HELP NEEDED with scary fillers

ginger nut

ginger nut

New Member
Mar 2, 2008
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Warks
Hi

I have my horse Amber working nicely at home now at 2'9. Have set my jumps up with lots of different combinations, spreads etc but she is obviously used to my jumps now.

Did a show on Saturday where she was quite spooky over fillers. She refused 2 but jumped them fine second time round. On the last jump she freaked and we parted company OW!!!!! :rolleyes:

My problem is I could only enter the 2'6 once but i ideally needed to jump it twice. The warm up rounds have no fillers. :confused:

I am at the stage now where I would like to mix n match my venues a bit but need to stop the spooking.
ANY IDEAS APPRECIATED

Thanks
 
cant you show her the fillers before she jumps them? or really ride her forward if you now what fillers she doesnt like?
 
The more you take her the more she'll get used to seeing different things.. but in the meantime what we did is..

Instead of keep re-painting/building new fillers/walls etc we bought painters sheets that are very cheap from builders merchants, cut to size we wanted (about 60cm deep and about 3/4 the length of your poles or you can use 2 x shorter widths to cover a pole) and painted them with all manner of weird and wonderful shapes .. built the fences with a lower pole and hung the painted "fillers" over that.. perfect for desensitising.

If we discovered a particular "killer filler" at a venue we simply recreated it on the dust sheet.. next time out at that particular venue.. no problemo.. :)
 
We used Duvet covers - stapled to the top pole with a staple gun and wrapped securely around a ground pole to make sure they didn't flap. Didn't think of painting builders sheets!

The other thing you could try is buckets - I have no idea why horse don't like jumping them but they don't. Fill in the bit under the top pole with buckets stacked pyramid style. The pony club's "Bucket elminiation" race is also great for straighteness and control, but not height obviously.

Think outside the box - bushy hedge clippings, bits of tree (safe ones obviously!) I saw someone at our yard putting plastic chairs under an oxer - but thats a bit tall for me. As long as it is safe when (if!) the horse hits it then give it a go. But do be sure its safe. Nothing is worth wrecking their legs over. (Or falling off into...)
 
I got a big piece of cardboard and painted that as a filler, different colour scheme each side. I also got my chap jumping over his rugs laid on the floor held down by poles, bright blue plastic bags etc. etc. I didn't half get some funny looks from other liveries, but he now doesn't bat an eyelid at fillers or water trays etc. :) Just have to use a bit of imagination!
 
ginger nut said:
hi chels&&cleo, unfortunately humans are allowed to walk the course but our equine friends aren't :(
Click to expand...

If you walk the course and spot a filler that you think could be a problem make a consious effort to walk her past it before the bell rings. That's what i do.

And as far as stopping a refusal/run out make sure you hold her dead straight don't give her the oppurtunity to go either way and really really push her on. Use your voice as well i find that really helps for my MR.poof. :)
 
Just to show you that it really works!!!

Our first meeting with a water tray....
2206080011.jpg
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So used a plastic sheet I found lying around at the yard, and...
n533824271_682069_9487.jpg
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I found a new filler yesterday - traffic cones lying on thier sides under the pole. Our boy is pretty "filler proof" but even that had him backing off. Not too sure why - but we seems to have cracked it now. You might want to give it a go.
 
Some good advice being given here.

But on another note - at our centre, if competitors have an issue with some of our fillers (like they will have with the new ones that are being used tomorrow :rolleyes:) we suggest that they go in again HC (non competitive) - most places will let you do that if you ask. Certainly at our unaffiliated competitions our Judges will suggest it over the mike to you! And before the cynics say ... ahhh its just to get more cash ... we aren't like that ... there is nothing worse than seeing a horse and rider leave the arena, totally deflated, gutted and upset. You go home on a bad note, and thats not good for either the horse or the rider. We regularly have a couple of staff either side of a fence and behind the horse to keep it going forward and hopefully stopping a run out - without killing anyone!:p

I like Che's ideas of the traffic cones - gonna try that with a few spooky osses we have!
 
Oh ouch. That first picture is my life in slow motion. You have given me hope. Did you have any dangerous spooks in the field whilst practising???
 
emmathechief

That is my life in still...........ouch. Did your horse spook much in the field during practice.

really hurt my leg when i fell off last and haven't rode much since :(
 
my first jump was a few traffic cones with a branch balanced on top (mine and horses first!)

good to know we are on the way to jumping anything (not that we jump much yet sadly :()
 
:cool:Don't jump the fillers yet. Just do some flatwork with them near her, so she gets used to them. Or, practice and practice with great determination. You'll get over the spooks eventually. Of course as others have said, ride forward with courage and keep your mind focussed on the other side of the jump. Think about the take off, the landing. If you think about how your horse might spook, it will more likely spook.:)
 
ginger nut said:
That is my life in still...........ouch. Did your horse spook much in the field during practice.

really hurt my leg when i fell off last and haven't rode much since :(
Click to expand...

Hey ginger nut! Yes she did spook to start with and to start off we folded the blue sheet several times so it was no wider then 1 foot. Took her to have a look and warmed up around it. She is actually very brave and confident in the arena (at home) but like all horses she feels if I'm not confident and doubts herself.
Whatever you do, start small and go at it confidently. If you don't think your nerves can take it loose jump your horse instead. I find that if I see my girl can do it, it then gives me the confidence to do it with her!
Good luck, don't be put off by your previous injury. Believe in your horse and yourself. I'm not a good jumper by a long stretch but we are coming on together and that's what matters.

x
 
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