Confidence loss in jumping higher, any advice?

[gillianclaude]

Well, first off.. Thankyou if anyone actually reads this and comments

My mate asked me to jump on of her horses that she had in for sale to see how high he would go. I was happy enough to do this, so got on and jumped up to 1.40. Not as high as he could go but had to stop as i had fell and banged my head earlier that day and felt all woozy. A couple of days after she asked me to take him to an SJ which i said i would happily do Just after i said i would do it, i jumped my YO's horse for her daughter to calm him down a bit (she was taking him to the SJ at night aswell) and came off him too, winded myself quite badly and tweeked my back. Took some painkillers and felt alot better, so thought i would be alright.
Got to the SJ, took him round the warmup and he was being a bit of a monkey. Refused the warmup and i lost balance, came off and landed on my feet. (Not a good few days for falling off huh? well.. read on!) Got him over warmup a good few times then took him round 80cm to give him a change to look at course and get him over fillers. He refused one filler, but got him over that and all was good. Pole down in 90cm so was very happy with him then as he only just clipped it. Took him into 1m, got clear Went into jump off and jumps went up to a very up to height 1.10. Got round 7 jumps all perfect, was looking sooo good.. then i got to the last jump
He was going really well into it, but got wrong striding, got too close and being as honest as he is, still jumped. There was no way on this earth ANYONE could have stayed on to it. Unfortunately, i have this thing in my head that i have to keep hold of the horse, which i done this time when i came off. Somehow managed to get right underneath him, and he stood all over my back/shoulders/arms. Didnt feel anything to start with, got straight up and walked away. Feel SO stupid for doing that now, as i regret it so much.
Anyway, my confidence in jumping bigger heights has gone i only feel comfortable doing to 2ft9/3ft then panic. Does anyone have any ideas on how to build myself up again? Anything i can practice? Feel pretty stupid posting thing, but i want to be able to take my own horse out and let him enjoy himself instead of being stuck at small heights which he hates

Thankyou very much to anyone who read that. Sorry its so long xx

 

[AprilBlossom]

I would suggest a couple of lessons working over the heights you are comfortable at, on your position. It sounds like you weren't quite secure enough in the saddle to stay put when you don't hit a bigger fence quite right. Work on your position, and staying sitting up until just before you take off (i used to sail out the front door A LOT as I tip forward naturally!) and you'll find you can then just creep the height back up and you won't notice the difference!

Best of luck with it, whatever you decide to do.

 

[tinkandlily]

Sorry for your fall, i am not suprised you've lost your nerve, i agree with the above, go for a couple of lessons, you don't need to go straight back upto hight, stay at the hight you feel comfortable with at the moment, the more you do it the more confident you'll become, then creep the hight up.

 

[ossy]

Ah it won't be lost for good!!

I'm sure if it was just one of those incidents that had happened you wouldn't be thinking twice about it, it just seems you have had a few scary incidents in a short space of time. Spend a bit of time jumping and enjoying the smaller heights and then when your ready do some of the bigger fences with a good jump instructor on the floor to give you had extra confidence.

Also never feel obliged to try jump someones elses horse as high as it can , you can say no.

 

[gillianclaude]

I would suggest a couple of lessons working over the heights you are comfortable at, on your position. It sounds like you weren't quite secure enough in the saddle to stay put when you don't hit a bigger fence quite right. Work on your position, and staying sitting up until just before you take off (i used to sail out the front door A LOT as I tip forward naturally!) and you'll find you can then just creep the height back up and you won't notice the difference!

Best of luck with it, whatever you decide to do.

Ahh yeah, he had a few dodgy stridings into some jumps and i managed them fine. It was just that one jump that totally knocked me. Was so gutted, i fell off after the jump and didnt get a rosette just kidding! Thankyou for the advice and the luck x

Sorry for your fall, i am not suprised you've lost your nerve, i agree with the above, go for a couple of lessons, you don't need to go straight back upto hight, stay at the hight you feel comfortable with at the moment, the more you do it the more confident you'll become, then creep the hight up.

Yeah it was pretty scary. Couldnt move properly afterwards for like 4days, and couldnt ride properly for 3weeks! Thankyou for the advice x

Ah it won't be lost for good!!

I'm sure if it was just one of those incidents that had happened you wouldn't be thinking twice about it, it just seems you have had a few scary incidents in a short space of time. Spend a bit of time jumping and enjoying the smaller heights and then when your ready do some of the bigger fences with a good jump instructor on the floor to give you had extra confidence.

Also never feel obliged to try jump someones elses horse as high as it can , you can say no.

Ahh thats good then! Yeah, it was pretty scary but the 4 falls in a short space of time did give me quite a knock. I didnt feel i had to jump my mates horses, i enjoy doing it Thankyou for the advice x

 

[sassybebe]

Just drop yourself back to doing smaller heights and you'll probably find you start to get bored of that and want to go higher again but don't feel you have to push yourself if you're not happy just make it fun again for a bit. Also if you fall off and bang your head have a break don't ride other peoples naughty horses. It does sound like you could do with a bit of position tweaking just so your seat is strong enough to back up your natural braveness

 

[gillianclaude]

Just drop yourself back to doing smaller heights and you'll probably find you start to get bored of that and want to go higher again but don't feel you have to push yourself if you're not happy just make it fun again for a bit. Also if you fall off and bang your head have a break don't ride other peoples naughty horses. It does sound like you could do with a bit of position tweaking just so your seat is strong enough to back up your natural braveness

Thankyou although he wasnt naughty? Im sure i didnt say that.. Yeah i think im gonna book a few lessons with a good jumping instructor in my area