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Discussion on Hunt seat jumping
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Member:
Seraf
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Posted on Tuesday, Dec 12, 2006 - 8:07 pm:
My horse occasionally pulls or goes a little forward in front of the jumps. How do you fix this? Also has anyone ever seen a trainer catch the horse hard in the mouth with bit when he does this just prior to the jump. Is this good to do to the horse to train them to not pull?
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Member:
Canter
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Posted on Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 - 8:16 am:
Daniela, I don't think it's ever a good idea to slam a horse hard in the mouth with a bit, particularly if you want the horse to keep liking his job. This is likely an issue that is best addressed by going back to flatwork. Set up a "course" of poles that are laid on the ground. Work on responsiveness with your seat over these poles. So, for example, if you have 2 poles that are, say 6 strides apart, work on slowing the horse to fit 7 strides in, then perhaps eight. Then reverse and try to do 5 strides. Start at the trot and when the horse is adjustable at the trot, start working at the canter. When your horse is adjustable (again, from seat and leg) with the ground poles, raise the height to just a few inches, same excercises, slowly raising the height of the fences. At any time the horse starts to rush, take a step back until he is responding.
Also, check your position as you approach the fences...instead of letting the horse's jump lift you out of the saddle, are you anticipating by leaning forward or jumping ahead? Are you helping the horse balance himself before he gets to the fence or is he out of balance and trying to rush and catch up with himself before he takes the jump? How are your hands? Are you catching him in the mouth by mistake so he's rushing to get away from it? These are all things that should be considered as you look to fix the issue.
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Member:
Sswiley
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Posted on Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 - 10:35 am:
Sometimes horses rush because they dont feel balanced enough to jump that particular fence. Make sure you dont just spend you time slowing them down. Spend your time balancing them and giving them a gait with lots of impulsion. If a horse is nervous about getting over a fence(even a small one) they will add speed instead of impulsion. Slowing them down, especially with only the reins will only make them feel like they need more speed. It will also give them something to pull against which is another sign of them needing balance.
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Member:
Sswiley
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Posted on Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 - 10:37 am:
Also, a horse with more impulsion will jump bigger at first. Dont misinterprete this as him going too fast. He will learn how to clear the fence with an appropriate amount of energy with time.
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Member:
Maggienm
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Posted on Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 - 11:34 am:
This is exactly the issue I had with my mare.
Only it is fair to say she charged the jumps.
As Fran points out it is flat work where you fix this. it may sound odd but often when a horse pulls or overjumps it is because they are a bit anxious about the jump.
So, my objective was to give her confidence, and reteach her to listen to my aids.
I started with ground poles set for walking, for my mare this is where she needed to start, as soon as she saw the poles she would get 'ready'. I put standards up and also rode with my stirrups at jump length as all these factors affected her.
When I could walk her through with no change of pace, I adjusted the ground poles to trotting distance.
This next stage has taken quite a while. To make it more interesting for both of us I would incorporate figure 8's, poles on one side only, practice trot/walk transitions through the figures, just before the poles halt; take the 1/4 line coming out of the poles and leg yield down the long side.
Use your imagination, incorporate the poles into your routine. The goal is to be able to go over the trot poles at any time, posting, 2-point or sitting with no change of pace.
I made sure to use standards and at least some of the time keep my stirrups at jump length, (that was good for me).
Finally, when trot poles had lost all attraction, I crossed the poles at the lowest height. Much to my surprise she didn't react.
Side benefits to this are a much improved top line. Ground poles really encourage a horse to step under and raise their backs.
Also, all this work improved other problem areas, when I did ask for canter (on the long side) she was more relaxed, there was also a tremendous improvement in how she came back to trot and didn't take have the arena to get back a nice trot rhythm.
That was as far as we have got this year as now the weather is too cold to let the horse work up a sweat, so we are only doing walk work.
Oh, I would not bang/catch a horse in the mouth, all that will do is make her more anxious.
This was long, hope it all makes sense.
Lori
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Member:
Sjeys
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Posted on Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 - 1:57 pm:
I agree with Lori. I spent YEARS working with a hot, spooky horse who would rush jumps (usually the lower they were the worse he was) and *finally* I realized his hocks were bugging him. It was hard to see in his gaits and literally took years for me to see, but I guess he was a tough cookie. I felt bad, but he'd seen countless vets who told me he was fine. He never refused but would also rush, especially little crossrails. I too have found trot poles interspersed in an arena or in open space to be helpful.
Hitting a horse in the mouth at any time is a bad thing...how would you feel if someone hit you before you did something...would make you not want to do it...
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Member:
Seraf
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Posted on Wednesday, Dec 13, 2006 - 6:46 pm:
Hi,
Thanks so much for your advice. I've been riding huntseat for 10 years now and have never seen a trainer catch a horse in the mouth to stop rushing. I'm trying a new trainer for my green oldenburg. He is very large in size and stride but is really sweet and safe. He will sometimes go a little forward in the last stride to the jump especially if he is fresh or tense that day. She will catch him in the mouth if he does this and stop him. She did it so hard that he threw his head up and tore the noseband off with his martingale. I also ride with another trainer and the lesson after this was not great. He got very upset if you half halted to slow his pace near the jumps. Also this new trainer wants you to ride using a bearing rein which she describe as a short inside rein used against the neck in turning. Also, she wants you to ride with your wrists bent down and in. Are these correct ways to ride huntseat?
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Member:
Canter
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 14, 2006 - 7:54 am:
Daniela, I'm tempted to say, find a new trainer. From your post, it's fairly obvious that catching the horse in the mouth didn't get the response she had hoped for. Indeed, it just made him tense and upset. Your horse is green...the foundation for correct training should be laid down now or you will continue to have problems with him. As to riding with wrists bent down and in, this too is incorrect, if I'm picturing it right. Such a wrist makes for a very unforgiving, un-elastic hand and is also hard on the horses mouth.
Rushing fences is not uncommon...I strongly feel that when there's an issue, the best thing is to take a few steps back in training. In this case, that means working on the flat for a while until your horse responds to cues to go forward and to cues to slow down.
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Member:
sarahb47
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Posted on Monday, Dec 3, 2007 - 12:55 am:
I know this is an old thread but I wanted to add my two cents' worth.
A horse will rush because he's either anxious or unbalanced or both. There are many reasons why he could be anxious -- and one reason could be that he's been yanked in the mouth. This will NOT help, ever.
As Fran says, the answer is to ease off and work on solutions that focus on balance, relaxation and developing the horse's confidence. Flatwork, conditioning, and gymnastic grids can help with both balance and confidence. So can having a quiet, light, confident rider who can encourage the horse to make good decisions about his pace, rhythm, balance and jumping effort.
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