Okay, well last week I posted a thread ranting about my hormonal, green, often pain-in-the-butt mare. Who I love. I think we've been doing fine jumping considering she wasn't really ridden before I got her, and when she was her owners let her get away with everything. So the jump is set at about 1'6" which, like I said, was pretty good for a horse that's just learning to jump- it's sure a long ways off from where we started at raised cavaletti:lol: However, every time she jumps the 1'6" she over jumps. Consistently. I'm kind of accustomed to it now and ride according- she probably jumps it at about 1'9"-2ft. I've gotten her to go over it once or twice only where she jumped the actual height and I was like, "Wow! That's so smooth and a nice, small jump!" So, as I said, I'm used to her over jumping it-I'd consider just raising the jump to the height she actually jumps but, knowing her, she'd just over jump that too. She used to just go straight over the tiny jumps at the beginning. But now sometimes she'll ditch to the side (which she used to do when I just rode flat work too) but I think the reason she's doing this is because I'm focusing on getting myself in position and keeping her at a steady pace (She likes to rush the jumps) that I never worried about getting her going straight- now I do and focus on getting her to go over the jump itself. Not a big deal. She also likes to be going at a nice, steady pace and a) rush or b) slow way down right before we go over a jump. When she speeds up, she does so so close to the jump that if I were to correct her I'd be worried about her unbalancing, so I hang on tight and slow her down afterwards. She's actually getting a lot better at this, but I've also been much more mindful of riding her at a consistent pace. When she slows down, I give her a squeeze but when she speeds up again we're almost right at the jump and she practically rears and jumps straight up. Not pleasant, but I can handle it. Once more, just working on riding her and when she starts to slow down squeeze her before she's going at a crawling pace. Now, I've shared her pretty much minor challenges she throws at me while teaching her to jump. And then on today's ride she was really just a pill. She over jumped the first jump like she normally does. Fine. Heading around to the second jump, I got into the position that would comfortably take me over the height she jumps at. But no, that would be too easy for Tessa. Instead, she jumped double the height of the jump (a friend was watching and showed me how much she over jumped it by) So that means she was jumping about 3 ft. Oh yeah, and she did one of her abrupt rear thingies too. It would've been fine if I had been prepared for that and riding for a bigger jump. As it was, I clung on for my life and lost both stirrups, but at least I stayed on. This was the first time in a very long time I've lost a stirrup or come close to falling off (I've never fallen off but I've had some close calls) and, unfortunately, I think I might've pulled something in my arm when she yanked my arms out of my sockets. Well, I can't say it didn't scare me a little. I had fallen on her neck and for several moments thought I was going off. But I had to keep jumping her, for myself's sake and so she knew she couldn't act like that. But then she refused all of them. I think part of it was I was a little less excited to jump her and have another one of her 3ft fiascos so I lowered the jumps and got her over them (which she overjumped- big surprise there) but at least I got my confidence back and took her over the 1'6" jump again. I wanted to end on a good note (it was 105 F out so we were both ready to be done) and concentrated on getting her over that jump correctly. Amazingly, she actually smoothly jumped the height of the jump and all was good. Yay! So, now the for actual question part...Do any of you have any tips for jumping a green horse like mine? I would love to have my trainer out and give some tips but her husband is on hospice so she hasn't been out to the stable for weeks, which is totally understandable. Any exercises you'd advise? I think putting cavaletti before the jumps would solve the rushing but not so much the slowing down. Oh, and I'm also riding her in a bitless bridle (not a hackamore- kind of hard to explain what it is) per advised by my trainer so that I can focus on riding by my seat and my own balance. I really want to show Tess a little for fun but I need her more predictable. At this rate, it could be awhile. So, any encouragement or helpful hints is really, really appreciated!