Big confidence knock

N

Na1998

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 July 2021
Messages
86
Visit site
I recently took probably my worst fall yet in my whole 20 year of riding at a jumping competition, freak accident where I had asked him to take off way to early and we both went down.

Over the past couple of years I’ve been lacking in confidence in terms of seeing a stride and all my worries about what could go wrong have now happened so I just know it’s going to take me so long to trust myself again and more importantly start enjoying it again.

I jumped the following day but I was a nervous wreck, had my first ever panic attack…

How can I get back to my fearless younger self that just wouldn’t even think about a stride, as you get older and have more falls, does the confidence and enjoyment fade over time?
 
You can’t…. Is the simple answer. With age comes understanding of pain and consequences which your brain then tries to protect you against. Now your brain is screaming at you having had a fall that it’s dangerous and hence the issues.

IMO the only way to keep confident is to ride lots and jump lots which if you have just one horse, you are going to be limited.

So what can you do?

Accept that it’s fine to have these feelings and that sometimes you are going to take a step forwards and sometimes two steps back.

Get a really good trainer who will push you but also develop your basic skills so you get better.

Work hard on your fitness. The fitter you are the better you will ride.

Start from basics and spend some real time being accurate to poles on the floor and practice having your canter in a positive and upbeat fashion. Get to the stage where you can hit a pole from 6 strides away. Start with counting up from 2 strides away and build it up.

Build a small fence and count 1,2,3,4 all the way round to help you keep a rhythm.

Build small grids and exercises as will develop you with no pressure of a course.

Rinse and repeat until you get bored
 
Na1998 said:
Didn’t want to leave the show on a bad note and wanted to check my horses confidence was ok as well 🥲
Click to expand...
Blooming well done for that!

I think LEC has said pretty much everything, but it really is worth investigating a decent mind set coach as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top