What are the causes of a horse that is a touch slower with one front leg at take off and hence over the top of a fence. Rider error (jumping up the neck loading the front end?); not enough engagement behind? Canter not “up” and developed enough? just slower reflexes?
How to go about fixing?
(edited to add hoping to bring horse back into work this spring.)
TIA
What size fences are you jumping?
Up to 3’6" --he tends to not be even in front with the last front leg to leave the ground which is slower --and if the photo is taken before the apex it would make you wince. He was being leased by an eventer. He had a huge kick behind and can just about rocket you out of the tack. I got him back and was trying to think of how to improve his form in case he ends up being my local (unrecognized) show hunter.
But I have a feeling it is more of a push from behind issue than a front leg reflect issue?i
Is it bi-lateral?
Got any film on him? Hard to visualize how slow “slow” is. And most of the time there’s more then one thing influencing this kind of thing.
Might be starting to swap over the top so he lands on a preferred lead to protect a weaker or sore leg on landing? Does he always land on the same lead? Swap at the base and if so to/from which lead?
Is he straight and dead center over the top or sliding sideways? Land square and straight or dropping the shoulder on one side?
As chunk asked, is it bilateral or always the same leg?
Finally, has he any known issues and is he on any kind of maintainance? Any recent X-rays or ultra sounds?
Could be many things IMO. Inexperienced horses sometimes do this until they figure out where their legs are but this sounds like an experienced horse?? We aren’t talking about a horse hanging a leg, correct? Just that look like they are cantering over the jump instead of square? I know a horse that will hang a leg if you get to the jump and get soft on him… Irish jumper. He needs you to be holding the reins so he can take his rider to the jump.
Horses can get casual over jumps that are too small for them… just cantering over them. Is this a very scopey horse? Sometimes a great hind end can overpower the front end but I’d say that usually shows up more as jumping over their shoulder more than unevenness. Hard to say really the issue without seeing it.
Strength in the hind end and having it engaged can help. Canter up to the base on a real or even strong canter and make the horse defend himself at the jump.
Takeoff and landing rail can also help with form.
Honestly plenty of horses can’t be hunters because of these kinds of form issues. Lots of horses that are a little uneven or jump over their shoulder but with scope doing the jumpers.
have to see if there is any video–I think it is the lead he is cantering on up to the fence that is the last front leg to leave the ground when he tales off and seems to get late–no one has ever said anything to me but it became apparent to me watching his progress under the eventer and seeing photos of him taken at events–he is almost square by the time he hits the apex but yikes some of the photos I thought he looked like he was going to hang a leg but somehow the next click or two of the camera it is almost square over the apex. I will see what I can find. I dont think he “pats” the ground with both front feet when taking off if that makes.
Don’t rely on pictures for this sort of thing. Watch videos. If it’s a scopey horse who isn’t “looky” at the jump then he’s probably just stepping over the jumps, but even so he’ll still have the front end even at the apex.
My jumper is very quick with his front end, hence why I love him in the jumper ring. He snaps them up evenly over something as low as 2’9".
My hunter on the other hand does exactly what you’re describing unless the jumps are over 3’6". In person or on video it wasn’t very obvious because he does come up nice and even at the apex, but it’s only for a moment since he’s really just stepping over them. It makes getting good pictures nearly impossible.
I do lots of bounces and high X’s with him so that the front end doesn’t get any slower, but it’s not something that I worry about.
Small (relatively) square oxers help tighten them up as would adding a ground pole. I’ve seen some use real high sided cross rails too.
Still not clear, is he late with the leading leg on both leads or just one and what does he do landing, straight and square or dropping a shoulder and drifting to one side or the other? How are hus flying changes, sharp or dragging behind? And what, if any, maintainance has been done? Sore hocks make them not want to rock back and power off.
One of my friends has a zone 3 reserve champion Hunter that looks atrocious in most photos but she jumps great. She is very square at the apex of the jump. I agree I wouldn’t judge form based on photos ever. Sometimes it’s a lack of skill of the photographer and sometimes a horse comes off the ground unevenly but it’s fixed over the jump and won’t be marked down by a hunter judge,
I found a link to his event photos but as a junior was riding (not me) I do not want to post–she did a great job. Looks like he could get “late” on either lead-- looks like he lands and goes straight. I think he did the same thing with me-before I leased him–but I only bought the photo where he was square over the apex and not the click or two before!
You all have given me good exercises. Will check out his hind end for issues.
My young jumper did this and still does if he gets unbalanced. It is all a function of having a strong hind end which will square up and support the horse off the ground. His trainer did lots of fairly high gymnastics with rails between each jump so Waldo got to the exact same spot every single time.
Once he got strong enough to square up behind, the front end has gotten 95% better. But he will still not jump square in front if he gets to a long weak distance and reverts back to his old habits.
It seemed to me that the fix was in the hind end, the front end was the beneficiary of the hind end learning to square up. Watch your horse to see if he takes that last 1/2 step with his following leg to bring the 2 legs together. If/when he does he should jump square.
I agree with those who say that a horse who has been cantering jumps that are easy for him learns to ‘cheat’ and not make an effort. In Waldo’s case the jumps were quite high, but they were still easy. The trainer kept putting them up (4’+) until Waldo really had to get his act together.
It might be harder to retrain an older horse, but it also might be a fun learning experience for both of you.
This. A straight balanced horse is going to produce the best jump it can so if you’re seeing something that is not right, check the straightness and the balance first. Placing poles will help the horse to bring the hind legs together to push of squarely rather than just cantering over a jump.
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