How can we prevent a horse from rushing in jumping?
You ride toward the obstacle, and suddenly your horse speeds up and moves toward it.
You try to slow him down by taking contact and sitting deep, but he ignores your commands and continues to accelerate.
You can’t see the distance, and at the moment of takeoff, your horse either jumps from too far away and makes a flat jump, or adds a small extra stride at the last moment and gets over the obstacle with difficulty.
If this situation sounds familiar to your horse, you are riding a horse that rushes.
At best you feel unorganized, and at worst you have no control, and sometimes it is even frightening.
You lose your confidence and worry that your horse’s confidence may also be at risk.
The most common reason a horse rushes is that he is crooked or unbalanced, or both.
When a horse is crooked or unbalanced, he does not have enough power to carry his weight evenly on both hind legs, which means he does not have the power needed to jump the obstacle confidently.
Instead, he uses speed to get over the obstacle.
On the other hand, a straight horse travels on two tracks, and each hind leg follows the path of the corresponding foreleg, whether on a straight line or a curve.
He accepts equal contact with both reins and does not lean on or brace against one rein.
His weight is evenly distributed over all four legs.
This allows him, when jumping, to push evenly from his hind legs and produce a powerful, correct jump.
The key to preventing a horse from rushing is to change his balance without taking away his motivation.
However, many riders think the solution to slowing down a horse that rushes is to use a stronger rein or take a stronger hold near the obstacle.
This often makes the problem worse because riding quickly turns into a tug-of-war—and that is a situation your horse will always win!
I will show you my method for correcting a horse that rushes—first by making sure he is straight and can travel on two tracks, and then by adjusting his balance on the flat and then over a small cavalletti exercise.
Before you begin, it is always a good idea to check any physical problems with your veterinarian before trying to solve the problem through exercise.
Your horse may be running away from pain.
However, people sometimes rush to the veterinarian too quickly in search of a magic solution.
Most of the time, it just takes correct riding.
Straight movement on two tracks Before you begin working on your horse’s straightness, make sure that you yourself are centered—sometimes riders are naturally one-sided.
They also often twist their bodies, become tense, or lean in the saddle because of years of trying to cope with a horse that is stiff in one rein.
Sit squarely and have equal weight in both stirrups, seat bones, and reins so you do not help create, or cause, your horse’s crookedness.
As with riders, many horses are naturally one-sided and stronger on one side than the other—which is one of the most common causes of crookedness.
A sign that your horse is crooked is that he leans on one rein.
When he does this, he avoids contact with the opposite rein and avoids carrying weight on the opposite hind leg.
For example, a horse that leans on the left rein avoids contact with the right rein and does not put weight on its right hind leg, which causes it to turn to the right.
To test this, think of the funnel shape from the horse’s mouth and bit to your hands.
Your hands are the widest part of the funnel and the bit is its narrowest part.
When you are working on a flat surface, look at your horse’s shoulders and make sure that the left shoulder and left rein are as far apart as the right shoulder and right rein.
If this is the case, it is a good sign that your horse is moving with straight shoulders and his hindquarters are aligning.
If you see that his left shoulder wants to come closer to the left rein (and the widest part of the funnel), this is a sign that your horse is leaning on the left rein, dropping his left shoulder, and turning his hindquarters to the right.
This means that he is also putting less weight on his right leg or is weaker on that side.
If your horse is crooked, the goal is to get him to make contact with the rein he is avoiding, which helps align the shoulders with his hindquarters so he straightens.
Horses are less tense or afraid when you move their shoulders than when you move their hindquarters.
You can still support with your leg, but the focus should be on controlling the shoulders.
So in the example above, if your horse is leaning on the left rein, start by moving to the left in walk, because it is a little easier for the rider to correct the inside rein relative to the outside rein.
Start by using the right rein open: imagine that you are holding a serving tray and need to move both hands at the same level.
Without changing the distance between your hands, move both of them slightly to the right.
This encourages your horse to accept a little contact with the right rein, lift his left shoulder, and move both shoulders to the right to fill the space between the right rein and his right shoulder.
At walk, Oreo leans on the left rein and turns his hindquarters to the right.
I correct this crookedness by opening my right rein until he accepts a little contact with the right rein and moves his shoulder to the right to fill the space created by the slightly opened rein.
I am careful not to pull him back or overbend him.
©Amy K.
Dragoo When your horse takes the contact on the right rein, allow him to bend slightly to the left by following his mouth with your right hand.
If you have too much weight in your right hand, you may block him and force him back onto his left shoulder.
Lifting the left shoulder and bending the horse around your left leg creates a solid contact on the right rein.
The result is that the horse puts more weight on his right hind leg.
After mastering moving the horse on two lines at walk, try it at trot and then Chaharnal.
You will use the same aids, except in Chaharnal, where you can use your seat bones more to influence the horse.
In Chaharnal, be especially careful to sit in the center of your horse, because a crooked horse will try to throw you to one side and affect the balance even more.
For example, if you are cantering to the left and your horse is stiff in the left rein and weak in the right hind leg, when you keep the left shoulder from falling, you feel that the horse brings its weight onto its right hind leg, and you can feel the difference in your right seat bone.
When you feel this difference in your seat bone, reduce the pressure on the left rein.
When your horse is moving straight on two tracks, you can ask it to carry more weight evenly on its hind legs.
Get your horse balanced on its hind legs. To practice putting more weight onto the horse’s hind legs, in the walk increase the leg aids so that your horse moves forward and the energy comes from behind.
By sitting quietly, raise both hands and maintain the connection from the bit to the elbow.
This will lift the shoulders and allow the horse to carry more weight on its hind legs.
At this stage, most horses become lighter in your hand and want to stretch in a more natural way and lift their backs because they are in balance.
When you feel this balance, allow your horse to use its neck as a reward and, by lowering your hand and following its mouth, let it stretch.
When learning this technique, it is helpful to have an aware eye on the ground to tell you when to soften.
When the helper sees that the horse is putting weight onto its hind legs, they can remind you to soften your hands and follow the horse as it stretches.
Soon you will develop this feeling on your own.
A common mistake is that when your horse wants to stretch, you continue asking it to transfer its weight back.
This quickly turns into a high-pressure situation that makes your horse anxious and confused.
Riding is all about pressure and reward.
The timing of the reward in anything you do with horses is important, but it is especially important in this exercise.
When your horse shifts its balance back in the walk, do the exercise in trot and then canter.
If your horse keeps its head up, keep your hand almost higher than where it wants it, so that a connection is created from the bit to the elbow.
After doing this, raise your hand a little higher to help it put its weight onto its hind legs.
As soon as the horse, with its head up, transfers its weight back, it always wants to lower its head and soften its back, and as a result it can jump better.
The biggest mistake is to lower your hand if your horse raises its head to pull its head down—this does not work.
It is stronger than you are.
For a horse that pulls its head down, you must also raise your hand to encourage it to transfer its weight backward.
Again, when you feel that the front end comes up and it sits, you must allow it with your hand to carry itself.
When a horse pulls its head down, many riders turn to a stronger bit, but I encourage them to learn the correct technique with their hands.
For example, the reason riders put a gag bit in the horse’s mouth is for more control.
When the rider pulls back, the bit rises in the horse’s mouth, which helps lift his head—and when you lift the head, the weight shifts to the hind legs.
Why not just raise your hand to achieve the same result?
Using a pair of auxiliary reins or a stronger bit will not solve the problem.
The reason your horse rushes at first is that he is weak in one hind leg and lacks balance.
It is important to understand how to change the horse’s balance instead of slowing him down by pulling on the bit, which can quickly turn into a tug-of-war.
A horse that is very on the forehand is telling you that it is physically hard for him to carry himself.
After you have taken a few good steps, give your horse a rest and then ask again.
If he cannot naturally go five steps in good balance, you cannot expect him to go 100 steps in that balance without trouble.
This is not something that develops overnight—you must recognize his ability and work to increase his strength over time.
Cavalletti for straightness To practice keeping your horse straight and on his hind legs toward obstacles, start with a simple cavalletti exercise.
Place two cavalletti five steps apart (18 meters) in the middle of the arena.
Place two ground poles on each cavalletti to form a "V".
Place the narrower end wider than the horse’s shoulders and on the cavalletti, and leave the wider end on the ground.
These poles act as guides or a funnel to remind you to focus on straightness and encourage your horse to jump through the center of both cavalletti.
On the approach to the right, travel along the long side in a big, forward trot.
If your horse tends to be weak in the right hind leg, think of shoulder-in in the trot before you turn onto your line to shift the weight onto the hind leg.
Use this simple cavalletti exercise to practice keeping your horse straight and on the hind leg in front of obstacles.
©Amy K.
Dragoo Before you turn onto your line, think of making a small square turn while maintaining a good rhythm.
But do not overdo it, because trying to make the turn too square can slow the trot and break the rhythm, which makes the jump harder for the horse.
When you turn to the center of the line, think of sitting very straight and keeping your outside shoulder back.
If you help too much with your outside shoulder, you will release with your outside hand, which allows him to go through his outside shoulder.
Keep your eye on the cavalletti line and focus on performing two actions—a balancing action by lifting the outside hand and a shoulder-blocking action by opening the inside hand and using a slight outside neck rein.
This helps your horse bring his shoulders around his inside hind leg more easily by lifting his shoulders and distributing the weight onto his hind legs.
Simply pulling or turning with the outside hand does not work because it does not encourage the horse into balance on the hind leg.
With a light contact, trot over the cavalletti line in five easy steps.
If your horse wants to throw his shoulder to the left, pull the left hand straight toward you to block the left side, move his shoulders to the right, and put a little more weight on the right hind leg.
Be careful not to be stiff or pull, because this will cause him to lose his forward movement.
Your right leg supports your horse’s hip and prevents him from moving to the right.
When the five-stride line becomes easy, ride the line in six strides to practice balancing his weight on his hind legs by lifting your hands.
This exercise is not about shortening the horse’s stride or slowing down; rather, it is to bring him back and change his balance.
As before, first focus on keeping your horse straight, then think about lifting his shoulders.
Training a horse to move straight on two lines can take several sessions, and it may take some time to develop the feel of changing his balance when approaching a jump.
However, your horse will soon learn that he does not need to rush at jumps in order to get over them.
Remember, stopping a horse from rushing has more to do with understanding technique in your riding than with using force and strength.
The importance of building strength In terms of power, it is really difficult for horses to move completely straight for a long time.
To build your horse’s strength, which in turn helps his balance, sometimes ride outside your practice arena.
Find a field or trail where you can work on staying straight for longer.
Every so often, look down to check the distance between the horse’s shoulders and the reins and make sure he is straight.
Editor’s note: Shortly before this article was published, Kevin Babington suffered a serious spinal injury while competing with his Grand Prix partner Shorapur, while Shorapur was unharmed.
For status updates on Kevin and more information about fundraising efforts, please see the article “Babington Strong” in our Summer 2020 issue.
About Kevin Babington Kevin Babington began riding in his native Ireland at the age of 11.
He competed in fox hunting and Pony Club, then trained with Iris Kellett, a veteran Irish show jumper, and earned a coaching certificate from the British Horse Society.
Kevin then moved to the United States and worked for several years with Frank and Mary Chapot.
In 2000, one of Kevin’s students, amateur show jumper Saly Glassman, gave him the chance to ride the exceptional Irish Sport Horse stallion Carling King.
The pair went on to represent Ireland at numerous international competitions and, among other honors, earned 12 team victories in the Nations Cup, eighth place individually at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, and fourth place individually at the 2004 Olympics.
Kevin continued to train and compete with top-level show jumpers, including Mark Q and Shorapur, with whom he has earned numerous Grand Prix victories and placings.
This article was originally published in the Fall 2019 issue.
Source: Practical Horseman – Training