i have a pony she is 13.2hh new forest mare. but she is scared of poles and jumps what can i do ??????????

Question

she turns round if someone even touches the jump or pole, once this horse tapped the pole with it hoof and she ran off and i nearly fell off her. she is very nervous of the poles and i cant seem to get her to go over the trotting poles:( what can i do HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

don't be on her when training her to jump. put her on the lunge line. it's less dangerous, one, and it teaches her to gain balance on her own before having to balance you as well. set up poles on the ground and walk her over them. let her sniff them. then start her off in trot with the poles. make her go through them no matter what. when she's comfortable with that set up low jumps (like cavaletti) and have her walk over those. then move into trot with them. when she's mastered it in walk and trot with no problems then move into canter. once you get her in canter with no problems continue to work at it for a few weeks. don't get on her till she is completely comfortable with jumping and has good balance. it could take some time, but be patient. better to get it right then get hurt.


also ~ as some other said that i can't believe i forgot lol...sack her out! put her near poles as much as possible. make her LIVE with them. put her in every possible situation you can. move the poles (when training) to differnt locations turn them in different directions. everything you can think of do it! good luck

Answer 2

Ponies can be a handful. If your pony is truly scared, put on her halter and walk her over to the jump or poles and let her sniff them. Walk her around the jumps a few times lead her over a pole as well. You may need to bring treats. When you go to get on her make sure she knows you are the boss. If you are riding in an arena, push the poles to the wall make sure the poles if you have more that one are correctly spaced apart. trot along the rail until you come to the pole. Walk her up to and over the poles, while you are two-pointing. Make sure to reward her when she gets over them. Once she will walk over them try it at a trot then move the poles slightly away from the wall and try walking, and then trotting. It may help to start with fewer poles and add up to 4 as she gets better. When you want to begin to jump her start with a pole between to standards and trot her into it. Once she has done this enough with out being scared try it a the canter. Remember reward her when she has done something correctly. Make a little cross rail (more inviting than a scary vertical) and try trotting over it you may need to cluck and tap her on her butt with a crop. You may also want a friend to stand on the side of the jump so your pony can't run out. Don't do this all in one day! Have fun training your pony!

Hope this helped!

Answer 3

ok hun first off if you're young which I think you might be judging the fact you're riding a 13.2 - get the help of an adult.
Lay a rustic pole on the ground and entice her over this with a bucket of feed - walk over it first and have her led behind you. it might take a while - but when she does go over it praise her - give her some treats and pat her - continue this work until she is comfortably stepping over the pole - and then introuduce her to coloured poles laid on the ground - again use the same method - when she gets the hang of walking over one - lay a few of them down. When she is ok with walking over these - increase the size by laying a crate or something on the ground and lifting one side of the poleup. When you feel she has overcome her initial fear of these - sit on her back and get someone to either lead or lunge you over these whilst on her back.
Its of the utmost importance that you do not rush this - your pony has obviously had a bad fright on negative experience involving poles so its up to you do rebuild her confidence.
In the long run - the more comfortable you make her with these poles - the better the confidence and jumpability she will gain.
I know you may be frustrated at the time this will take - but bear in mind - shes obviously very very frightened so be patient. Good luck! xx

Answer 4

You don't say how old your pony is - but I am presuming she's a youngster. If she's an older pony, then either she's had a BIG fright when jumping and lost her nerve, or she's never been taught that jumping can be fun. However, whether she's old or young, she's obviously become nervous about the idea of jumps, to the point where she's frightened to go near the poles. This is the first thing you have to address. Hence, I would make sure that she sees poles regularly. Put some outside her stable door so that she's looking at them all the time. Put some in her paddock where she grazes. After a few days (when she seems used to seeing them) put one in front of her stable door (just laying on the ground) so that she has to walk over it in order to get out of her stable. However, be prepared for her to make a huge cat leap over it, the first time! When she's confident about that, put two on the ground about a stride apart. You can also place them on the ground around the yard in places where she can't avoid them when she's going about her usual routine. When she moves calmly over the poles, make sure to tell her warmly how clever she is and reward her with a treat. It could be a good scratch in her favourite itchy place, or a carrot - it doesn't matter. What matters is that she knows she's been clever.

When she's confidently moving over and around the poles laid on the ground, place one end of each pole up on a brick. When she's confident moving over these, put the other end up on a brick as well.

Only when she's able to move quietly over these brick-high poles in just a headcollar, should you move up to tackling a quantity of trotting poles (even at walk) on the lunge.

When a pony is frightened, you have to tackle the fear before asking her to do the thing you wanted her to do in the first place! Only by familiarisation with the frightening thing, is she going to conquer her fear. Good luck - and don't expect miracles or be impatient and tempted to rush things. Let HER tell you when she's ready to move on to the next stage. If you take the time now, you'll never have to do it again. Rush it now, and you'll have a pony who is still frightened of jumps for the rest of her life. Take it slow! :)

Answer 5

You don't say how old your pony is, or when she was broken.
She won't go over the poles if she's afraid of them. You need to bombproof train her. It serves two purposes; first it teaches the pony that many things seem scary but are nothing to be afraid of, secondly as you take her through the training it teaches her to trust your judgement about whether or not things or events are dangerous; as if you were the lead animal in her herd.
It makes them safer to handle and ride, its used by Riding for the Disabled, the police and mounties to train their horses, and its wrth doing with every horse you own.

Msnites link is a good one. You get the pony used to the thing it fears by exposing it to very small, non threatening doses.
Don't force her anywhere near poles. It will just trigger her fear response. You want her to be ale to see poles but have them so far away that she's not bothered by them. She should happily eat her feed. If she's more aware of the poles and not eating, she's too close to them.
You gradually move them nearer. When you can get her to eat her feed when there is a pole 20 feet away - it may take weeks - put one in the centre of the ring and work around the edge.
You can design a solution like this to most things that horses are scared of; tractors, plastic, hosepipes, noises and so on.
See if you can join local riding club and try to make contact with experienced Handy Pony competitors, or people who train for RDA.
You can train your own pony for the RDA certificate.

Answer 6

Agree lunging first is a better option. Also, maybe change the situations where she sees poles so that she associates them with nice things ie feed her near poles. Also, chances are you are getting nervous every time you see a pole in anticipation of her response, it may be this she is picking up on too. Try to be calm and relax and she will feel the same too. Good luck!

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Hello scatter some poles around her feild so that she has to walk over one or two to come to the gate or get to her hay or water she will make her own mind up and become less afraid after a while
as no rider or person is putting her under pressure to walk over the poles .
put a pole on the floor across the gateway so each time she comes through she has to step over or put a pole across the door way of her box on the floor outside the door and in time she will walk over with no worry .
make a square of poles in her feild with the entry of one pole open
walk her in to the middle then have someone close the pole so she is in a pole box on the floor then let her loose if she wants to graze outside the box of poles she will have to step over after a while she will walk over and around the poles if you put her hay /food in the middle leave her to it.
then you can ride to the same effect reward her well .

Answer 9

Start with the pole on the ground then add another one until you have a few of them and she walks over them without a care in the world then start with one again, on the rack and do the same until shes jumping. you see....shes scared of that noisy poll she tapped so you need to show her that it's not going to eat her.It's all about exposure and consistences

Answer 10

Introduce her slowly to the poles and jumps she is afraid of. Lead her over to it and let her sniff it and watch it. Then move it a little, she may spook, but just keep at it until she calms down. You just need to take time and desensitze her to it. Show her it is not going to eat her and that it is something fun to be around.