Advice/Tips for jumping Bigger Tracks

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GreenEyedMonster

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Background:
My 18 year old gelding is an overgrown show jumping pony. He could keep jumping all the big fences well into his twenties and only ever get better. He's quick, nimble, scopey and very bold. His back stands at 14.2 but he has such high withers he measures up at about 15.1! I trust him.

Issue:
By last October we were up to jumping full up 1.10m tracks, after a quiet winter and a bad fall in a local puissance I lost my confidence, no fault of the horse!

I am back up to jumping 90cm but would like to get up to 1.10 tracks again.
But I get to the ring entrance and clam up with fear, I know he'll jump but I'm afraid I'll fall off mid jump because it's happened before!

Any tips or advice for progressing up the heights, I'd like to be back at 1.10 height by Christmas at the latest?
 
GreenEyedMonster said:
Any tips or advice for progressing up the heights, I'd like to be back at 1.10 height by Christmas at the latest?
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My first and biggest tip would be DON'T set a time limit. Doing so will simply add extra pressure which generally prevents what you want from happening.
Keep jumping 90cm until you are sick to death of them.
Keep an eye on the 95cm or 1mtr class and if you see a track you really fancy jumping then enter it. Dont go planning to jump a 95cm etc. Just do it on the day if you really fancy it. Wont matter if you've already done a couple of classes. At that height a third class is not going to hurt the horse.
Use grids at home having a helper increase the height of the last couple of fences steadily. You'll be surprised what height you end up jumping.
But as I said, most important is to enjoy the class you are jumping. When the enjoyment starts to wane then move up when the opportunity allows.
 
I agree with PaddyMonty - the worst thing you can do is push yourself too hard, too fast. Don't risk wrecking the confidence you've managed to get back.

Keep jumping 90cm until it gets boring, then think about moving up to the next class.
 
Hi I am new to this, and I can't find a way to start my own forum or whatever, I have a 15hh welsh sec d he is 5 years, we where jumping 1m20 tracks then the switched yards and unfortunately it has a smaller arena so we can't practise very much and well, my horse goes into jumps and adds rediculas extra strides in and ends up too deep, he often is so ignorant and won't take off when I ask him too, but also I panic when to take off and he is very editable and loves to jump but as the jumps got to about 1m he was just crashing through them and this is nothing like him normally he would give them a foot of clearance but he is getting far far too close and deep into them, I lost my confidence jumping now, and was wondering if anyone has any realistic tips or ideas? Thanks
 
Nowhere near jumping tracks as big but my mare isn't economical with her jump so she is clearing that height over smaller courses lol... What really helps me is grids and lots of them gradually building last part to bigger oxer. As you aren't worried about getting the perfect stride as its already marked out so can focus on rhythm and line etc... Also my instructor has one key rule.. Always jump higher at home and compete at a lower height so if you want to compete over metre tracks you should be schooling consistently at home over 1m 10 courses.
 
When you'r ready, start popping the fences up at home, so you're jumping a bit bigger on a regular basis - then when you get to the ring, you can tell yourself they look small!
 
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