Any showjumpers? Tension in the ring

[My Boys M&D]

Would love to know what goes on in my horses head sometimes!

We went showjumping last night. Haven't been to a competition since Autumn last year but he has been to a fair bit of arena hire and lessons at different places this year. He is a schoolmaster eventer, competed to BE100 and knows his job well.

Our issue is that he gets SO tense when we go in the ring, and of course when he's tense he can't use his body properly and we have poles down regularly. I've been having weekly lessons with my instructor and his way of jumping and my riding has massively improved. He jumped beautifully in the warm up, calm, listening to me, completely rideable, really making a shape over the jumps.

But when we went in the ring, he instantly froze, tensed his whole body and I swear he didn't breathe for the whole round! He was also uncharacteristically spooky, which threw me a bit.

Does anyone have any tips to help a horse like this? Is it excitement or worry? He doesn't do it in a dressage competition and his jumping in general is calm and confident, it's literally just in the ring. Feeling so deflated now as I thought we'd almost cracked it!

 

[Roxylola]

What sort of size are you jumping? Can you maybe book something where you mimic the going from warm up to ring in a clinic situation so you remove the urgency to start etc and work from there?
*edit - even enter competitions or clear rounds with a view to just going in having a canter round the arena and going back to the warm up to bob a couple more jumps

 

[My Boys M&D]

We did 2 rounds of clear round last night at 75cm and 80cm so tiny but there's just zero point jumping bigger until he chills out a bit.

I thought it would be a good step for him as we've done arena hire a couple of times and he's been pretty chilled and I was able to have a little canter round before starting last night but it was like his brain just exploded! It was a venue he's been to before and was pretty quiet too so god knows if it had been a proper competition!

 

[Roxylola]

Yeah, I'd definitely keep it small for now

 

[paddi22]

is there any chance you are changing your breathing pattern unconsciously? if it's a horse who knows his job and has competed for years without that issue, then the only other variable is something you are doing unknowingly with your body or breathing? just from watching shows you see a lot of people riding really well in warmups, but then their contact and position changes as soon as they are in the ring.

 

[LEC]

is there any chance you are changing your breathing pattern unconsciously? if it's a horse who knows his job and has competed for years without that issue, then the only other variable is something you are doing unknowingly with your body or breathing? just from watching shows you see a lot of people riding really well in warmups, but then their contact and position changes as soon as they are in the ring.

On a further theme of this - riders will also unconsciously in the warm up do little things like soften the neck, move the shoulder/hind legs which will all help relaxation and have the horse concentrating. As soon as you go in the ring the focus completely moves away from how the horse is going to trying to complete the task ahead (jump round a course in the correct order). I am very guilty of this as so much to focus on let alone riding the horse between the fences to a decent standard.

If this was my horse I would carry on the arena hire - set in your mind that you are going to school every single fence to your best ability. Jump fence 1 - are they relaxed and listening - no? what are you going to do about it? Do that work to get them soft. Jump it again did it work? Yes move onto next fence. I would then string 3/4 fences together and do the same. I would completely change the focus of what I wanted to it not being about the course but about the way the horse is going. I hire a fair few courses and probably only jump round twice but will go practice different lines a few times. It makes the practice more purposeful. I often will pop first few fences up and not others or pop last few up. I really mix and match it to what I want to achieve.

 

[My Boys M&D]

is there any chance you are changing your breathing pattern unconsciously? if it's a horse who knows his job and has competed for years without that issue, then the only other variable is something you are doing unknowingly with your body or breathing? just from watching shows you see a lot of people riding really well in warmups, but then their contact and position changes as soon as they are in the ring.

Thanks for your reply. Yes no doubt I do ride differently, however much I try not to. I've had him from a 5 year old and he's always been prone to tension/excitement in the ring but never as bad as yesterday! He was so bunched up he was bopping me out the saddle, doing changes before every jump.
I was quite nervous before we got there but he warmed up so nicely I felt confident and like I was having fun when we went in the ring...until I asked for canter and his brain exploded

 

[My Boys M&D]

On a further theme of this - riders will also unconsciously in the warm up do little things like soften the neck, move the shoulder/hind legs which will all help relaxation and have the horse concentrating. As soon as you go in the ring the focus completely moves away from how the horse is going to trying to complete the task ahead (jump round a course in the correct order). I am very guilty of this as so much to focus on let alone riding the horse between the fences to a decent standard.

If this was my horse I would carry on the arena hire - set in your mind that you are going to school every single fence to your best ability. Jump fence 1 - are they relaxed and listening - no? what are you going to do about it? Do that work to get them soft. Jump it again did it work? Yes move onto next fence. I would then string 3/4 fences together and do the same. I would completely change the focus of what I wanted to it not being about the course but about the way the horse is going. I hire a fair few courses and probably only jump round twice but will go practice different lines a few times. It makes the practice more purposeful. I often will pop first few fences up and not others or pop last few up. I really mix and match it to what I want to achieve.

Thanks LEC, I agree we need lots more practice. I messaged my instructor this morning to see what she thinks. I'd be interested to see if he does the same with her.
I do exactly as you with arena hire and he's been going beautifully. He was better in the second round last night when I made a conscious effort to pretend it was a dressage test with jumps in the way! He was softening much better round the corners, it was just coming to the fence. On a positive note, he was waiting for me and not bogging off so he listens he just needs to calm the eff down!
In hindsight, common sense tells me it was just us being ring rusty (worked out the last round we did was at an event in July last year) and that a couple more trips out should calm him down a bit. I do get very self critical though and think I've messed out training up in the space of 60 seconds maybe next time I need to bring a hip flask....

 

[LEC]

Thanks LEC, I agree we need lots more practice. I messaged my instructor this morning to see what she thinks. I'd be interested to see if he does the same with her.
I do exactly as you with arena hire and he's been going beautifully. He was better in the second round last night when I made a conscious effort to pretend it was a dressage test with jumps in the way! He was softening much better round the corners, it was just coming to the fence. On a positive note, he was waiting for me and not bogging off so he listens he just needs to calm the eff down!
In hindsight, common sense tells me it was just us being ring rusty (worked out the last round we did was at an event in July last year) and that a couple more trips out should calm him down a bit. I do get very self critical though and think I've messed out training up in the space of 60 seconds maybe next time I need to bring a hip flask....

As an absolute perfectionist, sometimes you need to turn what you consider failing into calling it learning. That's the whole point of practice and you are not going to ruin your horse jumping well inside its capability. I had less than perfect arena hire yesterday but I have tweaked the way I ride and now need to be consistent with it over a bigger fence. Even with glaring mistakes overall the picture is a lot better so that is what I need to focus on.

 

[My Boys M&D]

As an absolute perfectionist, sometimes you need to turn what you consider failing into calling it learning. That's the whole point of practice and you are not going to ruin your horse jumping well inside its capability. I had less than perfect arena hire yesterday but I have tweaked the way I ride and now need to be consistent with it over a bigger fence. Even with glaring mistakes overall the picture is a lot better so that is what I need to focus on.

Very true and wise advice, thank you