At 23:05:44 on 31.01.10, rowansophie wrote:
i have a very strong cob mare and when i jump she stops and i fly over her head, she is worse a shows. so i stoped jumoing over all so dont let ur mare take over make her know you are the boss and if she stops turn around and tryh again if she does it again dont be scared to keep trying and trying never givee up she may be hard work but she will give up. so remember ur the boss not her

At 08:55:19 on 05.02.10, Flicka wrote:
So, what are you saying. You did give up jumping her? Or you kept going and in the end you got her jumping again? Or did someone suggest that's what you should do-show her who's boss? Personally in a case like this I would definitely ask firstly if there are any pain issues-teeth, back. saddle, feet. Once I've rules those out I would then ask if I am the cause of the stopping- bad hands, getting in front of the movement, taking legs off, landing heavily after the jump, lacking confidence etc. Once I was pretty sure I wasn't the cause of the stopping either then I would go back to basics and start over low fences and get her confidence again. Maybe do some free schooling (although this isn't simply chasing a horse wildly over the jumps with a whip!) With some horses yes they are just testing you and you need to be more stubborn than they are but I would be very careful to rule the other things out first.

At 20:10:22 on 12.02.10, sophieandcallum wrote:
Agree with flicka, But I can vouch for a physically and mentally sound GELDING haha who will NOT jump at shows no matter how much he nearly throws me off noo NEVER! At home? of course he will he will jump 3ft9 with enthusiasm and gusto, shows? He will refuse point blank to go over a 2ft spread! I think you need a deep seat and good balance to stay on and keep at it. I have managed eventually to get him over a jump at shows after much persuation. Also in the warm up arena he will jump anything! In the actual ring...nothing! Is my pony too intelligent? Seriously he is out to embarass me! haha Oooh I love him:)

At 08:32:09 on 13.02.10, Flicka wrote:
Ha ha, that's really interesting!! I was watching a girl the other day at a competition and her horse was the same, just wouldn't jump in the ring. In this case I was pretty sure it associated going into the ring with something bad. Sometimes it can because they pick up on our change of nerves especially if they are sensitive. I have a horse just like you Sophie who won't jump in competition and embarrassed the hell out of me- but there are lots of possible reasons for that. But I do think when I first had him and didn't know so much I jumped him too much on hard ground which might have made him sore. Also I had bought him as a problem from an experienced rider and he couldn't take any pressure. He also doesn't like people clapping-so that was definitely the end of his competitive career!! Bummer!!

At 09:24:17 on 13.02.10, sophieandcallum wrote:
Yes I did begin to try and sort out the problem, first of all competitions I did lots of showing he did not find the atmosphere scary including doing big agricultural shows with rides and a huuuge amount of people. So it wasn't the people or clapping. I bought him as a 'naughty pony' so I did not over jump him as I needed to teach him to jump properly and I didn't want to lose his enthusiasm for jumping. And I am not nervous as competitions, I do it for fun so there is no need for nerves. So to be honest I'm slightly stumped I think I plan to rent out that certain indoor school and put up a course and MAKE him jump it, I think it's some kind of mental block. Goodness me don't they make life difficult for us haha!