I did somejumping yesterday and she did perfectly. Today I was going over some jumps and my mom said she is not lifting her right rear leg up all the way and she is bumping the jump with it. Do you think she was tired? I did 45 min of flat work, and the last 15 min were the jumps. I am only jumping her 2' right now. I have only 3 jumps set up in the arena. 2 on the right side and one on the left. The vet is coming out again Thursday to take a look, but I was wondering if anyone had ideas on what it could be? The previous owner said that she would resist jumps and buck, but she doesn't do that.  She also said that she had a small stiffle problem, but that was on the left side, and the vet said last year that she was healed and I could jump her. I hope I gave you enough info. Please, if you have any suggestions let me know.

After the vet rules out any physical problems, I think that she just needs to tidy-up her jumping position. Assuming that your horse hasn't taken a break from jumping and is just a bit out of shape, set up some oxers with the back bar higher than the front and as she clears the jump, if she's lazy, her back hooves will hit that top bar. The more you practice that, she should get the idea that if she doesn't lift and clear her back legs/hooves of the bar, well, her legs/hooves will hit it.

You could also set up some gymnastics with your three jumps.

I hope this helps!

As a rule, I don't jump horses every day for consecutive days unless it is a special occasion (event or multi-day jumping clinic).  Your horse is probably just tired -- jumping is hard work, especially for hind legs.   

Solairs, haven't seen you on here in a while. How you been? You are right, I shouldn't jump her every day. I hadn't rode her since last friday before thursday.  I kinda figured she was tired, but the previous owner said she had stifle problems, but on the other leg, which she lifts pretty high enough.  So I wasn't sure.  I didn't jump her for a long time, so I though it was maybe something else. Thanks for your help.

 

 HJ-Thats a good idea. Can you give some ideas for gymnastics with my three jumps? I don't really have a trainer any more , so your suggestions, or anyone elses would be of great help.  I will definetely do some oxers with her after I find out from the vet if she is sound enough to do it. Thank you for your help and suggestions.

This is the order in the way the jumps should be set up: place two trotting poles on the ground 4 feet apart. Then set up a small cross-rail 8 feet from that last trotting pole. Last, set up an ascending oxer (back pole higher than the front), 24 feet from the cross rail. After jumping the cross-rail, he should take one canter stride before jumping the oxer. Make it easy for him at first by keeping the oxer low and if you can, have your mom nearby and ask her to raise the oxer after a few trys. You can also change the distance between the cross-rail and the oxer by shortening or stretching the distance by 2 feet to work on shortening and lengthening his stride. 

An ascending oxer helps the horse to be more tidy with his hind legs and is the most easiest for the horse to cover. A descending oxer (front bar higher than the back) teaches the horse to be quick and tidy with his forelegs. Unless your horse is more advanced, I'd only recommend doing the descending oxer in the grid so as to make sure he arrives at the oxer balanced and ready to pick up his forelegs quickly.

As your horse becomes better, you can change those first two trotting poles to a small-cross rail, too. These kinds of gymanstics are also good for the rider because there's really no place for the horse to go except forward so the rider can also work on their positions over the jumps.

I hope this works for you and your horse! 

 

Hey Dukey -- we're doing good!  Another good gymnastic you can use is to set one ground pole, then 8 feet after a small vertical, then 9 feet behind that, another ground pole.  It will really teach your horse to use her bascule and center the jump underneath her.  You can trot in and canter out. 

If the vet checked her stifle and gave you permission to jump her, then her stifle isn't the problem. Like some other people said, some horses get lazy with their feet and aren't careful about rubbing the rails. Try gymnastic exercises to help her focus on her form and placement of her legs. Also, you can make jumping more fun by changing the jump heights and angles, and maybe add some colorful flowers or rails. Also, if you have trails, take a day off of jumping and have some fun doing something other than work. Also, jumping her almost every day of the week is too much. I'm glad you're having the vet take another look, just in case it's a problem that's not related to her stifle. Good luck and make it fun for her!

 Thaks HJ and Solaris for the gymnastics for her. I will love to try them.

Maverickt.- Thank you for your kind words. I will try different angles. That will be new and challenging for her. I don't have flower boxes but I will have my husband or dad make some for me.

Thanks to you all. If you can think of anymore things to try let me know. 

Don't forget to rule out your own position.  If you're landing in the saddle too early, this could cause her to drop her hind end early.  Though if she was fine the other day, that is proably not the case.  Repeated small jumps get boring and tiring for a horse so I think gymnastics is probably the answer here.  :)  Good luck!

 Well, vet came out today and said she was fine to jump. She is just being stubborn due to her transitonal phases for going into heat, and being lazy. He said "yup, being stubborn and lazy. She is fine. She floats beautifully at the trot." So, thank you all. Please keep the ideas coming.  

 ok this is simple your not doing your  slide and bow properly 

 huh?

 Oh, good - I'm glad I'm not the only one that didn't understand "slide and bow".

remmer:

 Oh, good - I'm glad I'm not the only one that didn't understand "slide and bow".

 

Maybe it's like the bend and snap.  (That's a reference to Legally Blonde. )

 I agree with the previous posters who mentioned mixing it up and using grids.  Grids are fantastic for training both horse and rider!