Does Jumping terrify you? And how did you get over it?

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Flicker

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My boy did a huge amount of show jumping with his previous owner and is the most genuine, honest, safe, forward-going guy on the planet. Even though I've bought him to do dressage on (jumping the big jumps was causing stress-lami) I still want to pop him round the smaller courses and have fun on him.
Problem is, jumping absolutely terrifies me. I think it is because I think I can't see a stride, don't know when they are going to take off, and am scared I'll get left behind and fired out of the saddle. People say 'don't try to see a stride, just sit there and let it come to you', but is it that simple?
I don't worry that he won't jump, I worry that he will jump HUGE...
My instructor has done quite a lot with grids etc, and I'm getting better with those, but I still feel the cold knot of fear in my stomach as the jump approaches.
Anyone had the same experience and are there any exercises, breathing techniques etc you can recommend?
I've got the school booked to do some jumping on Sunday and already I'm in knots...
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The best way I found was to get some lessons, keep the fences small and just force my self to do it! Jumping from trot helped loads too, but mainly because my horse finds it much less exciting than canter.

I spent weeks where I did some jumps every day, but only doing poles on the floor or 6 inch high fences until I had stopped shaking about them. I'd had a few nasty falls and it had really shaken my nerve. I raised the height gradually, and we are now back at 3ft most of the time.

I still get the shakes now, especially if the horse starts playing up or I hit the floor because he has bucked me off, or ground to a halt past the point of no return flinging me into another hedge. But when it happens, I just drop the fences down and go back to trotting, and holding the mane for a bit!

Basically if you really want to do it, keep the fences small and don't push yourself too hard too fast.
 
I know the more I do the more confident I get but if I don't do any even for just a week I get nervous again. I used to love it as a kid and deep down I know I'm perfectly capable, but mine is spooky and she jumps huge sometimes (it's not really huge, just feels like it).

Try having a neck strap, then you can grab onto that if he does jump big, and might make you feel a bit more secure. Maybe you could have lunge lessons and work on your position so that you feel more secure and able to go with him if he does jump big.

The best advice I can give is to start small and only build up when you feel confident. Try poles on the ground first, practice getting your position right at the right time before moving on to jumps. Keep the jumps small and always look up, if I look at the jump I'm more nervous. Your horse will find his stride, especially if he has done plenty of jumping before, and then you really an just sit and wait and let it come to you.

P.S. a good instructor is invaluable!
 
A little different to the OPs situation, but I lost my nerve after a bad fall after several years of BSJAing, and swore I'd never jump again. The thing is, my horse adores jumping and her love of it is quite infectious; although I have never really wanted to get back into show jumping properly, I wanted to do something! So we went out with a friend on a sponsored ride, with the aim of jumping one or two (with a lead!) and actually ended up jumping every single one
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Since then we've done loads of rides, some with a friend and some on our own, and always jumped a fair few if not all of the jumps. IMO fun rides - and hunting - are the best way to ease yourself into it without the pressure of jumping in an arena.
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I still havent got over my jumping anxiety...for the stupidest reason that I havent ridden a horse i could jump for over 2 years. My first horse was a very talented jumper, but she got mad and strong, and cleared 18" crosspoles with several feet to spare, and then careened around the arena snorting. she wasn't ideal!! My current little mare was meant to be perfect for me to do a bit of pottering around jumping on...but she has bad arthritis in her knees so i wouldn't feel right jumping her.

I am beginning to think i will never learn to jump properly!
 
I never lost my nerve, but if people were worried or fiddling too much about a stride my instructor used to make them recite things. Anything from what you had for dinner to different types of bread. Concentrating on something else took their mind off seeing a stride. Might be worth a try (though maybe on you own first)
 
I lost my nerve as a child on a XC course and over the next 20 years or so the fear has compounded to the point where I get the shakes and feel sick.... any wonder I failed stage II riding!!

I was determined that after my sharer left that I was going to continue my horses jumping education so nerves and all I had one or two lessons and gave it a bash. A couple of falls dented the already shaky confidence so stayed firmly grounded. That was last year. I had a jumping lesson May this year where most of my issues were addressed and I did find that I really did enjoy it. One issue I had was a saddle issue, so a close contact jumping saddle was obtained...... wow the difference feeling secure makes! With money a little tight at the moment my YM has been giving me "lessons" both in jumping and confdence (read that as being put the jump up when I am not looking!)

With lessons, sorting out my security and having a terribly honest horse that I can trust I have gone from a quvering wreak over poles to confidently jumping 2'9" at home.

Reading posts on here has also helped and I must confess that the posts from Georgeous_George have been a total and utter inspiration. So much so that we WILL do a Hunter trial next year.
 
I might have to get myself a jumping saddle, especially if it gives you more security. And more lessons with my instructor, haven't had many recently but she's brill at giving me confidence. And does the same - puts the jumps up when we're not looking so we just keep happily going over them thinking they're as small as first time around, when really she's made them bigger (still all under 2 ft though
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OK bottom line is you have a great jumping horse and you are wanting to jump small tracks - you should not need to "see a stride". A good experienced jumping horse will pick off if you are anything like right at 3ft and under and if you are not impeding they will tend to slightly wind up and extend on the last two strides if they judge they are going to be on a misser.

I used to get the same feeling and it was due to the fact I was pressurising myself to be extremely accurate which I no longer needed to be. I had finally bought a great showjumper with bags of scope and was treating it like I was jumping a more average horse at its top end.

To hammer this point home my trainer loose jumped my horse we had fences of 1.30m+ and about 1m wide. He was still trotting or messing about 2 strides out before getting on with it and clearing them easy. Thus it proved to me how little effort he needed to put in and how inaccurate I could be to my "little" fences.

Following this our jumping improved and now I am relaxed we rarely ever get a misser and I enjoy my jumping. With a horse like yours just get a nice canter rhythm and then leave him to it, you will find the jump comes to you and you are perfectly fine. Also practice regulating and lots of canter poles set a verying distances so you get the feel of distance and how he is going (rhythm). As for getting left behind or him overjumping if you are both relaxed and in a smooth constant rhythm it will rarely if ever happen.

The other thing I would recommend is getting a jumping saddle with large blocks the security helps you jump with the horse's movement more without feeling at all unstable.

If you pressurise yourself to be perfect then that is where the nerves kick in and you actually get worse. So deep breath out, sit quiet and trust your horse - he knows his job!
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I used to be really REALLY terrified of jumping. I mean, I really wanted to jump, but anything over 80cms and I would just forget how to ride!! In the end I got over the worst of it with TFT (Thought Field Therapy; google Jo Cooper) It really made a HUGE difference. Then I continued with a good instructor which helped further
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I used to pop small fences quite happily and decided to have 'proper' jumping lessons. That did it for me - I am now terrified of jumping and don't do it.
 
It's great to read about people getting over their fear of jumping; I used to really enjoy jumping but having had a long gap from regular jumping (while my horse had lots of medical problems) seems to have decimated my confidence. Now have a new horse but have got to the stage of being terrified cantering over even the tiniest jumps. Instructor assures me we will get through it! but I still panic.
 
After breaking all my ribs on the right side and having a collapsed lung, I do not jump, am quite happy not jumping and nearly lay an egg if there is a trotting pole in the school when I am riding.

I am happy with not jumping.
 
I have lost my nerve for jumping a couple of times over recent years but like magic it eventually comes back with lessons and increased practice. I've been known to ride into a jump shouting at my instructor "I can't do it!". Much as Shazzababs says what has helped me is regular jumping lessons, starting small so it isn't the look/height of the jump that scares me and we also do lots of trotting in with cantering away. We also use a pole on the ground ahead of the jump to help get the right stride (like you I can't see a stride yet although very aware when we have it wrong!). We're moving onto canter poles coming in now though which is my next challenge. I was questionning this summer why I try to keep jumping but knew I really didn't want to stop trying even though we don't do anything big and so glad now that I didn't abandon it as my nerves have abated and we've made a bit of progress so I'm very pleased. I also learnt to trust my horse, he loves jumping, it's the one thing in the world he perks up for (apart from food) and he will have a go at anything just so long as I hold my nerve as he's a very genuine chap so I kind of feel I owe it to him to be a confident jumping partner. Also have heard from others that Jo Cooper stuff as mentioned above in someone else's post works well.
 
I started jumping again last year after a long time not riding (lived too far away from horses). I was never really nervous about tiny jumps (say, 2'), but very apprehensive about bigger jumps/XC (never did XC in as a kid in Canada). Over the last year, I've made sure to enter every riding school jumping competition that's available, always on a horse that I trust. When I got really nervous, my RI just yelled at me to get on with it...after a year of jumping 2' and 2'6" or 2'9", I'm now doing 3'3"+, and each time it seems a little smaller. I think the key is to find an RI that you really trust to know you and your capabilities. If you don't ever push yourself outside your comfort zone, you might never manage it, but if you trust the person who is giving you that kick up the backside, it's amazing what you can learn to do.

One thing about doing comps versus lessons, is that I find I get really competitive and my blood gets up---so even if I'm very scared warming up and going in, once I aim at that first jump, concentration on riding my best so that I have a shot at winning really takes over. I don't tend to think about striding, but about lines, and having a good canter.
 
I had a bad fall resulting in the removal of my spleen. It has taken me a long time to feel ok jumping my big girl but now we are ok up to 1.10m and I know she is going to jump, my problem is my baby, back to square one, small jumps which are getting better with time! (up to 95cm) Just take it slowly and build your confidence, it doesn't matter if it takes you 6, 12, 18 months, if you have progress then thats great. Believe in your horse. Good luck!
 
I've been throught the same as you! What I found is just to do it little and often - that way both you and your horse will get used to jumping again. Until you're comfortable, there is nothing wrong with jumping cross poles that are barely off the ground. I was worried about 'seeing' as stride too, in fact I'm still no that good at it! As long as the jumps are small, your horse is fairly genuine and you approach in trot it won't matter too much if you get left behind - grab some mane or add a neckstrap if it helps.
Eventually they will seem easy and you just repeat the same thing with the jump a little higher. I find grid work great because it measn that you get to jump more fences and don't have to worry so much about the strides. My best piece of advice, however, would be to not give up! I have had many ups and downs but things do come together in the end!

Good luck!
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