Lots of good suggestions here. When you’re ready to jump, start out (preferably) free jumping or ( second choice) on a lunge. If there is no rushing , then you know that it is a rider -caused (or saddle fit) problem. If there is still inappropriate speed, look into physical issues.
Always school and reschool using the classical training pyramid as a guide. Horses who need “reschooling” do so because this guide has not been used correctly in the past. Step one is “free forward relaxed motion”. That is at all gaits. You must GET that, fully and correctly, at all gaits before moving on to anything at all. So, very little “hand”, no asking anything in terms of using the reins for anything other than BASIC navigation around the ring. Walk, trot and canter, using so little “hand” that the horse goes ONLY from your leg. You must be able to put your leg onto the horse’s side, and she must accept that, and move forward from it, in a relaxed manner. If you don’t have that, you can not progress from that. Your goal is a “long and low” frame, reins loose, your leg activating the hind end to power forward in a relaxed manner. You may use your leg, your voice, and your weight/seat to influence your horse’s speed and direction, and as little contact with the mouth as possible. None, if possible. Do downward transitions without using the reins. Your horse is not ready to accept the bit, and is NOWHERE near being “on the bit”. The horse will initiate contact with the bit when the horse is ready to do so. This is not up to the rider to do this, so don’t. It must come from the horse.
Since you are not using any “hand”, not pulling on the reins at all, she should not toss her head. But if she does anyway, because it is an ingrained habit that she has developed due to her history, use a standing martingale, correctly fitted (this is not a “tie down”, it does not tie the head DOWN. It only comes into play if the horse tossed her head UP in an attempt to break your nose.) If you do not know how to correctly adjust a standing martingale, research that.
Most horses doing what you appear to have as a goal for this horse need little more than the first level of the classical training pyramid. But if you wish to investigate the higher levels, feel free to do so. They involve bending, yielding, carriage, acceptance of the bit, and finally… collection. Jumping fits in there too if you wish, somewhere around the second level or so, depending on the horse. But it is that first level that is SO important, and is SO OFTEN screwed up by someone who doesn’t have a clue, and wrecks the horse as a result. The result is a tense horse, a “hot” horse, a rushing horse. These are not the goal of training. Horses may well be a sensitive individual, not forgiving of the human’s mistakes and miscues. “Hot” comes from misunderstanding by a sensitive horse. Or from pain, if present. “Hot” is not a natural response from a horse for no reason.
If you don’t have “FREE FORWARD RELAXED MOTION”, you haven’t started yet. You haven’t got the first, basic step understood and in action. You can not move on from there without the first step completed. (I don’t mean YOU in particular, I mean EVERYONE.) Doesn’t matter if you ride English or western, or what discipline you ride, or what your goals are. If you do not use the theories and practices of the Classical Training Pyramid, your horse training will result in failure, for both you, and the horse. It’s not difficult, nor hard to understand, or even hard to implement. But adjust your goals appropriately, and success is easier to attain.
Good luck!
Did you try a Kineton noseband?
