At 17:32:46 on 14.02.10, Natasha wrote:
Thankyou Flicka for telling me to add this topic, anyway, my horse rocco was QUIRKY today, i had little jumps up in the menage and he refused them all, anyway i put a jumo up at a higher heigh (110cm) and he jumped it clear (he is only 13.2hh) first time! Tell us about your storiess

At 21:59:59 on 16.02.10, kibby wrote:
was at a practice day at the local jump club.. gave my horse a jump at a lower height to give her a warm up, she was an absolute shocker.. the person that was giving some instruction asked me to jump again, i said no thanks ill leave it till it gets bigger.. "what your going to wait till it gets bigger till you attempt to fix that" i said, well yea.. waited till it went up another two or three times, she jumped it without a fault.. the instructor wasnt impressed..

At 22:00:47 on 16.02.10, kibby wrote:
oh he is 13.2 jumping 1.10m.. wow!

At 10:51:42 on 17.02.10, Flicka wrote:
Ha ha that's brilliant. No, I find this really interesting as I was talking to an experienced show jumper the other day and she was telling me the story of a horse that she got really cheap as the people who had it originally and spent loads on it couldn't get on with it. She found that it would refuse small jumps but put up a big jump and it would go 'let me at it"!!! So with a rider who had the nerve to face big jumps it was a star and went on to partner a really well know British rider who did really well with it and then it went to another home in it's late teens and they did really well with it as well. Interesting though because someone else who wanted to jump at lower heights would have thought that it was a crap jumper and it would have been overlooked!! I wonder how many other horses with potential get passed by like this? I always love stories of quirky horses or horses that people look at and mark down for their conformation but it goes on to be a superstar! Bring on more stories!!

At 22:12:35 on 18.02.10, kibby wrote:
riding a quirky horse for my boss the other day, i was jumping him, took me three goes to get this bloody thing over a little cross, put all the jumps up 1.05m+ he jumped them all..

At 20:21:37 on 21.02.10, charlie wrote:
The pony I had was very quirky.. He wasnt much to look at when we had him, hardly had conformation to die for but turned out amazing. We rescued him, he was broken to harness at the age of 2 and really had no trust in humans at all. We brought him and everyone loved to say what a big mistake it was and how he'd never be ridden etc etc. Well, after gaining his trust i broke him in. We started jumping after quite while. he also stopped a lot at small fences funnily enough! we'd get eliminated left right and centre proving everyones points about how he'd never be any good. Eventually we reached a turning point and the rest is pretty much history! We won everywhere and he proved to be so scopey and very honest, we did all sorts together dressage, showing, xc.. and affiliated jumping. It took a while for him to go for anyone else though, he regularly bucked my friend off and wouldnt jump for other people. But he is extremely happy now in his new home, jumping round newcomers which i think is 1m for ponies? (correct me if i'm wrong!) I jumped him up to 1m10 at home, he was only 13.2hh :) He was the best £800 i ever spent, we proved so many people wrong and he was such a sweet pony. I love to see unconventional jumpers.. sorry about the little ramble, :P x

At 10:50:23 on 22.02.10, sophieandcallum wrote:
Hmm I think my pony invented the word quirky, he will jump pretty big jumps baring in mind he is a 13.3hh chunky highland! So jumps 1metre no problem at home, took him into a 50cm course and wouldn't jump any. He will not jump at competitions he will do broncos, spin, rear anything to not jump but out in the warm up arena will jump anything! The pony is a fool, so next show jumping we're doing lead rein class 30cm off the lead rein though:P we'll walk over them if we have to. Hopefully the mental block is gone then! Also my pony clears bigger jumps better he doesn't put the effort in if they are smaller than 70cm.

At 19:57:29 on 23.02.10, Hench Woman wrote:
my pony is VERY quirky. he jumps like a fool at competitions and never puts a foot wrong, try jumping him at home and he is a TERROR! :) thats how i like him though, makes my life WAY more interesting :)

At 18:58:22 on 31.03.10, KSeverson wrote:
I know a lot of horses that will refuse smaller jumps and then practically pull your arms out because they were so excited to jump something big. I noticed it a lot with an Oldenburg I used to work. He would mess around and buck whenever you asked him to jump little jumps, but as soon as you bumped them up to 1.20m and he would be the best behaved horse in the world. I think it's all a matter of keeping them thinking. The good ones will always wanted to work and be challenged, therefore the easy things will bore them and they'll start to act up.