horse ppl please?? my horse is a refuser when she jumps??

Question

heyyy....i have a 15 year old quater horse mare....she is a great eq. horse but has one probolem....whenever we jump she refuses! its rele hard b.c i kno she can jump but she just refuses all the time. its not a leg or back probolem she has refused her whole life....i rele want to get farther in jumping...what can i do to stop her refusing?? and gain confidence?

Answer 1

This may look like a long answer but read through it carefully and atleast try it. Because it works on any horse that is fit and healthy to get them to jump willingly and even make it a little fun for them too!

First get a long lead rope or lounge line and a lounging whip (don't panic you won't have to hurt her! please don't hurt her infact, don't make it negative), this will have to be first done on the ground.

Start simple for her and just put a long pole on the ground and lounge her over it a couple times. She should do that just walking / trotting over it is fine, she doesn't have to jump this. If she does it nicely a few times in both directions then give her a break and do something else lead her around, let her eat, groom her, or any other kind of ground work you may like doing. Just for a few minutes then go back to the jump and raise it 6 inches off the ground, and make sure the pole is resting on something it can roll off of incase she bumps it leg / hoof. Otherwise that will be another reason for her not to want to jump. Continue doing this if she continues jumping it without hesitation raising it a bit, taking a break and so on.

Now when she does have her hesitation then what u can do is ask her for very little even just approaching the jump and smelling it or pawing at it is great. It means she is showing interest in it. If she doesn't go near it then put a little presure by raising the whip, and if she still has no reaction wiggle the whip a bit, nothing still then whip the ground gently, next tap her on the bum gently with the tip of the whip and slowly go harder and harder. When she does make ANY move toward the jump, Immediately release all pressure and do something else again. Each time you go back to the jump ask more and more, either closer and closer or pawing, sniffing, licking the jump. If she does all that pawing etc. for a couple times at most then ask more next time, if she rocks back on her haunches preparing/thinking to jump but doesn't that's ok she thought about it. Praise her and break again. If she did all the above stuff then you can ask for the jump. If she still doesn't you can turn and walk from the jump and go back to it so she's aligned with it and sort of starting fresh on it. Eventually by asking more and more she should end up jumping it.

I would recommend that after she does actually jump it leave her from the jump for atleast that day.

Once she is quite comfortable jumping on the ground you can move into the saddle starting with low jumps again. until you and her are comfortable. Also if she does start having problems again jumping, then start from scratch again.

If there is any trouble understanding or you have more questions feel free to e-mail me at, [e-mail]

Answer 2

Talk to a local trainer that will be able to watch you and the horse. Other then that there is an exercise that is called the D exercise. If you have an arena use half of it. Walk your horse around Making a D shape with the straight line being the middle line of the arena and stop at the middle of the short wall. Keep doing that a few times at a walk trot and canter. Then lay a ground pole on the long wall before the corner before your stop. Keep it at the walk and walk over the ground pole. Always stopping at the middle of the short wall. If she is comfortable walking over it then try trotting over it then go to the canter. make sure you horse is completely comfortable with the first steps before you move on. When she is comfortable with that set up a really low cross rail the center of the rail should be no more then 12 inches off the ground. Start again at the walk get her comfortable at the walk work up to the trot. Once she is going over it well at the trot raise it up a little bit. start at the walk again and the move to the trot. Keep going at that pace.
The two key things to this excessive it to make sure your horse is completely comfortable before you move on. Also you must stop every time. It will teach your horse that if she goes over the jump (pole whatever) she will get a break for a few second and that it is a good thing. I am not saying that this will make your horse a perfect jumper but it will at least help you figure out where the problem is occurring. Also don't spend to much time doing this. Your horse will get sour on the exercise. change it up take 15- 20 working on this then take a break and work on leg yields or something then go back to it.
Also like I said at the beginning find a local trainer who will work with YOU!! and your horse. Good Luck

Answer 3

The easiest way for her to gain back her confidence (and your's when riding her at a jump) is to start with really small ones. Just work her over ground poles- not raised at all. Start with one and then do a couple in a row.
Once she is not even flicking an ear at those, move them up to about a foot off the ground. Get her first to walk over them (she may knock it down, that's ok) and then trot, and finally canter. Once she does those with no problems, gradually increase the complexity and height. Every time she does go over one, over praise her so she thinks she just did the most wonderful thing in the world.
Patience is the key here. Also, make sure you do other stuff in between. Set up the jumps but do not go over them one day, so she doesn't see a jump and get hesistant. I would suggest only working on this (once you start the foot and higher poles) for one time a week out of, lets say 3-4 times a week that you ride.
I am not a serious jumper (I ride dressage primarily) and the most I ever ask my horses to do is about 3.5 feet, but I have trained several horses this way and not one has ever refused after they got the concept of it and the fact that they aren't scary.

Other things to watch for: how are you feeling coming up to the jump? Are you seated correctly? I know a pony that will jump anything- but as long as she has a secure rider. She is an excellent beginner horse. If she senses that the rider may be unbalanced before the jump, she will stop and just walk over the jump.

Answer 4

First of all.... Is your position correct? Are your reins too long? Are you leaning forward too much? Check all that stuff, just in case. After that I'm not sure. Maybe she's just not a jumper - some horses just aren't comfortable with that. After all, 15 years old isn't exactly young for a horse. I mean, it's not OLD, but you know what I mean. You could try doing a lot of ground poles and then moving them up little by little until she has to jump them. I really don't know how to help you here.

Answer 5

Treat her like a baby start little and don't let her get out of it, put the jump in the side of the arena and have a friend stand on the other side so she can't run out.

Another thing to do would be to have her jump one jump and when she does get off of her, praise her, and let her know you want her to jump.

When jumping your confidence also plays a large role. When you come up to the jump sit back, keep your legs on her, and JUMP! When you are in mid air, release, and get off of her back. Don't yank back right away when she lands either let her get back together, then in the corner begin to collect her. Lat her have some fun!

Some other tips would be to create a path for her to go through by putting flower boxes beside to jump. You may also want to get a professional trainers help. They are so HELPFUL!! If you don't have spurs or crops they also do lots of good. Don't let any body tell you they are abusive. Because if you know how to use them they are 100% humane. getting a different bit could also help!

Hope this Helps!

Answer 6

i would initially say this is the person riding balance problem. will she jump on a lunge line? will she jump for someone else? if you know she can jump, how do you know? she cant be a jumper and refused her whole life. so she's had to have jumped sometime...from the info youve given id say it is a balance/rider problem and if you already have a trainer, you should find a new one. if you dont have a trainer, get one. if you really want to go further with or without this horse, then thats what you need to do.

Answer 7

All horses can jump, but some are better than others about it. Your mare does not sound like a natural jumper. Also, most horses have a harder time as they get older. The only thing I can say is just work with her, over and over and over. There is no magic key, or easy button. You've just got to persiveer. Otherwise I might consider getting a horse that is trained to jump, and LIKES to jump. And leave your mare to equitation.

Answer 8

A Trainer my help also you could start over with her start with low jumps only inches from the ground and work your way up if anything though she is 15 and it might be time to get a horse the likes to jump.

Answer 9

properly I experience dressage, yet I do bounce quite so a lot more beneficial than I used to (once each 2 weeks extra or a lot less). and that i'm happy i'm no longer the purely one which receives aggravated through the human beings who whinge how severe they're leaping! the utmost i have jumped is likely a foot and a 1/2, and that i'm fairly pleased with that thinking I experience a fat dressage pony :P a lady at my barn had a similar situation to yours. She rode dressage on her gelding for round 8 years, yet determined to attempt a touch leaping after one of those lengthy time period. She jumped him for ONE experience, and a pair of days later he replaced into lifeless lame. She couldnt experience him for extremely almost 3 months because of it, the negative horse :/ She now sticks to seek-seat and dressage, and various path using :) To be honest, if it weren't for a touch leaping each now and then i imagine i ought to get quite uninterested in dressage. yet after 5 years of it i'm nevertheless very happy i did not flow promptly into leaping! that's made me a miles extra valuable rider :) leaping isn't each thing! that's unhappy what number riders imagine your using skill is determined through how severe you bounce. i'm basically as pleased with flow rails as i should be with 4ft oxers XD keep up the best paintings which include your little mare, she'll love you each of the further for it :P

Answer 10

one way that i have found that helps a horse to stop refusing is to start at the ground and lunge her over jumps, then when you ahve her going over them with just a saddle on have some one lunge her over while you are on her. Start real small maybe even just ground poles at first then go to low cross rails and so forth. You need to help her realize that she can do it. It may take a few weeks to get her going where she wont refuse when lunging but keep working at it. Don't get frustrated just keep trying. :)