superpony123
Jul. 19, 2009, 02:18 PM
I'll try and make this brief (i really could write a bible about anything!)
I'm finding that my pony and I have a very hard time making good jumps when going uphill. At home, we do plenty of hill work, and he gallops willingly up much larger REAL hills. however, i was at a show today, and we did alright, we flew around the rest of the course like a breeze, but when going down 2 lines that were going uphill, i was trying REALLY hard to make him get up those lines. we had plenty of energy and impulsion around the rest of the course, but when it came to these 2 lines, we struggled. part of it is likely that my pony is just a lazy pig, but he's entirely capable of doing it. it was a nice day today, it wasn't hot. he got electrolytes anyway. i was wearing spurs. he is in shape.
but i've noticed this happens at other shows too, whenever the ring has a bit of a slope. it's always the uphill parts that get us.
what tips and tricks do you have to solve this issue? any tips for helping get around his laziness?
i plan to continue doing more hillwork, but the thing that gets me is that these slight slopes are NOTHING compared to the hills we gallop up at home! sure, the hills at home don't have jumps, but we're not exactly jumping 4' here either. this is children's hunter ponies, and the jumps are 2'6". nothing he can't handle, especially since we can jump 3' + at home. but other than more and more hills, is there anything else i can do?
as far as spurs go, i would rather not move up to a bigger set of spurs. i would consider wearing slightly stronger spurs at shows, but i always use a set of roller ball spurs. they're probably equivalent to those little nubby spurs, but i use these so he wont get any rubs. i try to only use these at shows and on extra-lazy days at home, in hopes that he does not get too 'used to them' or anything. but i think there must be a better way to make him move up to the jumps than just buying bigger spurs.
I'm finding that my pony and I have a very hard time making good jumps when going uphill. At home, we do plenty of hill work, and he gallops willingly up much larger REAL hills. however, i was at a show today, and we did alright, we flew around the rest of the course like a breeze, but when going down 2 lines that were going uphill, i was trying REALLY hard to make him get up those lines. we had plenty of energy and impulsion around the rest of the course, but when it came to these 2 lines, we struggled. part of it is likely that my pony is just a lazy pig, but he's entirely capable of doing it. it was a nice day today, it wasn't hot. he got electrolytes anyway. i was wearing spurs. he is in shape.
but i've noticed this happens at other shows too, whenever the ring has a bit of a slope. it's always the uphill parts that get us.
what tips and tricks do you have to solve this issue? any tips for helping get around his laziness?
i plan to continue doing more hillwork, but the thing that gets me is that these slight slopes are NOTHING compared to the hills we gallop up at home! sure, the hills at home don't have jumps, but we're not exactly jumping 4' here either. this is children's hunter ponies, and the jumps are 2'6". nothing he can't handle, especially since we can jump 3' + at home. but other than more and more hills, is there anything else i can do?
as far as spurs go, i would rather not move up to a bigger set of spurs. i would consider wearing slightly stronger spurs at shows, but i always use a set of roller ball spurs. they're probably equivalent to those little nubby spurs, but i use these so he wont get any rubs. i try to only use these at shows and on extra-lazy days at home, in hopes that he does not get too 'used to them' or anything. but i think there must be a better way to make him move up to the jumps than just buying bigger spurs.