I got my horse about 5 weeks ago. When I went out to test ride her she was in a D ring snaffle was amazing, slow, and lazy. When I got her she came to the barn crazy fast and not the same. Things haven't really improved at all since then and may have gotten worse. On the flat she throws up her head trots really fast and break into the canter without me asking then gets mad when I bring her back down to the trot then tries to canter again. I throw a lot of transitions in and they kind of help. But something that really bothers me is that when I ask for the canter, over every jump, and circling us that she farts. It makes it seem like she's out of control. She rushes jumps and fights with me when I sit back and give half halts. Also, cantering right, I put her on a circle she locks her jaw and runs the entire circle, when I try to ask for a nice circle she gets mad almost kicks out and flips her back end. When I looked at her she was a quiet little mare you can use for hunters, jumpers, and equitation. Now she just a really fast jumper. I tried doing join up and you could say it might have worked for one day but I just don't know what to do anymore....She's not the horse I tried out.

Did she have this change RIGHT when you brought her home? Some scummy dealers will drug their horses when people try them out.

Sure sounds to me like she was tranqued when you rode her. She may well have been on Reserpine which is a long acting tranquilizer that wears off just after (effects last about 30 days) the unsuspecting owner gets the horse home. I hear similar stories all too frequently. Some people are totally dishonest and unscrupulous when it comes to making money.

Well, it may be that she was drugged when you first tried her. But another possibility is that your hands on the same bit are not the same as her prior owner's. I've seen very sensitive and well trained horses go ballistic if the rider was heavy handed on the reins. Unfortunately the tendency is to get even more harsh on the reins, when what is needed is the opposite. A light mouthed horse needs slight little signals on one rein at a time in the snaffle bit. I would suggest that you either contact the prior owner to see if you can figure this out, or if you have access to an expert trainer who can ride her to see how she goes, I would also recommend that. Everyone always thinks they have good hands on the reins, but in my experience, that is just not true much of the time. What you describe is the typical response to heavy hands on the reins.

57 years with horses

She does sound like she was likely drugged to see a change that drastic. But there may be some things you could try. It sounds to me like she may be in pain and trying to run to make the pain go away. Front end pain can manifest with crazy running and weird behavior while jumping. You might try to give her some bute or banamine and see if this makes things a bit better temporarily. These are gentle and widely used pain agents and should not affect her disposition for very long. If she is much improved while on bute or banamine, get some x-rays done to understand the problem. Do you ride her in the same tack as when you tried her? Check your tack over. Get another persons opinion on the fit. Does she act crazy like this on the line with/without saddle? There's a small chance she pulled her back in her new environment especially if turned out with a new herd and that a new injury is what is bothering her. That is all I can think to do except hope things turn around for you.

you could try lounging her on the flat and over jumps. If she is crazy then, then you know it is her and not you or your tack. If she is calm while lounging her you should check your tack.

i am not a jumper but i have help for you on speed control. I know how it feels when your horses just wants to run off with you i have a barrel racer and when i practice she is really hard to bring down. So try this. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

when you are just warming her up not jumping or any this tricky just trot her. If she starts to canter bring her back dow to the trot. Keep a consistent until she seems to want to walk then stop her back her up a few steeps then walk.
If this doesn't work every time she starts to go faster than you asked stop back up and try again .In the beginning you may be backing up rather than going forward but eventually she will get the point. Horses normally don't like to back up because it takes a lot of hard work and concentration.

Try theses techniques at every lesson and you should end up with a horse that wants to go YOUR pace.