Confidence help

[hannahandteddy]

over the summer i have mainly been doing pony club and a couple of hunter trails! i found at most of the rallies for the first time in my riding life i seem to have lost my confidence show jumping! it only seems to be show jumping and i don't know why. put a 3ft3 x-country jump infront of me and il not bat an eyelid but a 3ft show jump infront of me and i'll freeze up and not want to jump it! i even get worried going into a 2ft jump at the moment

! I have always been a confident rider even after i broke my leg x-country i was back on a x-country course before i had been given the all clear by the doctor to ride (not advisable! mum had a heart attack)! can anyone explain this and also give me some exercises that i can work on to try and get my confidence back. i havn't had any falls show jumping for ages or any bad experiences. infact my girly hasn't put a foot wrong all summer! whats wrong with me? any help much appreciated!

sorry for the essay!

thanks in advance!

 

[jennyb]

I have loads of clients which are like you, will jump anything xc but showjumps...no way!...My advice would be find youself a good confidence giving instructor who will take you right back to pole work, single poles, trotting poles, raised poles, trot poles, canter poles, etc....and just build from there. Also try dragging some show jumps out into the field, some people feel quite caged in jumping in a school.
If you find a good instructor they'll be able to tell you all that your doing right and why it's all good, help you keep on track and help you if it goes a bit wrong, and have a giggle about it all if it does look a mess, try and make it more fun as your doing it. If you can laugh when your doing it....your more than half way there!

Good luck!
xx

 

[Mid]

i'd try doing a jumping competition with a friend or two. set up a nice low course in the school, have choccies as prizes and time it on someone's phone. there's nothing like a bit of competition to boost confidence! when i do this, i'm so obsessed with going fast and cutting corners that i forget about the jumps! it really works, try it!

 

[hannahandteddy]

thanks for your help! il try both. im in the process of looking for a new instructor close by at the moment! il also try a little competition as well! i've got my pony club B test in a about a month and worrying already because the course is pretty big (i know from experience its take 2 lol failed first time!) but thanks and il try it all anything to help me!

 

[MDJO]

It may help to try and work out where your loss of confidence has come from. Quite a lot of lost confidence comes from either an accident or incident (post traumatic)... general anxiety (what ifs?)....new responsibilities (having a family to look after)... loss of a good horse (trust in a new horse)....performance anxiety (what will people think). Having been through the same, i would break it down to try and understand the origins of the fear. This will be helpful in formulating a plan for recovery. There are many therapies that can help with confidence e.g. bach flower remedies, TFT, NLP etc which help with the emotional aspects of confidence but in my experience you need to complement this with a plan for recovery...hence the need to understand the origins. Remember though, this can be a positive situation...the more you experience a loss of confidence and recover from it, the more your confidence will build and you will be in a stronger position than you were before this blip. Best of luck.