Pulling / Getting dragged forward?

I've started riding this new horse, Zippo. He's only 6 and very green to jumping, he only does small crossrails. The thing is, he pulls so much on the way up to the jump. Sometimes, I can get him to trot really slowly up to it, but then about a stride away— BOOM! He just takes off. When we do lines, I feel like I'm getting dragged forward. He puts his head down and just pulllls and by the time we get to the next jump I'm all out of position and leaning forward and bracing on his neck and give a proper release.

Any tips on jumping a horse like this??

The horse that I ride, Thumper, is just like that. He will trot up and them he'll take off. What my instructor has me do is to make sure that even when he's pulling me forwards and everything, just remember to stay in the correct position and lean back a little bit. It's really hard, but chances are that if he's pulling you forwards and you're out of position, you aren't riding as effectively and there's no chance of you slowing him down. Have you tried half-halting when he puts his head down and speeds around? I've found that that REALLY helps. Don't get into a tug-o'-war with him, because there's no way that you'll win that :). Just half-halt every once in a while, and then go back to a normal, light, contact. If you just continously pull back, it just gives him something to brace against.

Lots of flat work, especially near and around the jumps; he is either overconfident, or not confident enough, and feels he needs to rush the jumps to get over them.

He needs to learn how to wait for your cues to go over the jump. Alot of transitions as is suggested above, and teaching him to half-halt so you can help him get rebalanced and focused.

AMEN TO THIS!

Also, I've noticed a lot of us riders do exactly what we don't want our horses to do. Hollow out our backs. This may not be the case with you bit if you sit strong with your core, half hault and make sure to have your leg on the horse usually will feel much more controllable. However if he's just a wild child taking off on you a few strides away he needs to re-learn how to approach a fence with manners.

Good luck. I had this exact same problem. Cougar and I flipped over a 3'6 fence and landed on another one. Boy did we ever learn our lesson. Hope it all works out.

ohh gosh haha i totally know how you're feeling. i've ridden so many horses that do this and it gets so frusterating sometimes. but just keep your cool & don't get into a fight w/ him.

half-halts, lots of flat work, circles, transitions, do things that will keep his brain working & that will prevent him from getting bored(serpentines, leg yeilding. stuff like that). & when going to the jumps, as soon as you feel him getting strong, stop him in front of it, back him up a few steps & then let him go forward at a calm trot. it works wonders for me! hope this helps! good luck!

The pony I work with does the same thing. He is 17 years old but has not been jumped in years and has gone through abuse and such.
Don't let yourself be pulled. If you've got to have loose reins, do it.. just make sure you are sitting up. Once you've got your horses head back, gather your reins and don't let his head go down again.
also quick trick that worked wonders with rupert; wiggle your fingers around one rein (open-close, open-close) and half halt with the other. not sure if zippo will respond to this but it really helped ru and I!:)

when a horse is green and dragging you to fences or taking off, it means there are some significant holes in his foundational training. flatwork, dressage, exercises... whatever you want to call it, DO IT. the problem will NOT fix itself without it.

also when a horse wants to run after the fence it is often a sign that you are going TOO SLOW towards the jump. Getting to a fence underpaced is hard (meaning SCARY for a green horse) and they will often take off on the backside.

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I don't have control over how he's trained

This! and do lots of arena work where you trot circles near and around the jumps when you feel him relaxing and getting bored almost throw in a jump every now and then ... then go back to just flat work circling around jumps trotting past them etc teach him he needs to listen to you because who knows when you will ask him to jump and if hes not paying attention itl catch him offguard

Go back to basic flatwork, doing lots of up/down transitions. This should help him get a bit more responsive to your aids.