Stop a horse rushing fences?

bnagrrl

How can I stop my horse rushing fences?

Today I set up a small x poles on the centre line. As soon as I turned her into it in trot she pulled me off the corner so we approached the fence almost sideways in canter. I've tried using placing poles but she jumps them as part of the fence :eek: If I try bring her back to trot she sticks her nose in the air and keeps going.

She loves jumping so I don't want to put her off, just rein in the excitement a bit

She's 9 years old, we ride in a bridle with no noseband and a hippus bit and an Albion Tzar GP. I really don't want to add a martingale or any other bits of tack if possible. All tack is recently fitted, she sees farrier regularly and hooves are perfect, teeth were done in January

TIA

Ave Sodalis

Have you tried weird and wonderful jumps? Try setting up a grid on the edge of the arena, close to the corner. Then, with varying distances between, make every jump in the grid different, even if they're different from normal jumps. Just make her think. You could also try an aframe, to get her straight into a jump. Also, make her trot, even if you have to circle half a dozen times. Have you approached off a circle before? Have you ever turned her out in an arena with jumps in it?
You could also try a slightly stronger bit for jumping, if you think you can use it effectively.

monflat

bnagrrl wrote: »

How can I stop my horse rushing fences?

Today I set up a small x poles on the centre line. As soon as I turned her into it in trot she pulled me off the corner so we approached the fence almost sideways in canter. I've tried using placing poles but she jumps them as part of the fence :eek: If I try bring her back to trot she sticks her nose in the air and keeps going.

She loves jumping so I don't want to put her off, just rein in the excitement a bit

She's 9 years old, we ride in a bridle with no noseband and a hippus bit and an Albion Tzar GP. I really don't want to add a martingale or any other bits of tack if possible. All tack is recently fitted, she sees farrier regularly and hooves are perfect, teeth were done in January

TIA

Ok from reading what you wrote
She pulled you ... and almost approached the fence sideways in canter.

If you ry bring her back to trot she sticks her nose in the air.

So really to be honest she is totally in control of you and if you were out hackin and saw her friend in a field would she stick her nose in the air turn sidewsys and head off in canter towards her friend ?

If I were you you need to go back to bssics.
She is totally evading you and will do what she wants anyways.

A martingale won't fix the problem at the moment but it may help save you a little bit.

But you need to work on your flatwork transitions etc
Whats her top line condition like I would presume she has plenty of muscle bulit up under her neck suggesting she evades the bit.

If you keep away from jumping and focus on obedience for few weeks however I would introduce poles around the arena make transitions over them .
Walk over a pole get her to stop.
U need her to stop when u ask not 3 strides after you ask.
Keep doin that with a lot of transitions.
Invest in a good coach as well id be workin to get her on the bit listening to you as you may as well be a flea on her back as she by sounds of it does not care if you are there or not.

monflat

monflat wrote: »

Ok from reading what you wrote
She pulled you ... and almost approached the fence sideways in canter.

If you ry bring her back to trot she sticks her nose in the air.

So really to be honest she is totally in control of you and if you were out hackin and saw her friend in a field would she stick her nose in the air turn sidewsys and head off in canter towards her friend ?

If I were you you need to go back to bssics.
She is totally evading you and will do what she wants anyways.

A martingale won't fix the problem at the moment but it may help save you a little bit.

But you need to work on your flatwork transitions etc
Whats her top line condition like I would presume she has plenty of muscle bulit up under her neck suggesting she evades the bit.

If you keep away from jumping and focus on obedience for few weeks however I would introduce poles around the arena make transitions over them .
Walk over a pole get her to stop.
U need her to stop when u ask not 3 strides after you ask.
Keep doin that with a lot of transitions.
Invest in a good coach as well id be workin to get her on the bit listening to you as you may as well be a flea on her back as she by sounds of it does not care if you are there or not.

Ok as we dont know her history you may need to tell us more.
No nose band is fine on a horse with obedience but a horse who evades the bit pokes head in the air and canters side ways its not really right.
You have given her miles of rope and she taking every bit of it.
She also may need some stability in her jaw as a supportive measure not as a " trap her mouth shut " measure

bnagrrl

sup_dude wrote: »

Have you tried weird and wonderful jumps? Try setting up a grid on the edge of the arena, close to the corner. Then, with varying distances between, make every jump in the grid different, even if they're different from normal jumps. Just make her think. You could also try an aframe, to get her straight into a jump. Also, make her trot, even if you have to circle half a dozen times. Have you approached off a circle before? Have you ever turned her out in an arena with jumps in it?
You could also try a slightly stronger bit for jumping, if you think you can use it effectively.

That's a good idea about the a frame. I will try that tomorrow. I have loose schooled her over fences before. She watches me set up the fences and will start over them before she is asked. I have circled her away from the fence but as soon as I ask again she will take off into it.

monflat wrote: »

Ok from reading what you wrote
She pulled you ... and almost approached the fence sideways in canter.

If you ry bring her back to trot she sticks her nose in the air.

So really to be honest she is totally in control of you and if you were out hackin and saw her friend in a field would she stick her nose in the air turn sidewsys and head off in canter towards her friend ?

If I were you you need to go back to bssics.
She is totally evading you and will do what she wants anyways.

A martingale won't fix the problem at the moment but it may help save you a little bit.

But you need to work on your flatwork transitions etc
Whats her top line condition like I would presume she has plenty of muscle bulit up under her neck suggesting she evades the bit.

Her top line is fine, she is in great condition. She is 9 but education wise she is more like a 4 year old. On the flat she is very relaxed, head down and moves into the bridle. She has good paces.

If you keep away from jumping and focus on obedience for few weeks however I would introduce poles around the arena make transitions over them .
Walk over a pole get her to stop.
U need her to stop when u ask not 3 strides after you ask.
Keep doin that with a lot of transitions.
Invest in a good coach as well id be workin to get her on the bit listening to you as you may as well be a flea on her back as she by sounds of it does not care if you are there or not.

monflat wrote: »

Ok as we dont know her history you may need to tell us more.
No nose band is fine on a horse with obedience but a horse who evades the bit pokes head in the air and canters side ways its not really right.
You have given her miles of rope and she taking every bit of it.
She also may need some stability in her jaw as a supportive measure not as a " trap her mouth shut " measure

History wise she was bred by a family and was broken by them and ridden by their son until I bought her 2 years ago. She has done mainly hacking and hunting with them. I have ridden her in the arena, hacked her and ridden in fields. She's fine in the fields, gallops when asked stops when asked etc she only gets over excited when jumps are brought into the mix. The reason I don't use a noseband is because the hippus bit recommends it. Because she is so green in her education I don't really want to be strapping her up etc. but would rather teach her the correct way to behave.

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated

TopJockey

bnagrrl wrote: »

How can I stop my horse rushing fences?

Today I set up a small x poles on the centre line. As soon as I turned her into it in trot she pulled me off the corner so we approached the fence almost sideways in canter. I've tried using placing poles but she jumps them as part of the fence :eek: If I try bring her back to trot she sticks her nose in the air and keeps going.

She loves jumping so I don't want to put her off, just rein in the excitement a bit

She's 9 years old, we ride in a bridle with no noseband and a hippus bit and an Albion Tzar GP. I really don't want to add a martingale or any other bits of tack if possible. All tack is recently fitted, she sees farrier regularly and hooves are perfect, teeth were done in January

TIA

My horse has this problem too I putting trotting poles I front of the fence and they only slowed him down for a while. Like ur horse he loves jumping. I use a 3 ring bit on him, and I started trotting him into jumps but his too strong to hold, in the I came off him and walk beside him to the jumps. A lot of bother I know! His slowly learning not to rush.

Ave Sodalis

bnagrrl wrote: »

That's a good idea about the a frame. I will try that tomorrow. I have loose schooled her over fences before. She watches me set up the fences and will start over them before she is asked. I have circled her away from the fence but as soon as I ask again she will take off into it.

How is she when loose schooled? Do you lead her into the first fence or run her around?
Do you circle her once and then go into it, or do you keep circling up the arena until the jump is part of the circle?

bnagrrl wrote: »

She has done mainly hacking and hunting with them.

Unfortunately, hunting has that affect on some horses I've found.

bnagrrl

sup_dude wrote: »

How is she when loose schooled? Do you lead her into the first fence or run her around?
Do you circle her once and then go into it, or do you keep circling up the arena until the jump is part of the circle?


Unfortunately, hunting has that affect on some horses I've found.

When she's loose schooled she will generally canter nicely to a fence until the last few strides then she puts the boot down and charges at it, usually doing a massive jump over the smallest fence. I've tried placing poles but she will jump them too with the fence. I've set up grids before but because she jumps the first in such an exaggerated way she gets the stride wrong for the second part so either has to bounce out of it or jam on the brakes, stick in a small stride and clamber over the second part. I don't lead her to the fence, she finds her own way. Say I would stand in the centre somewhere she will generally stay out on the track. If I make a clicking sound she'll start to move so I don't use a lunge whip that much. I have a schooling whip I use to change rein and this works well for her.

If I ride her to a fence and need to circle, I circle her away from the fence then approach again. I try to keep the circle biggish as she tends to fall in otherwise on the approach and will try rush again. So say if we're approaching down the centre line at C, I might have to circle her away in a ten metre circle, approach fence again and repeat etc etc until she's not rushing anymore. Hope that description makes sense!

mystika121

What has worked for me in the past is to set up about three cross pole fences (very small) at angles around the arena so they can be approached as part of a circle. Also, place on the ground a couple of poles, randomly - not as part of the fence. Do this before you mount.

When you bring the horse into the arena school as normal, as if you were doing a flat work session only. Try not to even think about jumping as sometimes this can transmit to the horse. When she is working quietly start to incorporate the poles on the ground. Trot one as if it wasn't there. Trot the next, etc. When she is settled with this, approach a cross pole as part of the circle. By approaching as part of a circle she won't have the space to build up speed and then by continuing on the circle she will need to re-balance herself. Go back to schooling and re-establish calmness. When she has settled, try the same again. Be happy with only a couple of fences to start and then build up.

Just to add, what I would be aiming for it to take the excitement out of jumping and make it seem a bit boring to her. Also, I would avoid grids and placing poles for the moment as sometimes the sight of a lot of poles can increase anxiety levels.

bnagrrl

Thanks mystika, that sounds like something we could easily incorporate

Ah_Yeah

I agree with what another poster said about working on the flat. She may ride nicely on the flat but you need to work on her listening to you. Do lots of transitions and keep her busy, I find horses find it hard to rush when they're busy. Work on a single pole and work on transitions before the pole - trot to walk, trot to halt, canter to walk etc. This will teach her that pole does not equal run.

Also using fences on a figure of eight/serpentine, gets you asking for transitions often and they need to be sharp.Start by placing poles on the ground, come in trot, and changing your reins. If you want to warm up you can do this exercise in canter, coming back to trot when changing the rein. Then move to cavaletti, then x poles - the sharp changes in direction keeps her busy and makes her think.

I found '101 schooling exercises for horse and rider' fantastic - I actually use the flatwork exercises as the basis for my jumping exercises. Just put poles/cavaletti/x poles in where it makes sense to do so