So a new horse I'm jumping refuses a lot. He's eight years old, but he acts like a three year old. When he refuses, it's not because he is trying to be bad, but he is scared of the jumps.... Any ideas? After a few tries, he will jump it, but I'm not taking him into the showring like that. Thanks. (:

i wish i had some advice for you... but in my opinon a stopper is a stopper.

He may not have been taught his basics well enough. Sometimes when people start a horse they move them to higher jumps too quickly. Go pack to trotting poles first. Once he's moving confidently over those, go to low cross-rails or cavelleti. Do not let him turn away. It's better that he stops and you urge him on (he can jump a small x from a standstill) than letting him turn away. Hopefully taking things slow will help build his confidence and teach him that ducking out is not appropriate.

I know if I were giving advice to myself, I would tell me to make sure I am giving him enough confidence and setting him up correctly, not ducking out, hands up eyes up and all of the other stuff. I am trying to give him more confidence than the both of us, but it's not looking so great. I've only jumped him several times so far (he's not mine) but I don't want to give up on him. Thanks!

I rode him over ground poles yesterday...He was more terrified of those than the other jumps. I was quite surprised. He used to be such a great jumper, not really afraid or anything. But I think with patience and more work, he'll come through and be a good little (big, actually) hunter.

 

If he is spooking, he needs a LOT of desensitizing work.  First do a lot of desensitizing on the ground, then incorporate spooking things under saddle.  Take your time and bring him a long very slowly. Make sure he is very confident over ground poles before jumping.You may have to do weeks of groundpoles.  Hopefully not, but it is very important for a horse to be confident over fences from the beginning.

Also, are you taking lessons when you are jumping him?

 I agree with what other people have said, restart him, and do it slowly. Don't make the jumps bigger until he is bored of the smaller ones.  You said that he used to be a good jumper... maybe someone has ridden him and has pulled on his mouth over fences, or has made jumping uncomfortable/painful so he is anticipating this, and running out.  In this case, you still have to go back to the basics and show him that jumping is fun and that no one is going to hurt him.

Check your saddle fit. If he has jumped well in the past and is having trouble now, it could be the switch in tack.

My horse did the exact same thing and he is 14. When I got him I was told that he was well on his way to 3' but hadn't been ridden in a long time since he was last in training. We went back to complete basics. We did a lot of ground work and then incorporated some ground poles, and we didn't even move on from ground poles until he could successfully go through them straight and at a constant speed. Then we moved on to gymnastics. We set up some ground poles first and went through them. Then we set up a very small crossrail and had two ground poles behind it. Some horses can't mentally handle the ground poles and a small jump so we removed one of the rails and just left one. The first time through he did alright but then decided to refuse. We made the jump small enough that he could go over it even at a stand still so he had no other way out but to go over the jump. Sometimes he would come up to it and then stop and just walk over it. But after a while he would trot over the ground pole and over the crossrail. It took us 3 months to build up his confidence. Some of his problem was disobedience but most of it was a huge lack of confidence. After we mastered the ground poles and the ground poles and small crossrail we used a small verticle, like 18". And went up from there as he became more confident in himself. You also have to be there as you come up to the fence to urge him on and give him the confidence. Thats where good ground work comes in also. I still do gymnastics and ground poles when I am jumping to build the confidence of my horse and to get him to become more athletic also.

I hope this helps some!

A horse at my barn is afraid of trot poles more than jumps of any kind and is a bit afraid of jumps and refuses quite frequently - his problem is that he has reduced vision in one eye.  Have you had your horse's vision checked?

 

Hi there,

 I personally would go back to the basics - ground work, free jumping gradually buidling height, trotting ground poles - first without a rider and then with.  Start slowly, like he has never jumped before and let him build his confidence.  He may 1) have no confidence or 2)never been given proper basics thus causing a lack of confidence.  Also, I would check his bit, feet and saddle fit.

Hope this helps!

k

If he is afraid of the jumps and poles, you need to do ground work desensitizing him to both before you even think about trying to ride him to these things.  Take it slow and be willing to give him weeks or months of acclimitizing before you ask him to jump anything bigger than a 6" Xrail. 

Yes, we stuck to cross poles less than one foot. I do have a trainer while jumping.

some horses are just stoppers BUT some aren't, they are just green. So it depends on what you've got underneath you.

Firstly though, I would make sure that you didn't put him at ANYTHING that he couldn't clear from a standstill. Basically you have to teach him that stopping isn't a choice. So if he slams the breaks on, don't turn him away, keeping him facing the jump and make him jump it from a standstill - most horses can clear up to about 2' this way, some higher... so that should still give you plenty.

If he runs out the idea for you is to teach him that going AROUND the jump isn't a choice either. So pull him up quick (I mean quick - ideally before his nose gets past the wing). You will probably have to be pretty strong at this point. Then turn him back TOWARDS the jump - so if he runs out to the right turn him left back towards the jump) and then get him to face and go over the jump as quick as possible. dont' go 4 miles away from the fence before you turn round! It is mostly about determination and timing with stoppers. Many people are a bit passive with jumping, they allow the horse to go up to the fence at his own speed, then when he stops or runs out they sort of sit there for a couple of seconds going 'oh dear, now what do I do...' by which time it is too late to really achieve anything. ride assertively into the fence and when somthing goes wrong, deal with it immediately, even if it means being a bit tougher than usual. Keep the horse straight NO MATTER WHAT... Pull him up IMMEDIATELY after running out. INSIST he goes over the fence (remember we are only talking little cross poles here). Pretty soon he will realise that a) he has to do as you say and b) actually it isn't that scarey after all. He will also start to respect and trust you more to be the boss and look after him and be happier all round.

When he does stop, use your stick once, firmly behind your leg as well to make it clear that this is not acceptable. don't beat him/punish him or shout and get mad but one firm smack is often useful to reinforce what you are trying to achieve.

Ensure when he does clear the fence that you don't pull him in the mouth, thump down in the saddle, land in a heap etc so that he has a nice experience! (I'm sure you do this anyway)

Avoid approaching in canter for the first few times as it is much easier to stay in control of the horse in trot - be positive with your legs all the way in and give him a little tap with your stick about 2 strides away just to make it clear what you want. Carry a schooling whip rather than a jumping whip so you can keep both hands on the reins and keep him straight.

Some horses are just serial stoppers but some have just been allowed to get away with it and with firm positive riding will gain confidence and start jumping again. My pony when through a stopping stage but I cured it with Hunter Trials and very positive riding on my part - she never stops now and adores jumping... so it can be fixed.

You are the horse's leader. You have to show him its ok and nothing is going to kill him if he goes over it. My horse had the same problem. I helped him with baby steps. First I worked with him for a whole week by just walking over it and then he will follow me over the jump. Then the next week I lunged him over the jumps. And the 3rd week I got on him and he didn't refuse one time.

 Can you have  a trainer ride him? I was having trouble with my horse last week and had my trainer ride him once. She rode him for 2 hours! But got the kinks straightened out and he was much better next time. In your case, one ride won't do the trick, but could get your horse in the right direction.