My horse jumps fine at home but won't jump a thing out hunting any advice?

[Moscow_Flyer]

My horse will jump show jumps in our sand ring fine, no problems, but when i take him hunting he wont jump anything, he just goes up to the jump and gets slower and slower then stops, THIS ONLY HAPPENS OUT HUNTING. Please has someone got some advice, its almost like he just wont pick his feet up out hunting, PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE someone help, hes only a baby hes 5 and he used to be good but strangely hes stopped.

 

[nutkin]

are you getting a lead when hunting from a calm and more experienced horse? Have you tried to jump any of these fences when out hacking with him or is there some way you can recreate any of them at home in the school.

 

[bexj]

I don't have any experience of hunting, so forgive me if I am way off the mark, but do you think he could be scared of the fences? I would imagine that your typical school fence is poles and wings, with plenty of space for him to see what is on the other side, whereas I would imagine that hunting fences are a lot more solid - hedges, walls etc. HAve you x-c schooled him at all?

 

[horsecrazychick]

My horse used to do the same thing whenever she decided that a particular X-country jump was scary. Here's my advice...
Before you take your horse anywhere, get him used to all kinds of jumps. If you have access to trails/open fields, then set up logs and branches to jump, jump over natural ditches or bushes, jump anything that is jumpable and safe(make sure the landing side of the jump is clear and flat, as your horse needs more confidence right now and tripping after a jump won't help). Also try jumping uphill, downhill, into and out of shadows.

If the only place you can ride is an arena, that's still okay. Your horse probably knows that arena jumps will fall over when he hits them, which is why solid jumps scare him. So work on jumping jumps that look solid. Try draping tarps and blankets over verticals and oxers. When he's okay with that, add things that might make the jump look scary(trash bags, tinsel, even baloons, just make sure he can't get tangled up in any of it).

Also, I've never been hunting, but when I show I always enter classes w/ lower jumps than how high my horse and I school at home. While the horse is still green and learning, I don't concentrate on trying to win a ribbon, I focus on making sure the horse has a successful ride or learns from his mistakes so that he doesn't start to hate shows(even if it gets me eliminated, it's better than teaching the horse bad habits).

Hope that helps, good luck!

 

[crazystevie]

My horse is the opposite - very bold out hunting, won't refuse a thing. At home anything bigger than 2'9 and he won;t jump it without a lot of encouragement.

I would suggest doing some cross country fence schooling. In your sand school, get some old branches, logs etc. and mxi them in with your show jumps. Hay bales, although not a normal hunting fence, would help as they are solid, and would get him used to more solid fences. FInally, go out hacking with a calm horse, and get him used to some fences out hacking, when it is a much calmer environment.

 

[stellah]

I had terrible trouble with my five year old two, However it was with showjumping. Bear in mind they are only young and its a totally different experience than just popping over a few fences at home. Hunting especially can be daunting to a young horse as there quite alot of action going on and the fences don't look like the coloured ones that knock down eaily at home. I used to take my horse into the ring of 2ft jump and he wouldnt even go over the first one
As craziestevie said just practice at home and get your horse used to jumping different obstacles


StellaxXx

 

[crazystevie]

One way to get a horse used to jumping pretty much anything, is to build the scariest obstacle you can find. for example, plastic sheet filled with water with a pole over it. Obviosuly be prepared for spooks, and a tough time getting over it, but if you can get your hrose over a jump as scary as that, a log shouldn;t seem a problem. Murphy will jump anything because of training like that - he just has a problem with the height at home. Do things as well, such as leading over plastic sheets, and take him for walks around the woods, and get him used to seeing all these obstacles, as well as trying to jump them.

 

[fitz]

My sister had a pony who wasnt a fan of hunting either. She just found it overwhelming I think, and also refused to jump. She was much better at showjumping etc. Maybe just introduce it slowly. Dont whip the horse if he refuses, as it doesnt sound like he is being bold.

If you could go to a few meets, and just hack a short way with the hunt, going home before the serious jumping starts he might learn there is nothing to worry about.

Are you a Moscow Flyer fan? lets hope he rediscovers his form next week....

 

[carrimclaren]

for example, plastic sheet filled with water with a pole over it. Obviosuly be prepared for spooks, and a tough time getting over it, but if you can get your hrose over a jump as scary as that, QUOTE]

See, a couple of kids on the yard took the mickey out of me when i made my mare do this so i'm glad to hear that i'm really not that stupid after all Took me being carted off down the other end of the school, spooking several times and snorting like a muppet but we managed to get over our homemade ditch. Shame we can't get over the real ones just as well


Would agree with bexj on this. Horse is only a baby really and if he's not done any x-country work then he's probably just wierded out by whats going on round him. Why not try finding a x-country course you can hire near you if possible to help him along?

 

[crazystevie]

Your not crazy at all - worked for my horse! if your horse can jump a bign scary plastic sheet, it'll jump most things (theoretically ), just hang on big time in the process. Murphy will hapilly pop over that now with no trouble.

 

[carrimclaren]

just hang on big time in the process.

lol yep that'll be the part i'm having problems with

Showjumping i can handle fine as i'm usually fine at judging when she's going to take off but i have trouble with things like ditches etc. knowing when she's going to jump and i tend to weeble wobble everywhere when she does. I just need that switch in my head to say it is no different than a showjump so wakeup