[BoldRush]

Alright - so here's the deal.

I have an 8 year old thoroughbred gelding(yes, he raced) and he has been off for a bit. He has been back in work for close to a month now. On the flat he was going really well. Sometimes in the canter he would lean on my hands...but I would just pick him up and he'd be fine afterwards.

I did my first jump(small cross rail because we're bringing it back slow) about a week ago. He went amazing! And for not being jumped for 5 months, I was extremely proud. That was in the arena.

Now, tonight I took him over another cross rail, and then a small vertical(about 2'). We would trot in and half a stride before the jump he'd canter. He never did this before, and he's just coming back but I'm not blaming him. Haha! I set him up before and even ask over the fence for his lead, but he always lands opposite. No matter how hard my efforts were!! Bringing him back was nearly impossible. His mouth has become rock hard and I normally have a soft hand. After asking him to come back(which took awhile), he would do his excited trot. I bring him back to walk...ask for a canter, and wrong lead, AGAIN! And again, and again! I would always do many transitions inbetween.

I'm just so lost for what to do. I can't take this strong horse. He just grabs and goes. He is being ridden in a regular jointed hunter dee. He can NOT use a full cheek, not an option at all. I don't want to revert to using another bit, but if this doesn't improve soon...I don't know what to do?!

[PrettyLilPistol]

Why can't you ride him in the full cheek?

[JumpingBean]

Originally Posted by BoldRush

Alright - so here's the deal.

I have an 8 year old thoroughbred gelding(yes, he raced) and he has been off for a bit. He has been back in work for close to a month now. On the flat he was going really well. Sometimes in the canter he would lean on my hands...but I would just pick him up and he'd be fine afterwards.

I did my first jump(small cross rail because we're bringing it back slow) about a week ago. He went amazing! And for not being jumped for 5 months, I was extremely proud. That was in the arena.

Now, tonight I took him over another cross rail, and then a small vertical(about 2'). We would trot in and half a stride before the jump he'd canter. He never did this before, and he's just coming back but I'm not blaming him. Haha! I set him up before and even ask over the fence for his lead, but he always lands opposite. No matter how hard my efforts were!! Bringing him back was nearly impossible. His mouth has become rock hard and I normally have a soft hand. After asking him to come back(which took awhile), he would do his excited trot. I bring him back to walk...ask for a canter, and wrong lead, AGAIN! And again, and again! I would always do many transitions inbetween.

I'm just so lost for what to do. I can't take this strong horse. He just grabs and goes. He is being ridden in a regular jointed hunter dee. He can NOT use a full cheek, not an option at all. I don't want to revert to using another bit, but if this doesn't improve soon...I don't know what to do?!

Is the mouthpiece smooth or twisted? Why no full cheek?

If this were my horse, here are some things I might try:

* walk jumps. Set them low enough (a pole on the ground to start with, if necessary) that he can confidently walk up to them and step over them.

* trot up to the jump and then ask for a walk (give yourself enough space to get the walk before you reach the jump). Walk over and a few steps away before picking the trot back up.

* ride up to the jump, halt, proceed over the jump, and halt afterwards. Once you can do this, ride up to the jump and turn immediately after the jump, alternating sides.

* don't give him a long approach to a jump where he can think about the jump and get excited over it. Try gentle turns with a short straightaway to the jump.

* keep him busy on the approach. Ask for a shoulder-in on the approach, for example, and straighten him in time to jump squarely.

* check your own position. If I were riding a horse like this I would be especially careful to keep my upper body upright and not throw the reins away over the jump. You don't want to snatch him in the face eithr, but leaning/throwing the reins is telling him to do exactly what he's doing. One thing to try, if you can sit the trot well and not get in his way, is to try sitting the trot up to the jump, making sure that your upper body is upright, not tilted forward on your crotch.

The key is patience, and not letting him get away with his jitters. You may not be able to get him back or going quietly right away, but don't let up until it happens. Eventually even the most hard headed horse will realize that (a) they are not going anywhere after the jump, so better not get all revved up, and (b) they don't know which direction they will be turning, so they'd better look sharp and pay attention.

The goal of all my suggestions is to get his focus back on you, waiting for you to tell him where you are going. You are the leader and he is the follower. From reading you post, I would guess that the root of the problem is inattention to the rider. I can't say for sure since I can't stand by the ring and watch you.

[HunterQueen69]

You should probably work with him over ground poles before you jump him. Ground poles are the first step, then you can proceed to jumps. walk him over them, trot him over them, its hard to canter through them so I dont reccomend it. Take him slow. Most horse absoloutely love jumping. He probably does which it why he doesnt want to slow down after you go over a jump, hes just so excited. I suggest taking a step back with him on his training. Work with him with ground poles. Work with him on this for a while, then introduce small jumps when he responds to light aids going over the ground poles and he listens well to you when working with them.

Just do a lot of ground work with him, i work with off track TB's everyday, they need tons of ground work and need things to be taken slow because they are learning something new. Dont loose your patience and dont be pushing to jump so soon, the more you work with him before you start jumping, the better he will be and will behave and respond to you.

[BoldRush]

Thanks so much!

Full cheek - I have no idea what it was. I tried him in it once, and he would not bend, refused EVERYTHING. Put him back in his Dee, and he was fine. Also, before I purchased him, he was ridden in a corkscrew or full twist full cheek. He hated it, and was being claimed as being crazy strong. We went from a french link to that...so no, he wouldn't listen very well.

The bit I have on him now is just jointed. Plain mouth piece. It's just curved for comfort.

It's not before a jump that's the issue, it's after. I have done many things. He is awesome going up to it. No issues at all. Just that one half canter. He only did it once, and then he went fine coming in.

I have worked on ground poles, and still do. He's ready to jump, it's just the after I don't like. But I would like getting him back into what he does best.

And just for the record...he was never unsound...just on a rest period.

[htrjpr11]

I agree with hunter queen about the ground poles first and lots of flat work. circles, serpintines, and down transitions

Also When you do go to jumping put a ground pole 9ft in front of the jump and then 9ft after the jump this will make him shorten his stride up w/o you helping make him figure it out....Trust me he will

When he gets strong don't allow yourself to go strictly to your hands, make sure your leg stays on him (it takes more leg for a collected horse then an extended horse)

Another thing that works with the jumping is work the jump into a figure eight keep changing direction and don't ask for a flying change go back to a sitting trot then canter again

[JumpingBean]

Originally Posted by BoldRush

It's not before a jump that's the issue, it's after. I have done many things. He is awesome going up to it. No issues at all. Just that one half canter. He only did it once, and then he went fine coming in.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood the original post.