Question # 231: What I am struggling with is refusals, mostly confidence issues, spooking at fillers etc. I have found speed can sometimes be our friend, it looks out of control but the only times we have gone clear are when he's speeding!!!
...But my instructors tell me too slow down, and when I do bring him back he stops, at the moment I feel telling him to slow down before the jump is giving him mixed messages when he's already got a bad habit of stopping, but I guess its a timing thing. I'm tempted to just perfect a really fast round rather than trying to get a slow/controlled round out of him, as the chance of him refusing is so much higher when he's behind my leg. Finding that balance between fast and in front of my leg, gaarrrr, what to do?? (Shelley)
Hi Shelley!
It is hard for me to say for sure about whether your speed is too fast without seeing you go... is there any chance you can send a short video? I will say that every horse has a certain "lick" that they jump the best out of, and if your horse is on the small side, or has a fairly short stride, he may need that little extra speed to be at his most comfortable jumping courses. With each individual horse, you want to find the pace where you feel like your courses just flow nicely, and where you meet more jumps than not right out of your stride. Even if it looks a bit different from some of the other horses. Read this article on that subject.
If we are just talking about confidence, with your horse having more of a tendency to refuse when you approach the jumps more slowly, then you need to... (Click on Question Title above (in blue) to read full answer)
Sorry this page is available to subscribers only.
If you're not a subscriber why not join today?
If you are already a subscriber, please login.
If you believe you should be able to view this area then please contact us and we will try to rectify this issue as soon as possible.
