[simba]

Hi! I just got a new jumper that was sold to me as an upper level horse. We gelded him when we bought him and he came out of the procedure great! He has been much more manageable around the barn etc. but it seems to have taken away some of his fire over fences. I took him to our first show and although he was well behaved he was not careful AT ALL! I showed him in some lower level classes just to get used to him and he had quite a few rails every class. Sure, I am getting used to him and I know that takes time but does anyone have any suggestions to make him more careful?

[JA]

Was he careful when you purchased him?

My AO jumper was gelded at 7 and he is still the same bold, brave and extremely careful horse he was as a stallion. He's 9 now. The only difference is he's now a puppy dog around the barn instead of a monster trying to breed everything

[lcw579]

Take his jump boots off and jump him over solid wood poles that hurt when he hits them. If he is just being lazy that should correct the problem.

[cgray0983]

Grids freejumping maybe? So he has to get his feet up and out of the way quickly on his own.

[MCarverS]

Take his jump boots off and jump him over solid wood poles that hurt when he hits them. If he is just being lazy that should correct the problem.

We use heavy 4 x 4 wood poles in our gymnastic grids. It certainly has made them not want to touch the rails after touching them once.

I also sometimes put the front rail of the oxer up higher than the back rail to make them a bit quicker in front.

[hjrider1]

Take his jump boots off and jump him over solid wood poles that hurt when he hits them. If he is just being lazy that should correct the problem.

Hey "I'm a Slaughterette and I don't care..." you forgot to mention if he doesn't shape up she can always have him for dinner. Hold the Ace for 24 hours before consumption.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

How much lower are you jumping him? I know a lot of jumpers who are not careful over small jumps. They don't respect them. Try putting the fences back up.

[*Liz*]

How much lower are you jumping him? I know a lot of jumpers who are not careful over small jumps. They don't respect them. Try putting the fences back up.

This. My A/O jumper would have rails all day long at 3'9 or under, it had to be 4' or better to pique his interest enough for him to be clean.

[Sakura Hill Farm]

Trotting solidly-built cavalettis that are 1' high. Put together a series of 8 cavalettis, working up to that number and height gradually. You can do this daily with no harm to your horse and it will both teach him to snap his legs up as well as develop the muscles that are necessary to do so both trotting these cavalettis as well as jumping fences.

[Alterrain]

We use heavy 4 x 4 wood poles in our gymnastic grids. It certainly has made them not want to touch the rails after touching them once.

I also sometimes put the front rail of the oxer up higher than the back rail to make them a bit quicker in front.

^this.

and gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics! (at CORRECT distances)

If you don't want to buy new poles (and drive the pickup all the way to Home Depot ) you can staple some carpet tacks on the regular poles. Then just pull them off when you're done.

[lcw579]

Hey "I'm a Slaughterette and I don't care..." you forgot to mention if he doesn't shape up she can always have him for dinner. Hold the Ace for 24 hours before consumption.

Overreact much? You obviously missed the thread that quote came from -which was pretty funny.

Lots of horses have learned that they don't need to respect the pvc poles that are commonly used these days. Going back to the old fashioned way of doing things will freshen up a horse that is being lazy.

[twobays]

Just a thought: If you're riding him at a height that's smaller than what you're used to doing, you might not be riding as aggressively to the base of the jump, instead letting him take a little more of a gappy distance because you know he has the scope to get you out of the longer distances. If that's the case, working on riding him to a slightly deeper spot might freshen him up.

[MCarverS]

Just a thought: If you're riding him at a height that's smaller than what you're used to doing, you might not be riding as aggressively to the base of the jump, instead letting him take a little more of a gappy distance because you know he has the scope to get you out of the longer distances. If that's the case, working on riding him to a slightly deeper spot might freshen him up.

Just to add to this. I put a canter placement pole in front of the fence so that all I have to do is find the distance to the pole and then push to the base. It certainly makes me wait for the pole and then push, rather than just worry pushing and leaving a stride out.

[Small Spark]

It may also help to sharpen him up on the flat first. One of my favourites is a working walk pirouette into a line of cavalletti bounces (walk-in canter-out). Get him really sharp in the pirouette and start with only one cavalletti.

[simba]

Thanks so much for all the ideas. Yes, I think I am riding a little weak as we were only jumping 3'6" and he has done much much more. I am definitely going to work lots of gymnastics etc. and also get him a little sharper on the flat as well. Thanks everyone!