Problem with my horse charging at jumps

Anna from Buckinghamshire asks Melanie:

“Hello, I have recently been having troubles with my horse Spider. He is normally very uneasy in his canter and charges at the jumps. I think he was broken to drive a cart, but he has only had 3 owners. The girl before us mainly used him for competitons and what my instructor calls a ‘typical teenagers pony’ And thinks he was potentially just jumped too high and fast. And the lady who had him before we were not told much about, but that she bred himWhat could i do to help him? – Anna ”

Melanie’s Response

Hi there Anna. Happy New Year.

Your instructor is most probably right in her assessment of your horse. Quite how much difference can be made at this stage is down to you.
Your instructor has most probably started trotting pole work and grid work with you. That is the way forward. Patience on your part alongside repetition.

Learn how to use the passoa and train endless canter transitions using that once you have your horse working happily in it. All this takes time and patience on your part but you can train this horse of yours out of these old habits by being methodical. I sell a training dvd on how to use the passoa properly. It explains everything you need to know and do with it to get it right.

I do hope I have been of some help.
Kind regards Melanie Watson

This blog was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010