(Apologies for the lack of pictures. We had no videographer this day, only a GoPro at one end of the arena which got some small bits and pieces)
As I’m sure you have read in Darielle’s recent post, we decided to take a trip to Coilóg which is a showjumping venue here in Ireland. After our last outing to the National Sport Campus I was really looking forward to seeing how Coco would react in another new environment, but also expecting her to be in her element once again. We had just had a great lesson with Sue the week before where we jumped our highest jump yet and she was feeling good. Unfortunately things couldn’t have gone worse.
The Warm Up
I brought Coco into the arena and started warming her up while Sue reset the jumps. Straight away she was trotting around feeling fresh and bouncy, just like the sport 
campus. I got to the end of the arena and Coco started spooking at different objects all around the outside of the arena. I’ve dealt with a spooky Coco before so I knew I just needed to spend some time in these areas and get her working and listening to me instead of looking around her. Usually it takes around 10 minutes to settle her but today she was taking much longer. She started kicking out and bucking which was something she had started doing in recent weeks so I just figured she was feeling fresh. Eventually she stopped spooking and I got a few circles of a steady canter so I decided to move her away to another side of the arena. Down the other end she was quiet enough and worked nicely so it was time to start jumping.
Jumping
We started over a simple cross pole. I brought Coco around to the jump and she had a bit of a look around her on her approach and had a good look at the jump before jumping but went over it ok. I brought her around a few more times on both reins. It took us a few attempts to get our takeoff right but we got there in the end. Sue gradually put the jump up and we did it a few times, getting a few great jumps in. I was delighted..she was starting to switch on and get into what we were doing.
Next we moved on to a double and this is where the trouble started. I brought Coco around to jump and she refused, stopping dead. I brought her around again and she stopped again. When I brought her around to try again she started spooking at something before the turn to the fence so I battled to get her past there. Eventually I did and I got her over the first fence but she did a massive catleap over it which threw me straight into the air, landing me on her neck. I just about managed to stay on as she ran out of the second jump.
Next time I decided to try her off the other rein, on this side she found something else to spook at before the turn for the fence so I had another battle to get her straight to the fence again. Once I got her there, again she catleaped the first part and ran out of the second part. It was like she was spooking at the second fence before she even got over the first one. I somehow managed to stay on again. I came into the jump once more. This time I got her over the first part and she had a really good look at the second jump before finally catleaping over it. By this point I was absolutely nackered, frustrated and to be honest in shock. This was not like Coco. She never refuses fences like this. She doesn’t spook at fillers. But today it was as if she’d never jumped anything like these fences before. I didn’t know what was wrong with her.
Continuing on with the session, we decided to tackle a jump without any fillers to give both me and Coco back our confidence. I picked up canter and started bringing her into the jump. Again she started spooking at something on the outside of the arena but I pushed her on into the fence. Again she took a look at the base of the fence and jumped very awkwardly over it. Usually once she takes a look and jumps, she’s generally more comfortable coming into it the second time so I approached the jump again with more confidence knowing she had already done it once. We came into the fence and she had essentially started her take off but at the last second she stopped dead. I went straight over her head and landed right on the jump, dropping every pole like bowling pins.
This was my first fall off Coco. To be honest, considering I bought her as a 4 year old and I’ve had her for over a year, I think I did very well to last this long without falling. But it was still a pretty big shock.
At this point I was ready to give up. All I wanted was to get back on, jump her once or twice over the first fence we jumped and call it a day. Sue had a different plan. I got back on, she reassembled the jump but kept it very small and I took a lead off Darielle and Dante to get Coco back over it. We did this a number of times in a row, with Sue gradually upping the height, until eventually Darielle and Dante drifted off while me and Coco kept going and jumped it ourselves a few times.
The next fence we tried was a very tiny jump with a dark filler under it. I started bringing her into it and straight away she refused. I walked her around the fence for a while, until Sue asked me, “What would you do if you were at home right now?”. To which I said, “I’d get her the f**k over that jump”. Sue’s response: “Do it. Do everything you have to, to get her over that fence.” And so I did. I pushed and drove Coco into the fence until she got over it. Once she did, I brought her over it a few times until she was jumping it comfortably. Sue then gave me a challenge. I was to do all three jumps we had done so far in a row which we did without a single refusal.
With this done, we decided to try Coco over another jump she hadn’t done before. It was a rainbow coloured fence. I picked her up into canter, she started spooking at something and threw a massive jumping buck thing which completely threw my balance. I kept going into the fence regardless and needless to say she stopped. I came into it again and after a bit of a battle I got her over it with another catleap. With that we called it a day…
What I didn’t mention was that between the jumps (or more accurately the attempts to jump), Coco would refuse to move. I was literally pony club kicking her and she refused to move. Smacks with the whip also did nothing but piss her off and make her buck. She was highly contrary.
So this ended up definitely not being the outing I was expecting. I had an uncooperative and unwilling Coco who didn’t want to do anything. I finished the session absolutely exhausted and frankly feeling very disappointed, confused and wondering if I now have a battle on my hands to get my happy showjumper back.
There have been some developments in this current situation with Coco which I’ll be doing a separate blogpost on as I believe the above is caused by some underlying problems. So keep an eye on the blog for an update!
Have you ever had a horse who completed backtracked like this? If so tell me about it so I know I’m not alone!
If you’ve got this far, thanks for reading!
Orla
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I feel your pain, I’d a seasons hunter trials under freyas belt and thought I was great brought her down schooling in carlanstown and it was a no go, total shut down wouldn’t move let alone jump! Managed to get her over a few bits but was heartbroken…. for us she does it when she’s overwhelmed and insecure which we’re still working on depends on the day for her, she did the same in the summer wen I brought her to a kids crossjump I was mortified! Coco sounds so like freya I’m sorry to see it went badly but you did get her over something’s and rode her through and sometimes with babies (mares especially) that’s the best you can hope for ☹ hopefully she starts making some strides again just be patient and keep working with her 💜 there should be a mare are bastards support group! Good luck with her and hope to see yez flying around again!! Also bring her to our yard so we can have a young mare spookathon 😂
Omg that sounds exactly like Coco!! She gets really spooky and just doesn’t know how to cope but this was the first time that jumping wouldn’t even fix it! Usually once she sees a fence she forgets all the other shit and just goes for it. While I’m sorry to hear that Freya pulled the same kind of stunts, it is a bit relieving to know that I’m not alone! I definitely think we need that support group 😂 I absolutely want to bring her over to your yard a lot more. While it’s not a completely new environment for her, it’s at least something different to what she’s used to. Thanks for the reassuring comment! Has definitely made me feel better 🙂
My condolences :(( I’ve got much to share with you — but more than I want to say here. Please email me dawn@frazmtn.com and I’ll fill you in. Dawn :))
Thanks Dawn – have just dropped you an email there 🙂
I get you I had a pony club test with Bambi and everything was going brilliantly until we got to the water jump in the x-country course and he dead stopped and I was slapping and kicking ( with spurs ) and he just threw his head up and would not move a muscle . Sadly we didn’t have time to stay at it, but I found that if you start small , as for me not jumping him in straight away, just getting one foot in and they two and so on, then he say that there is no crocodiles in the water and when I got to school him he was taking to get into the water.
Bambi likes to casually stop whenever he’s had enough also but I’ve gotten the feeling that he starts to go ridged just before he goes to stop so what I do is give him one sharp smack with the stick to tack his focuse and as soon as I have his attention get him to turn or do a transition asap otherwise he stops and there’s no moving him😂😕
I also had the same jumping problem with star the pony I was schooling, what I ended up doing is whenever I went out I would walk her around for about 10-15 minutes to let her see everything and I would approach the scary coloured jumps , not straight on as she has to stop and turn away I would walk her past it as many times as I had to before there wasn’t a tiny flinch to be seen and I would do that throughout my warm up just circling around jumps and passing by and doing transitions right beside them and I found that when it came to jumping she would nearly say “theirs no monsters on the other side so I think it’s ok ” and then she would jump it. I also do a bit of a course when I’m schooling starting with a nice basic jump then depending on the horses experience a spookier jump and back to an easier jump so that no matter what happens in the middle you had a good start and they would get most of their confidence back by the thrird fence. But that’s just the experience I’ve had , every pony is different but the most important thing is to finish on a good note whether your back to basics or tacelling me obstacles. I’m sure she’ll be flying around in no time❤️⭐️😊
Yeh I think I tried everything with Coco this day! Once she decided she didnt want to do it she really put the foot down. She had a good look at all the jumps before we tried them and she still refused. She even refused jumps she had gone over already..she was just extremely difficult! Thanks for the comment Emma 😊 Great to hear that you’re figuring out how to handle Bambi when he has his moments! 😊
You have more courage than I do. I have had plenty of falls, but never on top of a jump. Sounds painful! Glad you hung in there.
Between bruises and pulled muscles I was quite sore after this day! I was so close to giving up and calling it a day. Glad I kept going though!