Describe your worst showjumping experience

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WeeBrown

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I'm taking my monkey of a chestnut mare round a whole course of fences on Sunday - it is suppose to be a clear round but if I'm still on at the end I'll be happy. She's very green and so am I when it comes to shows but it is a small yard show so thought "what the hell". However, as it looms ahead of me I'm now beginning to think about all the things that might go wrong and exactly how much like a 'carry on..' film we're going to look. So, make me feel better, what are your worst showjumping experiences?
 
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Feel better?
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1st ever show was worst - horse had a fit in the collecting area and dumped me in a massive cow pat, was a very hot summers day and it was a fresh steaming honker!!

Then worst over all was probably last night - feel off 3 times at the same jump
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Good luck for sunday, im competing too and my boy is going soo badly at the moment, OH was checking my life ins last night!! hehe
 
Hmm, first show on old horse, stop at the first and knocked it down with his front legs, they rebuild fence whilst he rears/broncs quietly in the corner. First fence again, over clear, bronc the four strides to the second and ditch rider on the fence.

Also fell off in every warm up in every competition for about the first year I had him thanks to broncing/rearing episodes.

Then progressed to getting to fence 3 at most sj rounds, when he would stop and stand on his back legs til the bell rang - he learnt the 2 stops rule pretty quickly
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Nothing was wrong with the horse - just a nappy idiot, would jump fine xc etc....
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My sister fell off at the first five jumps on a xc course once, pony jumped them all the second time.....
 
It wasn’t horrendous but it was highly embarrassing.

I’d been working on getting T more forward and concentrating on me instead of having a nose at what was going on around the ring and it was paying off. He was fab in the warm up, jumped well and popped them in a very springy way. Great. Went in the ring, did a lovely walk to canter, cantered around with impulsion, ears flicking back, listening to me, put him to the first fence and his ears went forward, we approached it in a good, controlled but forward going canter, went to take off when Wham! Instead of jumping he slammed the breaks on, for no reason whatsoever. He’d jumped that jump before, the positioning was right, there was enough impulsion, I had my leg on, there was nothing scary in the background, he just decided not to jump, the little sh*t! I smacked him and put him back at it and he leapt it with a huge jump, came down then went to the second and refused again, only to have another smack resulting in another enormous jump. We were eliminated.
To this day I have no idea why he refused both the first time, he jumped them the second time and was fine in the warm up. I was not best pleased and threatened to tether him at the roadside on the way home. But I love him really and he’s been fine since then.
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Was probably on little cob earlier this year.

We were doing 60cm at the local Riding Club and he'd warmd up...reasonablly well, no really got any breaks but I could steer!
Entered the ring, cue bunny hopping, the bell rang, he put his head down to eat! I gave him a kick up the bum and we shot to the first fence and cat leapt it, went towards the second (a double) with my saddle slipping all the way around. Jumped the first part, pony shot to the right and I flew to the left and came off!
Retacked said pony up and got back on, completed the double, jumped the 3rd nicely and he realised we were heading towards home, cue pony buggering off to join friends, ended up jumping the 4th fence thelwell style and then jumping the first jump the wrong way in an effort to stop! I retired at that point!
 
Worst ever....
Indoor jumping at the Priory...in the jump off....horse went one way...me another...
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...lots of people watching
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Now this is more like the scenarios I am thinking about - jumping out of the ring, bucking, rearing etc.
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She's a lovely horse but not the kind that you could imagine maturing with age - she got to 3 and has been there ever since! Possibly because we don't do that much, everything different is extremely exciting. I have a walk & trot test (well OH is riding her for that one) and a prelim 18 in the morning so hopefully will bore her silly with those.
 
Definitely no brakes here either...not going to help that the ring is on a hill. Jumping uphill I'll be fine, the downhill....best not think about that one!
I've not fallen off her yet in 2 years except the first day when OH gave me a rubbish leg up, she bucked and OH caught me so can't really count that one. I like to think that she's been looking after me despite the bolting, bucks and mini rears but I'm sure she's not yet tried hard enough.
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every time I take my TB to a competition, little horror has a sense of humour that really comes in to play. Only really started to compete him this year and his XC is now fantastic, and every time I do a ODE we are leading after the dressage with a score of about 24 - 28. then teh showjumping. he is jumping like a stag at home - 1m - 1.10 anything I put him at walls, fillers, planks, all lovely and calm and beautifully rhythmical. Until I go in - they announce 'this is xxxxx riding Pongo leading section x on a dressage score of 24 and he then proceeds to pretend he has never in his life seen a showjump, we cat leap, we tank off, we bounce up and down like tigger, we refuse - we crash through until the last then he jumps it beautifully and calmly leaves the arena Eliminated. I then have to beg to go XC and we fly round clear in the time. I love him dearly but his sense of humour is trying!
 
Refused a spread, so I booted her at it, she cat-leapt it, I lost both stirrups and was clinging on round her neck as she madly cantered across the field spooking at me, I cam off, landed on my face, bruising my nose and split my top lip. Work the next day was hilarious - I resembled a duck!
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fell off my 16.3 in a 1'8 cross pole jumping class ( was supposed to be getting my confidence back ! ) everyone else was about 6 on 11.2 ponies on the lead rein. also as teenager on v naughty pony fell off so many times in clear round the anounced it on the tannoy !
 
When my 15.2 mare reared and bolted on entering the ring! She danced me in circles then promptly took off towards the fields! Didnt even get near a bl**dy fence! Later that afternoon once the audience had left she popped them beautifully. Typical!
 
Mine wasnt Roos fault at all. It was my first ever jump off, and I had completely lost my nerve before the first fence, so i held her way too much into the fences. She's too honest to refuse, so we crashed THROUGH every fence, in the double, I tried to copy the line to it that everyone else did and failed miserably, crashed through, bronced until we reached the second part and crashed through that. So humiliating!
Nickie
 
most recent i jumped the first fence in a 90cm class, my first show as owner of pony jumping seniors but i had been riding him for 3 years and jumping 1.30 at home regularly on him, he knocked the jump down and then immediately after stopped, dropped his shoulder and dived to the left whilst i flew off to the right and landed on my head, i then tried a practice jump at less than 2ft and he did exactly the same thing again and i had the ever present person who says "oh i've never seen him do that before" yeah thanks!!

When i was about 14 i was doing a derby and heading down to the dyke my rein snapped so i was just racing round in circles shouting for a while
 
My worst was when horse was a bit too eager in a JO, took a long one at a double, got too flat and low smashed through it I flew off his head and he managed to bite his tongue. Cue, tonnes of blood suddenly all over the place and me going into semi panic thinking horse was going to die!!!

Not had too many others though - have bounced a one stride double once on crazy pony, that was a little hairy!!!
 
Good Luck, I am sure you will be fine, it is, as you say, only a yard show and everybody will be rooting for you. Just enjoy yourself.

My worst experience?

That would be the time after months of practice, that my horse ( an SJ schoolmaster) refused point blank to even enter the arena at the PC SJ Championships! The utter humiliation stays with me to this day almost 30 years on.
 
Warming Roo up for OH doing his first ever clear round by schooling him round first, we crashed into the first fence. He just carried on cantering into the fence and did not take off. We are talking a 40cm cross pole on a 1.30+ horse, to be fair he did have a "who put that there" face on him whilst standing in the middle waiting for someone to move the poles from round his legs...
 
Horse refused and then cat leapt, cleared the jump but was literally hanging on horses neck. Horse happily wonders off with me like this.

We got quater the way around the arena like this with me trying to get back on whilst reaching around for the bit as if she just halted could get back in the saddle.

Everyone was laughing, but not so much as when instructors massive dog, obviously highly excited by instructors uncontrolable laughter bounded over sent instructor flying. Then eveyone was really laughing

good times lol
 
far too many to mention, but the worst 2... my debut, 12.2 class at Towerlands, evil pony (who would jump ANYTHING at home but not in public) stopped twice at the first teensy fence, jumped it on 3rd attempt but so huge that he dislodged me and then managed to drop me en route to fence 2. eliminated. could have died of shame.
3* CCI in Germany, we'd gone clear xc but had a fall on the flat the day before and unbeknownst to me the mare had wrenched her back and tweaked a tendon. trotted up sound and fine, warmed up okay, but wasn't great in the ring, saw herself on big screen behind fence 3 and stopped dead (she never stopped) so i sailed straight over her head. got back on, completed but had quite a few more rails. she was usually a great sjer who'd have 1 max, or 2 if i was rubbish. gutting beyond belief. the most important round of my life = the worst.
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Not at a competition (sorry to gate crash) I had successfulluy jumped 3 small jumps in arena ( 2 ft if that) and decided to go again. First jump fine, second jump, still don't really know whether he put in a short one or stood back, but ended up landing on back of saddle ( I'm crap at jumping) when he bunny hopped on landing. I ended up on the floor on my back. He went round the three fences again as if to say 'this is how you do it'

Embarrassed or what.

Jane
 
SJ a horse for a friend. Went into a double, horse did a *very* dirty stop. I carried on going. Took the bridle with me (no martingale and horse not tacked up by me)
Horse p*ssed off, jumped out of the ring then spent the next 20 minutes creating absolute havoc at the show, refusing to be caught, galloping about etc.
 
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