At 10:12:04 on 10.10.10, EmandBlueX wrote:
hi i have a 13 yr old welsh sec D chestnut mare who is amzing at jumping but her previous owner just let her bolt at jumps, i have managed to slow her down alot, but she also as the tendancy to stop and/or run out of jumps and sh is still goeing so fast that if i fall off its a proper bad fall and genrally onto the jump and so i am very scared to jump higher or more complicated jumps and i do not know how to improve my confidence can anyone help in any way to eather stop her running out or to help work up my confidence. thanks x

At 21:59:17 on 10.10.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Grenville used to rush his jumps because before i got him he had raced over them so didn't know how to collect himself up at a canter and found galloping at them easier! I got him collected and slowed up with cavaletti and poles. I would set up a small cross jump and place 6 or 7 poles or cavaletti down with a bounce stride between in front and after the jump to give my horse something to think about and to keep him at a steady canter on the approach and landing of a fence. The cavaletti are just like raised poles which might be better because if your horse knocks them then they will probably do it better next time. Eventually we used less and less poles and now we start with one pole either side and take them away half way through our session and just jump a jump on its own. The good thing about this is you can jump any height with this method but you can't jump spreads because you need a longer stride but try it with uprights it has really helped alot of people on our yard (especially people with the ex racers) :) x

At 19:49:48 on 11.10.10, ToriSilverson wrote:
wait untill you get it perfect over the smaller more simple jumps before making them bigger and more complicated. but do push yourself a wee bit every now and then :) do lots of troting without stirrups too to deepen your seat and help you stay on if she refuses. jess's idea is a good one to work on :) and we always use "over or through" when we are jumping, so you do not allow them to go around the jump, or to turn away, they must go over the jump or through it. once you have this determined mindset u get less refusals

At 18:25:34 on 13.10.10, chica wrote:
Try circling her just before the jump if she is rushing the jump ,i know some people would say that that just teaches them to duck out of the jump but over the summer my friends and i were re-training a welsh cob mare (section D as well) and she would always rush the fence and doing a big canter circle before the jump seemed to calm her down or if you can't circle do a half halt a stride or two before the jump . PS This is the mare we were training

At 19:08:05 on 13.10.10, EmandBlueX wrote:
ok thanks guys i have tryed the circling thing before and it has helped and i will try the poles and raised poles as soon as i can, my friend told me no stirrups and thats what im doing at the mo and its definatly helping, im only jumping 2'3 or 2'6 at teh moment. thanks for the advise xxxxxx

At 22:00:41 on 13.10.10, kibby wrote:
a good thing to do also is set up a grid let her try to take it at her pace, dont interfere eventually she should realise its easier to go slower.. worked with my mare..

At 12:04:07 on 17.10.10, EmandBlueX wrote:
ok thanks