whether it's excitement or fear, that could show her that jumping really is no big deal.

The circling can backfire, you're right. I noticed that yesterday. Misty is such a quick learner. We did the circling-then-jump thing once, it worked fine. I tried to do it the second time, but she wasn't having any of it and bucked.
 
Could you get an experienced jumper to share her and work on her jumping? Someone who wants a 'project' for the summer?

How is she over ground poles? Lots of pole work and raised trotting poles might be something you could do with her with would help with both 'over excited' and 'terrified'. My only advice for telling the difference btw (I don't even jump yet!) would be looking at her ears - back would imply to me frightened while up and alert would perhaps just be excited? Just like hacking out - you can tell the difference between a spook shy and an 'I want to RUN' shy maybe jumping is the same sort of thing...

aj x
 
I have this problem too, the two RS horses I ride rush at the jumps and I'm just a beginner so I like a steady approach at trot or slow canter so I can time when the horse is going to jump. It ends up a mad dash with a huge leap over the fence and me unbalanced.

I feel like I get into a fight trying to desperately pull the horse back with the reins to slow it. Managed to circle outside today but indoor school is too small. I never thought about the horse rushing through being nervous before but perhaps they're picking up on my anxiety, although I think they like jumping too because they don't do it that often.

Any tips on how to slow the horse before a fence in a lesson when you're not going to be able to do any other work or schooling with it?
 
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I'd say take it back to trotting poles. My share pony loves jumping and can (and does) jump far bigger that I will with her (cos I'm a wimp with jumping). If I just want to pop a tiny X-pole from trot, she wants to do far bigger and better things, like canter into it and put in a big leap. She's not out-of-control and will pull up after she's jumped, but she does get a bit silly. I'm pretty sure it is excitement.

When this happens, I take her back to trotting poles. And at first, she's all silly about them, and tries to canter/jump them. But we keep going round until they get really rather boring and normal. Not such a fun thing to do after all, and no need to get all silly. So then I'll put the pole up to a tiny x-pole, so hardly any bigger than a pole on the ground, and that's not very exciting after all. In fact, we can trot into it and get over it without pretending it's 3'3'' :D If you have small blocks, very slightly raised trot poles are a nice intermediate if the change from trot poles on the floor to a X-pole is still too exciting.

Last time this 'getting silly about jumping' thing happened for me, I finished jumping once she'd worked out that she didn't need to be silly over jumps and cooled down. Then I stopped for a bit and just let her rest while I was talking to someone. I was about to get off when I saw that the little X-pole was still up, so I asked her to walk, turned her into it about 3 strides away, picked up trot and we went over it with no fuss at all. Sometimes I think I make too much of a fuss about it - I think circling in front of jumps only antagonises Gyp as she knows that the jump will come eventually so she anticipates it. I do think you can break your horses habit despite her age - it will just mean she's more likely to anticipate and second-guess you, cos she's wise and smart to all the methods we use on horses that get silly about jumping! It'll just take a bit of time and imagination! :D
 
Sounds quite similar to what i have with my mare (i also have a lack of steering when jumping) fortuantly for me when she gets to teh jump, she jumps beautifully. I am afraid what i do is...point...aim and fire! and hope to hell i'm still on afterwards. i've had my mare five years and I ride her constantly and proberly jump about once every two months. I think she has slowed down but i'm afraid its due to the huge arm muscles that I have developed from having her :)

Someone may have asked this but, what bit do you ride her in? with mine I have to ride in a standing martingale, with pelham and curb chain....snaffle has no effect what so ever.
 
Kyanya - Misty doesn't get excited about trotting poles. We can trot and canter over them nicely. I'll try slightly raising the trotting poles so that we actually get a little jump without her realising it. I will also try trotting poles before the jump again, because I think that slows her down as well.

Miska - I school in a snaffle, but switch to a Dutch gag (2nd hole) for jumping, as recommended by my instructor. She does respond the the bit, the problem is that I have to 'let go' a few strides before the jump and that's when she picks up speed.

Thanks for your advice everyone! I'll have to try some new things. Problem is I will need an assistant there so I don't have to keep hopping on and off to changes poles and jumps, but perhaps I can convince my boyfriend to help me out...
 
Have you tried Misty over trotting poles after she's jumped and got silly about it? Gypsy normally doesn't care about trotting poles, but if she's got silly about jumping, she will then get silly about trotting poles too!

Have you ever started your jumping session off with just plain trotting poles (so no reaction) and then gradually built up. That might be a good idea because you won't be jumping in from the deep end, and it'll give you a chance to see when the reaction changes.

Also, maybe don't throw you're contact away 2 strides before a jump. I know it's difficult to be accurate as a relative newcomer to the jumping lark (I'm no good at it), but just release as you get to the jump. Lengthen the contact slightly on the way to the jump, but don't completely lose it. If you are throwing the contact away, this could be off-putting for the horse, especially if you've been working in a contact. A horse will normally put a certain amount of weight in your hands if you have a contact (unless you have that elusive perfect self-carriage), so chucking away a contact will put the horse on the forehand and possibly unbalance the horse. Gradually lengthening the contact until the point of letting the horse have her head and neck over the jump would probably help the horse out a bit :)
 
drummer loves his jumping........just another thought to consider, but maybe he or she would behave differently going other a few jumps, drummer is certainly steadier doing a course to one random jump and the more he jumps that one jump the faster he tries to go :) but up a few more and you can instantly tell he has started thinking
 
Im glad other people have this problem.
If my mare gets exited, I try just trotting around the arena until Curlys calmed down enough to jump without galloping (it often doesnt work as shes chronically insane lol). It might be worth a try though.
good luck :)
 
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