thank you 
it really would be a great way to get my toes wet.
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Excellent! What fun to buy stuff. 
I’m not a bling person but when I got the perfect bridle for my mare I was like a strutting pigeon. It looked right on her and it enhanced her look of royalty.
When you have a good coach they know when to push you a bit out of your comfort zone. It might not be the best canter but you will have cantered in a test and lived to tell the tale. 
Go for it!
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I won’t either. And no one will care! If it was just for kiddos, the rules would say so. I’ve been the only obvious over-18 many a time, and never felt out of place. The gate guards like it because I know my course and usually volunteer to go first!
Sounds like you’ve got a good thing going - enjoy it! Half the reason we own horses is to buy the cute stuff anyway… or so my bank account believes.
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I was 45 when I got reserve champion for the season in a crossrail division, so absolutely no judgement from me! At some point, you should just go out there and have fun. I don’t care if it’s over ground poles or cross rails or 1.4m. Have fun! Enjoy your horse! And do your best!
Also, sounds like you two are doing well together!
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I’ve done cross rails at over 50 competing against tiny children on tiny ponies. It was fun! I always cheered for the littles when they kicked my butt.
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Oof from such a high to such a low. I had probably the worst ride I’ve ever had last night.
We started by trotting a jump. That was fine, no big deal. But whenever we cant to canter it, as I turned towards the jump she would forcefully veer the opposite direction. It was a resounding NO. Loud and clear.
My coach says maybe I’ve got a bit too much hand, but she did it even when I sat there and did nothing intentionally. It got so bad we had to work hard on getting her to just canter past the jump at all.
We ended in tears and my coach tried to talk me down. She tried, but inadvertently said a few things, such as 1. Your horse has no talent over fences 2. she didnt believe id do as well as i did at the show last weekend and 3. it was my lack of finesse that was causing this to happen
I’d like to trust my coach but it wasnt the best time to hear some of that (I dont care if my horse is talented over fences we’re aiming for 0.65m here…always have been) I personally have ridden a lot of thoroughbreds and a lot of mares and this was, to me, a resounding “I hate jumping I dont want to do this” My coach said we dont need to jump to conclusions, which fair, and to keep trying, but I really dont want to push her to do something she hates this much.
I dont know how on earth do you tell if jumping is something your horse hates? It sure seems that way from her aggressive avoiding of it.
I feel like packing her up and taking her to a dressage only barn but it would be such a shame if this isnt her saying no but is indeed something Im doing wrong.
Maybe she’s just got bad memories of when she learned to jump and if we try we can train her out of it. Maybe she hates it more than anything. I just dont know and I feel like a pile of poop today.
Horses can be such a merry-go-round sometimes. High one minute, down the next. Im feeling very discouraged.
I was not there, so take this as a mere second thought.
After she refused a couple times, did you go do other, spend time on flat work, maybe some pole grids?
I would not keep working on a sticky point when is not working, much less let it get to the point of those words being exchanged?
Leave working on that for a better day, find something nice to do that you both enjoy, one time sticky point happen to everyone, you find a way around it and is not always in that moment, but afterwards, when reflecting on it.
Sounds like trainer was also upset, maybe from other nothing to do with you and was not at it’s best and also struggling?
We humans some time get tunnel vision and can only see the immediate moment and at times we are blind to the big picture.
Sorry that you seem to have been thru one of those times, bet next time you can handle it in a more satisfying way, this was a learning experience that will make you and mare better eventually.
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I don’t know your horses health or fitness but the only time I’ve had a tb tell me no was when they hurt.
I switched from hunters to dressage for my ottb mare. Her front legs/fetlocks were already damaged just from race training (at 2yo!). I didn’t want to cause even more harm.
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she never raced and was broke at 5, not an OTTB, so no known damage anywhere. Im terrified its a pain response too.
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If your horse has been stomping at flies and it’s as hot where you are as it is here, she might just be over life at the moment with sore feet and just grumpy over the heat.
Give her a few days, make sure her feet aren’t sore, even slightly, maybe pack with magic cushion for a couple days. Then try again.
My pony gave me the middle finger when I asked him to trot in long lines yesterday, doesn’t mean he wants to retire… his feet were a touch sore from stomping at flies. Magic Cushion and he was fine this morning.
Think of her saying… not right now vs no.
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Same here. Maybe “mom I’m confused but trying in a very dramatic fashion” but “NO!” is usually “OUCH!”
Stomping at flies really can do that to their feet and make them super ouchy. Add in a show (which is often WAY more work than a day at home - trailering and standing around and working on new footing at least, actually working way more than usual at worst) and you may have set each other up for failure here. She may just be sore in her feet or back. Standing still with a rider up is a biomechanical nightmare for a horse, and we tend to do a lot of that at a show. Maybe you didn’t, but it is something to think about!
Either way, don’t panic just yet. Pack her feet and get some fly boots and revisit in a few days. Sounds like you and your coach wound each other up a bit, so I’d file that away as a learning experience that you may not problem solve the way your coach usually chooses. You may need to break things down to tiny victories and quit on a good note to avoid the meltdown. There’s always tomorrow (or next week!).
In general though, it’s up and down with horses. A perfect school = crap show, and a crap schooling = good show, for me anyway. Maybe you just delayed your crap for after 
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When in doubt ask Chat GPt about your ability/your horses ability she lets you down with class.
I second the boots! I have to have my OTTB in them 24/7, bonus I get steps in looking for the boots 90% of the time! He’s my one boot wonder😂
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I am bringing my TB along over fences now and I can 100% relate to the highs and lows.
One thing I have found helps is to remind myself that we are often jumping heights that he could literally walk over. So while I still feel bad when I set him up for a bad distance or something like that, physically it’s not the end of the world for him. And as far as your horses jumping ability - given the heights I am guessing you are talking about, jumping ability should have very little to do with it.
Could your trainer or another confident rider put a few over fences rides in? That way you could evaluate things without the emotions of wondering if you are doing something wrong.
I can’t say I have ever seen a horse just “hate” jumping to the point that they won’t do it. That to me indicates that they are uncomfortable and/or really nervous about something.
It can be so hard with young /green ones to know when to push and when to step back, but for me at least, I have never regretted stepping back/down but have regretted pushing too far. No shame in going back to a ground pole, trotting it a few times and ending on a good note.
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It is hard when you are learning to jump not to come apart when you take an inevitable step or two back after many weeks of moving forward. Once the horse stops, we can tend to tighten up with frustration and dread your next show will be a flop. The horse feels it and thinks “you mean you are scared too 
”
The best thing is to change the subject and go do something else. Forget about it, maybe try one more approach but do not try to drill it and end up schooling the stop instead of the jump.
Can your trainer hop on? Maybe it is just you and your nerves. But do not panic over it.
Have to say trainer could have helped you here more than you are telling us. IMO much of this could have been avoided. Even if horse never did jump that, it could have ended on a much better note for all 3 of you instead of where this ended up.
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Coach and I went for an early morning ride in the fields yesterday and she was foot perfect.
I have another lesson today. I’m hoping it’s just on the flat, but I’ll try my best if it isn’t.
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Can trainer hop on first over anything you might jump? That way you can be more confident and set up for more success instead of a repeat.
Do NOT be afraid to speak up.
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Had a dressage lesson today- she was foot perfect. Really quite the mare. Lovely.
I am going today to buy fly boots. I want to give her every opportunity to thrive here. We probably won’t try jumping again until after the show on the 5th.
In addition to the w/t division I will be doing a test of choice- cadora training level test b.
I’ll update you all on how it goes. She’s really got quite the gift for dressage. I’m so proud of how far she’s come since I bought her.
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I’m a hunter rider who dabbled in puddle jumper eventing years ago, so when I was given a very athletic 4-y-o Black Minnaloushe mare who wasn’t earning enough to keep on the track, I naturally worked to transition her to jumping.
After about a year of training, she still plowed through every jump (low, higher, solid, airy, etc.) Even my trainer couldn’t ever get her to actually go over a single fence. 
But she loved doing flatwork and baby dressage, so that’s what we did, until she developed chronic cellulitis in both hinds several years later.
Do you think there was a connection between her not jumping and then getting cellulitis in both hind legs? (I have no idea what cellulitis entails so I’m just tossing out a question)
Possibly, but I gave up trying to teach her to go OVER the fence several years before the cellulitis showed up.
I did have a soundness exam done, which didn’t indicate any pain. And she never showed any reluctance on the flat. Anthropomorphizing here, but I really got the feeling that she just didn’t see the point of leaping into the air.
Those Storm Cats are smart! 
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