At 15:13:04 on 30.09.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Well grenville has been back in jumping about 3 months now since his op last year and he was back up to jumping 1.10m courses which was great and he had never refused since i have had him because i am careful not to over jump him and he would rather knock a pole than refuse but he got his striding wrong last week and knocked the jump completely over and he came crashing to the ground with it, i stayed on and he was just shaken so i built the jump again, jumped it and ended on a good note. Monday i started as i always do, a small cross pole but as he came into it his stride was choppy and he wouldn't settle, he refused 5 times even at a trot, i put it as a pole on the floor and walked over it, trotted into it and he stopped dead and launched over it. Eventually after an hour i got him over (launch over from a walk) a single cavaletti set as a cross pole (about 10cm off the ground and 5cm from the ground in the middle!)... He lunges and free schools the big jumps fine and he is physically fine but when ridden it is like he has lost confidence over anything but he will take the logs in the woods fine. What is wrong with him? Any suggestions?

At 22:31:15 on 30.09.10, ToriSilverson wrote:
he seems like a very sensitive horse...so that fall would have really affected him. he probably jumps logs because it was the poles that "hit" him and he probably loose jumps because there is nothing but him and the jump, wheras when he fell it was you him and the jump. you could try gridwork and placing poles so that he is given the right place to take off...and jump him without reins. make the jumps really small and build them up bit by bit over time. you could aslo try lunging him over a jump qand then getting someone to lunge you and him over the jump...but leave everything to him, dont push on or collect let him decide. i think he has lost confidence in setting the stride for the jump. check his back aswell just incase the fall affected him

At 02:14:11 on 01.10.10, kibby wrote:
I would say its just a loss of confidence.. Give him a break from jumping for a few days. Then Start with all the poles on the ground, leave it at that for day 1. Day 2, start with the poleson the ground, just pretending like your schooling and these poles are in the way.. Ignore then, trot him over them like you dont notice them. If he feels alright set them up as low as posible, and again dont think about the jump think about whats on the otherside of the jump. I had a thing with ditches for ages, the best advice i got was ignore the dicth and think about riding away from it, the horse will sort the jump out.. Day 3, back on the ground, then if he feels alright lift one jump up again. keep starting each day with the poles on the ground and putting one or two up. once he can calmly jump on the lowest height take another few days off jumping, start again. Good luck :)

At 09:17:56 on 02.10.10, Natasha wrote:
You say he has started to suddenly stop? Same with mine but I now know that she didnt stop because she didnt know how to stop because she is only 4. So then she stopped at a filler, I dont know why though because I had taken her around courses with fillers in at nearly 4. But then she startet jumping again after, haha.

At 23:45:09 on 02.10.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Thanks for the help everyone he is ok again now. I gave him a few days of quiet hacking and took him over the indoor which is bigger to give him more time to balance himself for the jump. Seems he doesn't like jumping in new places he was refusing so i walked him over small crosses and poles and after an hour he was back to his bold self and in our outdoor where he normally schools he was jumping effortlessly again! He even took my younger cousin over her first ever jump today. You were right it was just confidence but i feel we have come out of this better than before because he really tries for me and i see i shouldn't expect too much performance wise but that we both need to trust each other to get through our confidence troubles. Thanks for helping me realise it wasn't him it was me haha (it usually is!) :)

At 00:39:10 on 03.10.10, ToriSilverson wrote:
thats good :)