Brief Lesson Report - unexpected jumping!

[SaddlePsych'D]

Unexpected but on purpose

Another new horse today, sadly not my new favourite boy from last time. I know they all teach you something but today's one possibly not a favourite. I like more woah than go but we had no go when I wanted it, and then go when I wasn't quite expecting it so didn't feel too harmonious. That said she apparently likes jumping and although I wasn't feeling so confident I liked the feeling of her saying 'yes!' on the way to the jump.

OH was there videoing again; 'watch the video back, it looks good!' my instructor said while I was having an 'oh god I am not riding well and also right up to the edge of my comfort zone' moment (but just within the right side of the comfort zone, where you say things like "I am not brave!" but realise if you are going to point at a jump you should commit even if it is a teeny cross pole). I like that my instructor has a bit of a sense of humour and is encouraging when I'm not feeling sure.

Given on the way to the lesson I was thinking I wasn't feeling too great after being unwell all week so maybe I would ask to do walk and trot no canter, I think we did quite well to have WTC and two jumps in canter including a turn instead of two on a straight line. Now off to watch the videos back...

 

[dixie]

Sounds like an excellent lesson to me, especially as you weren’t feeling so keen at first. ?

 

[NikkiQ]

Unexpected but on purpose

Another new horse today, sadly not my new favourite boy from last time. I know they all teach you something but today's one possibly not a favourite. I like more woah than go but we had no go when I wanted it, and then go when I wasn't quite expecting it so didn't feel too harmonious. That said she apparently likes jumping and although I wasn't feeling so confident I liked the feeling of her saying 'yes!' on the way to the jump.

OH was there videoing again; 'watch the video back, it looks good!' my instructor said while I was having an 'oh god I am not riding well and also right up to the edge of my comfort zone' moment (but just within the right side of the comfort zone, where you say things like "I am not brave!" but realise if you are going to point at a jump you should commit even if it is a teeny cross pole). I like that my instructor has a bit of a sense of humour and is encouraging when I'm not feeling sure.

Given on the way to the lesson I was thinking I wasn't feeling too great after being unwell all week so maybe I would ask to do walk and trot no canter, I think we did quite well to have WTC and two jumps in canter including a turn instead of two on a straight line. Now off to watch the videos back...

Aww, I can totally relate to this! Jumping scares the bejeesus out of me. ?

Always good to have an instructor who knows when to push you a little!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I think I could quite like jumping if I did it more. I'm not sure what got me worried about it as the jumps were small and I didn't think the horse would stop at all. It was more the bits before and after. Didn't help we landed on a wrong lead at one point which felt weird. I also think because we weren't quite in sync with the woah/go bit that made her enthusiasm feel like 'oh god we're going too fast now' (we were not, and the OH videoing is so helpful for this because I often conflate 'nice forwards/active' with 'too fast/about to die' which the video shows clearly as not the case!)

 

[NikkiQ]

Definitely easier the more you do! Thought nothing of it in my teens but it’s become a “thing” now. Joe can bronc and buck bigger than we generally jump and I just laugh at him but stick a jump in front of me and I’m a wreck. It’s 100% because I don’t do it enough.

How long have you been riding? You’ll get used to the increased energy levels! It does throw you when you’re used to a horse more behind your leg.

Was a bit of a shock to the system for me when I went to ride my friend’s ex-racer for example. ??

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I rode from about 8 years old until the end of uni at 21 then had several years break, all riding school lessons. Came back to lessons a couple of years ago and had a couple of shares since. I have never been a brave rider really although I have some old videos of me in a group lesson (also scary now) doing a little course of jumps and some jumping a little higher so I was at least braver than I am now. Hopefully if I keep the regular lessons up it will come back.

 

[NikkiQ]

Sounds quite similar to me! I rode from 5 until 19 on and off but more regular through my teens, did horse management at college but didn’t feel suited to an equestrian career in the end so had a loooong break of nearly 20 years and now been loaning a year or so!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Ah fabulous! Loaning/sharing is great. I love the RS horses but I do miss getting to know one horse.

Just watched the videos back. There's one where I pull up after the jump as was feeling wobbly, instructor asked why as it looked good, and of course it did. Horse looks happy to be heading for the jump and we jumped nicely. I've no idea what was wrong with me!

 

[JGC]

Definitely doing it regularly really, really helps! I went to one place where I had a dressage and a jumping lesson each week and I still have photos where I think "I can't believe that's me!" because the fences were much bigger than I'd jump now.

The committing thing is very good, well done. I find useful to ask myself (in my head or muttered under my breath, maybe) before I move out of walk/halt, are you going to do the jump, yes or no? And actually answer myself. Really helps me set aside my doubts.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I find useful to ask myself (in my head or muttered under my breath, maybe) before I move out of walk/halt, are you going to do the jump, yes or no? And actually answer myself. Really helps me set aside my doubts.

That is really helpful, deceptively simple I think! I need to work on being more forward thinking in my riding anyway so this could help with a lot of things.

 

[melody-maker]

I think I could quite like jumping if I did it more.

This is definitely the case for me! Im another who had a long break from regular riding (20ish years) and has recently come back to it. I was never into jumping as a teenager, but have found myself determined to conquer my fears now. I’d been doing two jump lessons and one flat (I’m at a RS) a week, and had gotten to the point where I was just nervous rather than actively terrified. Then I missed a few lessons, and the fear came right back! So yes, it definitely feels like regular jumping is the only thing that will help with the fear.
And definitely get as much video as you can - I almost always find that things look better on the video than they felt at the time.