Lol…I wouldn’t be giving him head too much either!!! I actually thought the OP was doing a good job. OP…just need to keep schooling a few more times. He will settle. You had more good than bad moments in those videos. I wouldn’t be stressing about it. I bet if you were doing an entire course he would get better and better.
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In going really old school. A horse that parties after a fence gets a couple of good boots and the whip and I push them into a serious gallop. I WANT them to learn to jump and gallop, NOT jump and halt or jump and circle. Even my hottest true long format horse was treated this way.
To me, curbing the enthusiasm kills the will of the horse. The only thing to do is direct and guide the enthusiasm into more forward and on to the next fence.
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Thank you 
making me feel less guilty. I’m hoping he will settle, I just want to be able to do something other than hold on lol. Especially with schooling being hard to come by, I want to be able to do something about it more than the 2x a year we go.
RAyers, I agree with you a lot. I want to push forwards, as I tend to see bucking as a refusal to move away from the leg. But I’m SO worried about his legs! This is the farthest we’ve gotten him into “real work” in 2 years. He’s out of rehab, in good shape, and totally recovered but I’m still paranoid af lol. I think I’ll try to move into this approach as I get more confident he won’t just die from underneath me…
I think there is a bit of understandable anticipation. You know he is going to party on the backside so you are coming back a bit early before he’s landed. On the video of the single fence I dropped the speed back to 0.25 and you can see where your seat is touching down while he is still in motion. This hollows him out and invites more silliness. Personally, I’d neck strap and try to stay up for a stride afterward while thinking forward. Even if you are jumping a single fence, make sure you do it with intention. It is really easy to canter up to a single fence, jump, land, and then just ride out whatever happens as they flub around. Find your line, ride with intention, jump, land, and ride with focus through the transition until he is completely back to a walk. When you are doing multiple fences you can see the focus and intention with your aids as compared to a single fence. I think that almost all riders are prone to doing this and most horses dont take advantage. I think he’s athletic and smart enough that he needs to think that both sides of the fence require focus and a listening ear.
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