Q. My school horse was western before her owner got her, and she was leased out to a lady who was very competent who trained her hunter. Since she was western, she has a low head carriage and is constantly "on the bit". When I go to jumps, it feels like she's pulling me. Sometimes she'll just leap at them. I get out of jump position too early, so I've been staying up a stride after the fence. Sometimes, we have our nice, relaxed canter and get a perfect stride to it, but on the other side she puts her head down and runs. Then, we make a mad gallop for the second jump of the line. She could just be pulling me because she's in heat or not being worked enough, or it could be the fact she didn't get her dinner before I rode. It normally helps to lighten her if I give a little tug to the inside rein and squeeze her on, but last night nothing worked. I've also started a bad habit (I'll watch my shadow when I ride; this is how I noticed this). I'll start pulling on the reins and hunch my back out of the saddle to slow her down.

I believe she has a hard mouth and that's she's lazy. I use a slow twist full-cheek with a flash. My trainer might get me a corkscrew. And, I'll need spurs this summer. She is faster in the winter and a little more flighty.

What's going to get her concentration back on me and not shadows and such? Half halts?

A. You've raised some interesting, if not slightly confusing, questions about this horse. First, it is true that many western horses are trained to carry their heads in a somewhat lowered position, though some of that positioning is also due to the conformation of stock-type breeds in general. What confuses me is your description of this horse being "on the bit" as a result of her western training. Western horses are not trained to be "on the bit". In fact, western horses are typically trained to respond primarily to seat and leg cues with very little bit contact at all. It's a result of being ridden with slack reins.

If she is leaning into your hands and pulling you around the ring, my guess is that she's either developed a fairly hard mouth as is just ignoring you, or she's overly energetic or nervous and not easily controllable, or she's poorly balanced and is trying to find her support and balance in your hands, or she's lazy and is laying on your hands to help hold up her front end ... or it could be a combination of several of those things.

It also sounds like she's a bit bored with the low jumps and is just cantering over them, pulling you along for the ride. That's not an uncommon response from an animal who's been jumped a lot. She may jump a bit more energetically once you're going over higher obstacles, but it wouldn't hurt to ask your trainer about possibly incorporating some low gymnastics, bounces, and/or in and outs into your lessons to inspire this mare to put a bit more effort into her jumping.

I'm a great fan of lateral work and rapid transitions for grabbing and holding a horse's attention. The rapid transitions, in particular, are a fantastic way to put a horse right between your legs, seat, and hands and to get her attention focused solely and completely on you. If she's a fairly attentive mare to begin with, half-halts may be all she needs, but if she's become generally bored and inattentive, you may need to bring out the more energetic and engaging techniques I've just mentioned: lateral work and rapid transitions. Both of these will also help shift her balance back to her hindquarters and lift and lighten her front end, thereby softening her responses to your hands.

I suspect that by staying forward on this mare for a stride or two after the jump, you're most likely throwing her balance way onto her forehand and forcing her to rush to "catch up" with your own forward balance. If you're having a problem dropping back in the saddle too soon, then you should probably continue to stay out of the saddle for a stride after the jump, but, STOP LOOKING DOWN AT YOUR SHADOW!!! By dropping your eyes to check out your shadow, you're only throwing your balance even more forward (that hunchback look is a dead giveaway) and causing your horse even more problems! You must choose a spot at your eye level or higher on the wall directly beyond the center of the jump, and KEEP YOUR EYES GLUED TO IT until you are over the jump, sitting back in the saddle, with the mare balanced quietly under your seat.

This horse may be both hard-mouthed and lazy, but I don't think a stronger bit is going to correct this problem. She will most likely stay in balance for you and not rush away from her fences as soon as you learn to maintain your own balance correctly in synch with hers. Talk to your trainer about working on staying out of the saddle just the right amount of time over a jump, rather than relying on maintaining a two-point position unnecessarily beyond the jump. And by all means, stop collapsing your back over jumps! Your back should be perfectly straight and relaxed over jumps; only your hip angles should close to bring your shoulders closer to the horse's neck. As soon as you learn to rebalance both yourself and your horse immediately after a jump, the surging will end. Just keep working at it.

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