Tough Love Jump Schools
Leo has been plagued with minor injuries this winter; caused by too much rough-housing in turnout.
Last Saturday, Leo had his first jump school in almost 3 weeks. It started off well, but then Leo started slamming on the brakes at the fences. Leo stopping at fences while schooling is not uncommon. It actually happens somewhat frequently. Sometimes you know its coming, sometimes you don't. He is normally most sticky at the beginning of a jump school, so generally if he's going to stop it happens early, and then he gains confidence and works out of it. But there have been rare occasions when he doesn't work out of it. Once in the spring of 2011, I was cross country schooling and Leo unexpectedly stopped at the first jump and nearly every fence after that. In the fall of 2011, we switched Leo's bit and he was again stopping at nearly every stadium jump I pointed him at, regardless of how small they were. That sort of behavior is highly abnormal but it is really unnerving for me. Sucks the confidence right out me. I guess in hindsight I just didn't understand the dramatic personality change nor did I know how to provide the confidence he needed in those moments.
Luckily for me, I watched a well-timed Sally lesson in Jan which dealt with this same stopping issue. A student was riding one of Sally's retired upper level event horses. Evidently, horse and rider had some uncharacteristic stops during a previous ride. Sally instructed the rider to hit the horse with her crop, behind her leg, before she even picked up her canter. It had to be a real hit, not a tap. The horse was taken back, but it definitely put his attention on the rider. Sally had her do this every time she picked up her reins when it was her turn to jump. The rider then had to pick up a forward canter and get the horse well in front of her leg. The horse started off a little sticky off the ground, but Sally instructed her to keep riding forward to each fence and he worked out of it. She said all he needed a little reminder that he did not get to vote on whether he was jumping or not. Here's what I took away from the lesson:
The following Monday, I got back on Leo for another jump school. This time I had my crop to start. Leo refused the first small vertical, but this time I was prepared. I hit him once but I forgot to mean it, so I hit him twice more behind my leg and put some force into it. It was all very unemotional from my perspective. However, Leo was quite upset about the whole thing. We went back to the jump and Leo went to work. I followed the same pattern Sally instructed, hitting Leo with the crop after each break / before each round. Leo got a bit strung out throughout the ride, but I couldn't worry about that. I just wanted to put the stopping issue to bed. After being disciplined for the first refusal, Leo didn't think about stopping again.
Today I had a jump lesson with Courtney. I carried my crop but didn't have to use it, so I'm pretty confident Leo is back to normal. I wish all our problems could be solved so quickly! hah!
- Mid-Dec, he got kicked in his right front knee. This lead to several days off and stall rest. After a couple of days the swelling wasn't coming down, so out came the vet. She confirmed that there was no swelling in the joint; we just had to wait.
- Late Dec, his left eye was weeping and almost swollen shut. It's not clear if he bumped it or got an infection. Out came the vet again to make sure Leo hadn't scratched his cornea.
- Then on Jan 12, Leo got kicked in his upper right forearm. This lead to another 4 days stall rest and nearly a week off from riding. And we missed out lesson with Sally (dammit!). I had the vet come out again to give me the green light for riding.
- On Jan 20, Leo came in from the field with another swollen leg. This time is was the back left, just below the hock on the inside. This lead to more time off and the decision to finally try a new turnout group.
Last Saturday, Leo had his first jump school in almost 3 weeks. It started off well, but then Leo started slamming on the brakes at the fences. Leo stopping at fences while schooling is not uncommon. It actually happens somewhat frequently. Sometimes you know its coming, sometimes you don't. He is normally most sticky at the beginning of a jump school, so generally if he's going to stop it happens early, and then he gains confidence and works out of it. But there have been rare occasions when he doesn't work out of it. Once in the spring of 2011, I was cross country schooling and Leo unexpectedly stopped at the first jump and nearly every fence after that. In the fall of 2011, we switched Leo's bit and he was again stopping at nearly every stadium jump I pointed him at, regardless of how small they were. That sort of behavior is highly abnormal but it is really unnerving for me. Sucks the confidence right out me. I guess in hindsight I just didn't understand the dramatic personality change nor did I know how to provide the confidence he needed in those moments.
Luckily for me, I watched a well-timed Sally lesson in Jan which dealt with this same stopping issue. A student was riding one of Sally's retired upper level event horses. Evidently, horse and rider had some uncharacteristic stops during a previous ride. Sally instructed the rider to hit the horse with her crop, behind her leg, before she even picked up her canter. It had to be a real hit, not a tap. The horse was taken back, but it definitely put his attention on the rider. Sally had her do this every time she picked up her reins when it was her turn to jump. The rider then had to pick up a forward canter and get the horse well in front of her leg. The horse started off a little sticky off the ground, but Sally instructed her to keep riding forward to each fence and he worked out of it. She said all he needed a little reminder that he did not get to vote on whether he was jumping or not. Here's what I took away from the lesson:
- Horses don't get a vote. Ever.
- A horse stopping at fences well below his level of experience is not tolerated.
- The crop is a tool that clears up the chain-of-command and instills confidence.
- Riding forward is necessary to correct the issue.
The following Monday, I got back on Leo for another jump school. This time I had my crop to start. Leo refused the first small vertical, but this time I was prepared. I hit him once but I forgot to mean it, so I hit him twice more behind my leg and put some force into it. It was all very unemotional from my perspective. However, Leo was quite upset about the whole thing. We went back to the jump and Leo went to work. I followed the same pattern Sally instructed, hitting Leo with the crop after each break / before each round. Leo got a bit strung out throughout the ride, but I couldn't worry about that. I just wanted to put the stopping issue to bed. After being disciplined for the first refusal, Leo didn't think about stopping again.
Today I had a jump lesson with Courtney. I carried my crop but didn't have to use it, so I'm pretty confident Leo is back to normal. I wish all our problems could be solved so quickly! hah!
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