Question:
I have a 6 year old horse which started eventing last year. He went brilliantly through intro and pre novice classes. I have now moved up to novice and he seems very unsure and hesitant about jumping straight into water. What should I do?
Answer:
It could be that your horse has lost confidence due to having to jump into water, or, that you have presented him too fast so he was surprised and shocked. In either case you need to take him to a suitable cross country schooling area where there is a suitable water jump i.e. you can walk in and the bottom is good with the water not too deep. Bring a set of show jump wings and a pole or 2 with you.
Firstly let the horse walk through the water, and then trot and canter through it a few times. Use the show jump a stride or two away from the water first and then gradually move it closer until the horse has to jump a small fence and land in water. The exercise might have to be repeated several times for the horse to regain his confidence.
You might have to drop him back to give him 1 or 2 pre novice runs as well. Next time you have a jump directly into water make sure that you present the horse in a slow bouncy canter to allow him time to see what is there and to figure out how to cope with it.
This type of approach should have been practiced during your schooling sessions. I hope the above will work for you and your horse so you can have a long and successful event career.
Best of luck,
Equestriancoaches.com
