Problem with my TB

Question
I have an 11 year old TB gelding named Romeo.  When I got first got him he was pretty thin and hadn't been ridden in a while.  I got the weight put on him but was unable to ride for a while as I was pregnant.  I was told he did a good bit of hunter/jumper work before his owner went off to college.  He gets pretty crazy when he gets nervous or scared and he gets excited pretty easy too.  Well, I am finally able to spend time with him and ride him.  I was pretty sure he didn't like me for a while but he has really started coming around now that we're spending more time together and he is being worked.  There are a couple issues though.  I don't know if it's just who he is or if it's how he was ridden in the past or even an issue with his tack or some sort of pain.  Most of the time he holds his head extremely high.  Sometimes when we canter he starts doing this really short, really bouncy canter.  It's not all the time and I don't know what triggers it.  Sometimes he has a lovely canter.  And when I point him towards a jump he becomes instantly super excited and takes off towards the jump in that bouncy canter.  I've never had a horse do this before and I've ridden lots of horses in my lifetime, so I'm not sure what to do!  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Answer
Hi Holley,

I would suggest that you get your vet to do a physical on him and rule out pain in his back, get a saddler to check his saddle fits properly.  

Once you have ruled out a physical cause, then it may be that it is just pure excitement.  A TB is a hot blooded breed, easily excited, and this can lead to problems.  His head is going up because he can evade the contact in this way and then run away with his rider.

I'd suggest a martingale to control his head and neck, a running one will be ok, and do some gridwork to get him thinking.  That way, if he is working through a grid, he won't be able to get his head up.  Make sure the jumps are spaced 2 strides apart,and he has enough room for take off and landing.  Another thing is to get him to work long and low, really using his back and stepping under himself, and do lots of circles in front of jumps and through jump wings without poles, just to get him used to the idea of going through them calmly.  

Hope this has helped, and you have fun with him.

Emma xx