Ducking out at fences

[cowgurl1985]

Okay, So I just wanted everyone's oponion on this. I have a 7yr old Tb that will jump the moon and recently at every event we go to we have at least one refusal at a fence whether it be on XC or Stadium it doesnt matter. I'm riding beginner novice so the fences are not big at all and my horse is perfectly capable of jumping something WAY bigger and has. He seems as though he is locked on and then the last minute he ducks off to one side or another. I know I am probably jus not prepared for it and give him the benefit of the doubt as if he is going to soar right over it but sometimes he doesnt and it seems to be getting worse as I went to a mini event recently and got eliminated on stadium. How do I unteach this bad habit and how can I be more in tune with my horse and able to stop this. He never refuses fences in lessons or anything seems to be only at events.

[riderboy]

I was told ( in no uncertain terms by MANY people ) that runouts are always the riders fault. I seem to be having a similar issue with my boy the last two shows at novice. I just have to figure out what I'm doing/not doing right. Having someone watch you go so they can see your approach is extremely helpful. I am always struck by watching upper level riders how solid their leg is and how determined their approach to the fence.

[VCT]

Is your coach ever at the events or mini-trials? If so ask her to watch your stadium. Or if thats not possible and he never does it at home maybe you can truck out for a lesson or two. It would help if your coach can see whats happening. For example, he starts bulging out his right side and tricks you into dropping your right shoulder and then he's gone, etc. If you know exactly what is happening when he refuses you can be better equipped to stop it.

In general, you just need to really work on keeping him up in front of your leg and in an uphill type of canter, and into your hand. Try to imagine keeping him going into a tunnel between both legs and hands.

Can be easier said than done - I'm still working on consistently having a nice forward canter on my horse who has a bag full of tricks up his sleeve. 3 Pro's who are all much much better riders than me have all said he's very challenging. Root down, suck back, get long, get short, bulge one way, then the other, etc etc. He has been slowly but steadily improving over time. My horses saving grace is that even if I'm not riding him well enough to keep the perfect canter he always jumps the jump so at least I don't have that worry, even though we still have a ton to work on.

Anyways, really I think you should try to get your coach to see what is happening when you are having these refusals.

[Invested1]

I just went through this too. My horse, who LOFFS to jump, suddenly started refusing. The kicker was when he ran out on a (literally) 2 foot fence. I started making excuses, "well, I didn't really ride it," etc. The final straw was him running out when I had my spur dug into his side. *Something* had to be wrong. I called the vet out and sure enough, my poor pony was really, really sore on both of his front feet. :sigh:

I would say that if you're not doing anything differently and your horse, who generally enjoys jumping, is suddenly refusing, you may want to get him checked out. If the vet says he's totally fine and then you really do need to start riding harder.

[Ajierene]

I would definitely say it is rider error, but echo VCT. There are so many reasons this could be.

In high school, we had a 14HH pony that was flashy and could jump the moon...IF you were riding 100% ON. The moment you dropped your attention or riding somewhere, she would duck out.

It could be the same schooling fence you jumped hundreds of times, that plain vertical in the show ring or that scary oxer.

This is also something my mare used to do a lot more and still does on occasion. She cannot jump the moon, though - but no matter how talented the horse is, they still may be the type to either try no matter what or want your riding on no matter what.

This is definitely something a qualified eye should look for when you ride. Shows can bring show nerves and falling back on not so great habits.

[clm08]

In my experience horses duck out more due to rider's error than a physical problem. When they do have a physical problem, they tend to stop when they normally wouldn't.

I've seen some good jumpers ridden by capable riders running out when ridden by not so capable riders (ahem, as in myself having run outs with my horse over small jumps, when DD has no problems whatsoever jumping him over much bigger fences). I've seen the same happening with less experienced pony clubbers when they did a switch ride with a more experienced pony clubber's mount that never runs out with their regular, more experienced rider.

Then I have seen horses that usually have no problems stopping more because their back is sore, or hocks, etc.

So the advice of having a trainer help you figure out the problem is spot on!

[Mtn trails]

I'm having almost the identical problem right now. My mare will jump almost anything you point her at and willingly. However, there is one fence on a local cross country course that she will. not. jump.... at all. It's kind of a trakhaener (sp?) with a log on each side, two logs on top, and kind of a ditch underneath. So of course I thought it must be rider error. Yesterday I was on the course and the first time I rode her very strongly into it..Nope. Run out followed by swatting with the bat. Second time, more strongly with legs clamped on and guiding her toward the center. Nope. More swatting. Third time, she just would not even approach it. Started sucking back 3 strides out and put on the brakes. I got after her big time and she was just absolutely not going to jump it. Before it got into a big blowup, I decided to pick my battles and will be going out with my sometime coach and see what can be done. By gosh and by glory that horse will at some time jump the damn thing. It's only 2'6" for gods sake. We finished the day by jumping several of the more scary jumps and of course she was perfect. Horses!

[gully's pilot]

My daughter, who's about to make her BN debut on a wonderful old packer, struggled with this at the early part of the summer. Her instructor explained it as a straightness issue, not a jumping issue. Sometimes he'd take the jumps back to poles and make her practice riding through them perfectly straight--sometimes she'd just concentrate on leg to hand. It happened more when Katie wasn't perfectly confident--I'm not sure whether Pal was taking advantage, or trying to save her from that thing she was clearly afraid of--and the problem's gone away as she's learned to be a better rider. (FYI, Katie is 11, and Pal is 20.)