my horse is refusing jumps!!!!?

Question

how can i stop him????

Answer 1

OK I was going to be snotty and say he's already stopped.

But seriously, go back to the basics - cavaletes (sp) and low cross bars. Nothing complicated or strenuous.

Ask your coach to really watch your leg and hand work. Chances are you've been "dropping" him either in the hands or legs - or both. Either one tells the horse that you're not sure about what to do next - which of course will confuse him. Also dropping him in the hand will bang the bit against his teeth - which hurts - so hey, no jumping - no banging the bit - and no hurting.

I'm sure with several weeks of basics you can work your way back up to more challenging courses.

Answer 2

If he seems like he's in pain get a vet check. If not check yourself out, are you anticipating the jump and trying to move up? Are you throwing your body trying to get him faster? Are you hitting him in the mouth before you even get there? Maybe your legs get loose right in front?

Try jumping some small things, keep your leg on him the entire time and don't let up in the least until he's jumped. If he still refuses don't be afraid to get out a crop and give him a tap behind your leg a few strides away from the jump, sometimes they just need a little reminder.

If he still refuses lower the jump down to about a foot, and walk him over it. Trust me he can do it, I've had a horse jump higher from an almost complete stop.

Answer 3

When I first started jumping, my horse would always refuse jumps.
If your horse just stops right before a fence, then here are a few things you should do:

-Start out trotting towards the fence, instead of cantering. This gives you a little more control, and makes the horse more balanced. Once your horse gets over
-Be determined to go over the fence. You can do this!
- Squeeze your horse with your legs. If you have a stubborn horse, right before when you should take off, hit him with your crop. I know it sounds mean, but your horse is probably scared too, and just needs a little prodding (so to speak) in the right direction.
- If your horse still dosn't go over, then DON'T LET HIM TURN AWAY! Have your instructor or a friend lower the jump a little, so your horse can walk over it, and make him do it! Kick him with your heels until he goes over it.
- If you mainly have this refusing problem in a course or while doing grid work, then your horse is probably sensing that you arn't entirely focused or balanced (in my case, it's nearly always balance (:). Try to fix that by using a neck strap (a.k.a. grab strap). This is basically a strip of leather about an inch wide that you put around a horses neck and grab onto instead of the mane. When you are going over the first jump, try to stay somewhat lower in the saddle, and when you land, land hips first.


If your horse refuses by turning right or left suddenly, here are some easy enough fixes:

- Put poles on either side of the fence you are jumping so that they are propped up on the fence. To clarify, you have your jump. Prop up another pole on each side. Have one side of these poles resting on the top sides of the fence, so that it now has height. This will make it much more difficult for your horse to run out, and if he does, he still will have to jump.

-If he always runs out to, say, the left, then as you are approaching the jump tighten your right rein particularly along with your left rein. This dosn't let him turn his head to escape, and it feels quite odd to the horse to refuse without turning his head.

-Squeeze your knees a bit. This reminds him that you are on top of him and not letting him get away with anything.

-Once again, just think: Over. Over. Over. Over.

If he still refuses, check his tack and see if he has any sores. It could be that he has a sore that the saddle rubs on if he jumps.


Hope this helped!

Answer 4

Oh dear- i hate this problem.
First things first- get a vet to check his teeth and back - just to check theres no medical problem.
It may be that you're riding him to strong into jumps , the jumps are to high or that your not kicking enough.
You should start with trotting poles and dont lose your patience. make the jumps a plain brown colour - so they're not scary!- and think positive.
Don't go to shows or anything - just work on getting his trust and confidence up.
Don't put fillers in and just keep it simple.
Keep your heels down and maybe shorten your stirrups? I know it sounds silly , but it often works. Wrap your legs around him and keep squeezing all the way.
Shorten your reins before the jump and just trot or walk over them.
Dont run before you can walk!!
Finally - good luck - some people give really weird answers on here ^^^
' smart horse?' I dont think they can ride - coz its not sympathetic.
I just read this message back - and i sound mean.
Don't wory - im sure its not your riding. Good luck
lovE
Alex
xxxxxx

Answer 5

well. have him checked my a vet. if nothings wrong medicaly wise then you should start with poles on the ground. you can also trot/canter in between jump standerds like it's a jump just without the poles. after they are confidant going over poles and you can start tackling the cross rails. This next piece of advice is what my trainer told me when i was dealing with a refuser, make the horse afraid to stop. Always carry a crop with you when you jump. So if your horse refuses the cross rail pretty much beat the bajezers out of him untill he goes over(when it's small they can even walk over it) after he does praise him. eventually he'll get the idea that if he doesn't want to get beat up he should just go over. remember, don't rush into things. and getting frusterated won't help, if your getting upset and angry at your horse just get off(i've done it a few times) so you won't make your horse upset. Good luck!!

Answer 6

You could maybe get someone to stand either side of the jump to stop the horse running out, but you'll need to seek advice from an instructor as it could be your riding, or the horse might have a problem. Might also be worth checking his tack, back, teeth etc.

Answer 7

The first time he refuses you should take him back to see if he just got a bad spot and didnt want to. But, if he does it again worse get after him. Back him up smack him a few times with a crop. Then get him on right where you are over the jump. Growl to urge him on and give him a few kicks and taps and talk to him persuading him. You could have the jump smaller just in case. 2 feet maybe just to get him over. Dont let him get away with it. Its a HORRIBLE habit.

Answer 8

hey that isnt the best thing for your horse to do... ok well i have had stages when that has happend to me and most of the time its me the rider, most problems are from the rider but i have never seen you ride so i cannot make any assumpsions.

my best advice and what always works is put all the jumps down to the floor in your areana and make sure there is only one pole in each jump, like trotting poles but there is only one pole. then do a course at the walk over all the poles but make sure to keep the contact with the horses mouth and have your leg on to every single pole just do that for the whole lesson and trot over them, over and over again cause tis not nearly as tyring as jumping, then canter the course. then do figure of 8ts around the poles so you go over them in all directions rember to keep your contact and have your leg on.

the next time you ride make the poles about 30cm of the ground and agian just practise going over and over the jumps in different directions. then ghradually go up in hight, it can be very bad for your confidence comming up to big jumps and knowing that your horse is going to refuse, so once you have reasured yourself that you horse will jump all the jumps and you feel confident, only when you fell absolutly sure then go up in hight, i had a problem horse to take on and it took me a year to get him jumping 80cm because i had to just make myself beleive that he could and would jump it, also work on you technique and having an instructor stnad and make sure that you jump the jump is very important as the pony learns to get away with it!!!!


good luck!!!!

Answer 9

check for medical problems first, then try getting a proffesional trainer to give you a few pointers. What i did with a horse i had a while ago was:
-started small and worked up!! (trot poles on the ground, etc)

Answer 10

I consider you. there are a number of motives a horse refuses a bounce. such as you suggested there could be a loss of have confidence between the pony and rider, the pony is probably not lined up appropriate, or the pony is probably not delicate with the top, drained or sore, or the rider could be unbalanced on the pony's back. undesirable using, to illustrate pulling on the horses mouth or overusing the crop, could additionally bring about a refusal. that is perplexing to decide from merely listening to approximately it, yet there is not any rationalization for the rider to hit the pony with a crop as punishment. In September i grew to become into on the state Championship instruct and there grew to become right into a woman probable approximately 13 years previous on a sprint gray pony. they had an exceptionally advantageous Pole Bending run going and then they knocked a pole. they could are transforming into someplace around 4th place (out of ninety+ riders) if the pole stayed up, so it grew to become right into a great journey. however the lady began whipping her horse (in front of a minimum of one hundred fifty spectators, 4 judges and 50+ different riders) and yanking on his mouth as she walked out of the international. The announcer even suggested something to her over the microphone, yet she merely stored beating her horse. It grew to become into extremely unhappy, and disapointing to work out somebody behave that way with their horse. i grew to become into happy to take heed to that she grew to become into disqualified from the form (specially because of the fact whips are unlawful in our circuit, she don't have even had it in her hand whilst fixed) and asked to bypass away the Championship instruct because of the fact she grew to become into mistreating her horse.