Canter poles? Placing poles? You mean grid!

Ave Sodalis

Bit of a silly one that's not all that important in the scheme of things. I have a small problem with one of the ponies I ride and I can't think of what else to try, so I thought I'd ask here before I just accept it as it's the way he's going to be. The pony loves jumping. So much so that the odd time I take him anywhere, I have to pop him over a cross pole before we start warming up, because he then thinks he's there to jump and settles down (i.e. doesn't charge about the place like I just fed him a can of Redbull, he has a lot of energy). It's great for when you want to jump with him, however it means he doesn't go canter poles or placing poles. He thinks they're grids and will act as such. He's fine with walking and trotting poles (for the most part, raised trotting poles will also be treated as a grid... yup, he can shorten himself that much when he wants to). Canter and placing poles have always been a grid though. He's sharp enough that even if I go into canter a stride before them, he will still jump them all. I've placed them shorter than normal (but since he can jump trotting poles, it didn't work), and longer than normal (but he loved that and seemed delighted with himself after completing a full length of the arena with canter poles at 10ft apart... he's only 13hh so any wider would have thrown off the canter... if he had cantered). The same happens with placing poles before a jump. A single jump becomes a bounce. It doesn't matter if it's coming off the left rein or the right rein. It doesn't matter if there's a shoot going into it. It doesn't matter if he's full of beans or decides he doesn't want to work that day. It doesn't matter if I hold him back.

Although it doesn't matter hugely if he can do it or not, as he does trotting poles and can place himself to a jump well enough, I'm just wondering if anyone else has any more pointers or tips?

TG1

When I first got my mare she would jump a shadow on the ground if she saw it, poles were 4 foot fences in her eyes!
I just went right back to the start with her, I'd do a full flatwork session, have her tired out, then loosen my girth, point her towards the gate as if I was taking her out to walk her off and have a pole strategically placed on the way out. I did this a few times then moved it up to 3 poles along a diagnal on the way out. Then moved up to trotting over a single pole, still at the end while she was thinking finished, then put proper trotting poles up, then started working normal trotting poles into the sessions (this didn't work a few times so went back to end of session and then tried again a week later...) Then put a single pole down and started cantering it and over time worked up to placing poles. Every time she did it nice and easy she got a fuss made and given the rein. The whole thing took about 5 months to get her to a stage where the placing pole was not viewed as the ground line for the fence, and took a lot of patience as any time I moved up a step we would have a misunderstanding or an argument!
But the essence of it was find the point you're in control (in my case it was walking), use their habitual nature by giving all the clues that this is the end of a session and not time for fun and then patience, and lots of it!
I know it's not a quick fix, and my case was a bit more extreme so it may not work with your boy but it got us to where I could canter a circle over 4 poles without nearly being jumped off!!