He's taking for-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ver!
Oh blimey, he's so SLOW to learn. He's still doing exactly the same now as he was back in November/December. He started quite sticky but jumped three, tiny, fences at a second look. Then refused a rolltop of no more than 2ft 6 completely. At one point standing there with both front feet on top of it, surveying the scenery! From that point on he decided that he didn't want to jump at all, and then to cap it all he wouldn't go into the water. He's NEVER refused to step into water before, this was just an act of defiance to try and show me that he doesn't have to do what I say. I took him to the other side and came through it pointing towards home. Then we went right back to the start of the ride, and I got him flowing on over the stuff he had already jumped. I missed the fence he refused to do and went to the water. Again I had to come through it from the other side, then he turned and did it the right way.
Around the rest of the course he was still stopping at the vast majority of new fences to have a look. He really should be over this by now - he is incredibly slow to get his confidence compared to any other horse I've done. Crikey I thought Tia was difficult, but she was a piece of cake compared to him! It's now perfectly obvious that we'll be going to Bradwall in just over two weeks time simply to experience a really busy showground, doing a dressage test, warming up for the showjumping ....... and withdrawing before we embarass ourselves. There is simply no way that I can see him getting around the showjumping course, never mind the cross country.
He finishes fine each time, and jumps some decent sized stuff really well. In the middle of the course he did a set of lorry tyres at about 3ft 3/3ft 6 without a hesitation. But it simply doesn't transfer to the start of the next session. He comes out as green as grass every - single - time. And takes until half way around to get his act together. When he does jump with confidence it is utterly amazing, but it's taking an age to get him there. This is very frustrating, he'd better be worth the wait, I'm warning him :-)
Zippet is getting better and better at being left alone while we are out. He didn't seem at all bothered today. I also get the impression that his spurt of growth is pulling his legs straight - he certainly wasn't standing toe out this morning nearly as much as he has been. And Jazz is travelling fabulously, loading wonderfully and has given up pawing completely. I guess I must be grateful for small mercies!
C.
posted by cptrayes @ 1:54 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Good grief! I agree, he should be over the worst of this by now. Standing ON the jump looking over the terrain?
He is a puzzle. I don't think he is a slow learner, actually. He is just too clever about his own ability to get away with things, and he uses that to cover up when he doesn't know what to do.
Now, mind you, he may grow out of this. But.....Back to the gymnastics. Any way of getting some more jumps at home. Blox are a great thing to have. They and a set of 12 rails can help you build all kinds of obstacles. I'd make cavaletti combos, grids, rails all over the place. Blankets on rails, baskets under rails, all kinds of weird looking stuff. Challenge him at home.
Any more farm rides around where maybe you could find a partner to jump stuff with you, give him the company of another brave horse to show him the way and perhaps juice up his enthusiam?
Any chance of putting some "strange" things out in your pasture area? Become creative and put an obstacle or two out there and then ride out for a lark to jump.
And those gymnastics. Set up a rail or crossrail to a jump. Could be part of the problem is he just doesn't quite understand how to jump some of the things at first approach. I know he's capable, but if he doesn't know for sure where to put his legs...
I recall once, on a cross country, Russell and I approached a wooden lined ditch with a telephone pole over it. I had no idea how to tell him to gallop on, and he had no idea where to take off. He ended up walking into the ditch and hitting his chin on the telephone pole. This was a horse who had been competing over fences for years! He just didn't jump because he didn't understand how. (We retired at that fence, and I stopped eventing soon after because I knew my skills were not up to handling such puzzles.) Some of Jazz's problem may be just plain old confusion.
Remember that what looks easy to us may not look easy to the horse. The more Jazz can learn to figure out how to handle tricky distances, etc. the more confident he will be.
Think about how much his traveling has improved as he has gained confidence in his ability to stand up and feel secure.
Nine times out of ten, most resistances are not out of total defiance, but rather out of lack of understanding. Some horses throw temper tantrums when they don't think they can do something. Some panic. Jazz is a tantrum horse, as is Tucker. Once they "get it" there is a certain, deceptive ease that makes you think they were just being obstinate. Instead, it was a mask for frustration/fear.
"Mom's lecture" over. *G* Don't give up hope.
Repetition will do it Jean. Every other horse I have ever trained has, long before this point with Jazz, accepted one of two things:
- that I am right if I tell them that they have the ability to jump the fence that I am asking them to do
or
- that I have a right to insist that they jump the fence that I am asking them to.
The former is better, of course, but Jazz will do neither. He has a stronger will than any horse I have ever come across, and unfortunately his physical strength means that there is s*d all I can do about it! And to top it off, he is a wee bit of a coward too, so we have this hesitant start every single time we go jumping. When we showjump we start with a 9 inch high cross pole and we still get the same!!!Repetition will definitely solve it in the end, I just wonder when!
C
Thrilled to hear about how Tetley has found such a safe and secure home with ML - lovely end to the story.
Jazz - hmmm! I have to say I agree completely with two main things Jean said. Firstly lots of grids and gymnastic jumping at home all giving him confidence that he can come into and jump a fence for the first time confidently...gymnastic jumping takes them by the hand and enables you to put their feet where they need to be to make the next bit easy. Secondly going out jumping xc in company - let him take a lead from a braver older horse, let him see it's fun and easy and not scary enough to warrant a stop and look every time. Bit like race horses that in the main take off from where the horse in front does - let another horse do the tricky bit for him so he can follow suit until he understands how to figure it for himself. I'd say it sounds like he needs a helping hand - yes repitition but repitition of stuff that gets him flowing more and more confident not necessarily repitition of stopping and then jumping..
Funny that, I was going to suggest just what the first two have suggested.
I would want him jumping fluently over jumps and cross country fences at "home" larger than he is likely to tackle in a competition.
A bit of company might just give him that extra courage and find out that it is really lots of fun.
Judith
Guys you are all talking a lot of sense, but what I do not understand and have never come across with another horse is that he finishes a session jumping with confidence and apparent enjoyment but starts the next session back at square one. On Friday when we take him showjump training again he will probably refuse a nine inch cross pole warm up fence at least once. I am going to put up the showjumps that I have at home now the arena is dry, and jump him here for a few minutes every day the weather allows to see whether that will make it click in his confused little brain!
C
Some horses have strange learning curves. One day you go out, think you've conquered an exercise and then...poof! Next day, nothing. (Reminds me of some of my students at school. *G*)
Really, until the physical concept of jumping, especially jumping from various distances and combinations, becomes rote, he may have problems. It seems that his brain and body are not connecting on what he is supposed to do.
If you have ever tried to knit or play the piano, think about how long it takes before your hands don't have to consider what they are supposed to do before they do it. Now, multiply that by Jazz's 1200 or so pounds of muscle and you may have an idea of what might be happening. ("OK," he says, "there's this thing in front of me. What is it? Wait a minute, it's one of those things I'm supposed to do something with. Oh, do I have to pick my feet up? Where? Uhm. I don't know about this. Not sure what I am supposed to do with that foot, or that one, or that one or...whoops, I'm going to crash into it if I don't stop or swerve.")
I can understand his difficulty Jean, but I completely don't understand why he is taking, so far, ten times as much training as any other horse I have had and still not getting the message. I'm not exagerating, it's at least ten times as much showjump training as any other horse I've done. He's a complete puzzle. Maybe he just hates jumping?
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