Courage when jumping

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horsegirl

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Can anyone tell me the best way to increase the height we are jumping and overcome the fear. (BTW I am talking about a course of 2ft. We can jump a single 2ft or a course of 1 ft 6 but somehow a course of 2ft seems so hard) Not asking for much i know
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You really need to somehow increase your confidence in your horse. Your horse should be ab;e to step over a 2' course so he should have no trouble in getting round. I suspect that the confidence in you is a little lacking. Probably the best advice would be for you to have a few lessons with a good instructor & they should be able to get you sitting better, more balanced & as a result your confidence should improve.....Good Luck
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Me - I know the horse can do it and he has never refused or tried to run out even when I was holding him so tight he could barely hop over but I just can't stop thinking he might run off or I might fall off.
 
Have found watching someone else jump the same course well and then going straight after helps. (Conversely watching some one make a complete c*ck up makes me feel terrible!) Think just having lessons and practice makes confidence increase. Not doing jumping or doing it rarely only builds up the fear.
 
No good asking me, I am a complete wimp when it comes to jumping! When I start jumping again I am going to start right at the beginning with my instructor as if I've never jumped and see how it goes - can't imagine be able to jump 2' - sorry that was no help at all was it?!
 
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Me - I know the horse can do it and he has never refused or tried to run out even when I was holding him so tight he could barely hop over but I just can't stop thinking he might run off or I might fall off.

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Has he run off with you before, do you feel unbalanced as though you could easily fall off?

Firstly I would put a neck strap on him for you to hold onto when jumping, it should stop you catching him in the mouth and hopefully make you feel a bit more secure.

I would recommend having some lessons with a sympathetic instructor who will take things very slowly for you. Work on some gridwork, this can improve your balance and confidence.

It is a case of slowly building up your confidence in your horse, once you are ready to move on to bigger fences you will not be feeling so worried about it.
 
going to riding club gridwork training is really helping me get back into jumping, the fact that there are several other poeple there doing the same thing seems to help - if they can do it then i am sure as hell going to do it too, also having an instructor who dosnt understand the word cant or just answers "i dont care what you want" when i say "i dont want to"!
 
2ft jumps are just canter strides
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I would suggest you work on establishing a REALLy good forward seat, and work on cantering round over the course that way - but the best thing to have is a good instructor who will bolster your confidence and fill you with glee
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I do have an excellent instructor who has got me from only jumping a 6 inch cross pole to jumping a course of 1ft 6 or individual 2 ft jump in a matter of weeks.

He is very quick and while the jumps are small he doesn't really bother about them but as soon as they get so he has to actually jump (rather than step over) he does tend to speed up a bit. I do keep his martingale on which he doesn't need so I have something to grab onto and I try to get hold of his mane as we go over to help me fold and also for stability.
 
the more you do it and the bigger the area you are jumping in the smaller it looks I find. Watch someone jumping something huge and it will look even smaller. I watched a 1.40m class and went home and it made the jumps I was worrying about look like trotting poles!
 
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