My horse is slow on flat but rushes his jumps?

Question

I have a 20yr old morgan gelding who is really slow and calm on flat but really rushes his jumps during a course. I want him to be energetic on flat so we get good scores in dressage and slower over jumps so hes not running through my hands.

Answer 1

my mare is the same with jumps, but i have to work on slowing her down on the flat. for flat, just keep pressure with your calves and ask him to step out a little more instead of moving his legs too much faster so his movements become too rough. if they extend out their strides as well as quickening their step it still allows them to have a nice smooth movement thats easy to ride through. as far as rushing jumps, i have lately been trying to use her ques to slow down while give-and-taking on the reins with each stride up to the jump.. so every stride she takes i say easy and pull my wrists back [thats all it takes] then move my wrists back into position.. then after the last stride i want her to take i say up and she waits to jump until then. with a trot i pull the rein back on the same side she is stepping at one rein at a time, but for a canter i keep them at the same position and pull back as she is going into he stride so she wont speed it up any... then as a i go for awhile, i will stop give-and-taking one stride before so instead of going until the last stride, i stop and leave her one stride without any head-control before the jump... then if she stays at a consitant pace i wont give and take for two strides before the jump and so on and so forth.. in a half hour i got down to about 3 give-and-takes about 10 yards out of the jump and she stayed at a nice hunter over fences canter until she went over the jump in which case she will speed back up... anyway, i hope it helps!

Answer 2

My barn has a horse just like that. What we did was this: We made a big, even circle and put 2-4 poles down on each quarter of the circles edge. We would start at even pace around the circle and then slow him down, and get faster, or shorten your stride and lengthen your stride in between poles. Make sure you change what you do all the time, you don't want him to get bored, then he will be really slow.

Also, we did gymnastic lines. Lots of them, and changed them daily. We started with just 4-5 poles on the ground, trotting and cantering them, then we added a cross rail at the end and then a placing rail to make sure his strides weren't to big, and he didn't get faster. Then we raised the rails and made them cavaleties. It will make him pick up his feet more and make him have to go faster and lengthen his stride to get over the poles with out knocking them down.

Then we went back to regular poles and put a cross rail in front 9 feet away, then a vertical 18 feet away, then an oxer 18 feet away, then some more placing rails and poles so the horse won't rush.

It really does help. In the beginning it might help to use a whip or crop or something. But then wean yourself away from them.

Answer 3

simple version

go back to pole work and gradually incorporate  a jump so you have 3 poles in front then a jump then 1 pole and a jump. also dworkd work this will make her think more and not just about getting over the fence!! if she still carrys on, try coming to the fence closer maybe on a 20 meter circle this will not give her enough time to rush anyway.

hope this helps you!

Answer 4

Well, I would try maybe a little spur dressage/flat. For jumping, I would suggest you but a couple pulls before the jump, it teaches them to slow down and think where his feet are going to go.  Get an experienced person to help you with this! It can be very dangerous if you don't have them set up correctly! Also Try Grid work, you also need an experienced person to help you!