Feel the fear - and do it anyway???

Orthe's Daystars

Orthe's Daystars

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:)Once upon a time I was young, brave & very competitive.:D

Now I'm nearly 55, with wrecked knee joints and still want to compete at local RC level.:(

Just got fantastic 15 hh Irish Cremello after a break of 18 months. He's brave, honest and used to competitive fearless teenage rider.:D

My problem - started to jump him over baby fences to build my confidence. During lesson today I had an "OMG i'm going to fall off & hurt myself" panic attack where I just freeze, drop reins & leave poor honest pony to get over jump on his own.:eek:

Any suggestions on how I can help myself to man up & not let this brilliant pony down? I already have a fantastic instructor who knows how my wimpish brain works - how do other more mature ladies cope when the fear strikes???
 
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I had one of these moments the other week! I love jumping BUT i lost my nerve in a big way and now jump in a very defensive position, it doesn't flow and i sit up far too fast.

I was faced with a 105+ jump last week, having not jumped that height in years, horse is more than capable and flew it, however coming round again I realised how bf it was and fell apart... twice... lovely vid of him diving out one side and then the other. I discovered that if I don't ride at it, we ain't going over it! It did make me push forward and actually ride rather than be a complete passenger!

Id say the best way is to just keep trying. If as you say geegee is quite able to take himself over the jumps, let him! You'll grow more confident again the more you do it if he's taking care if you :)
 
I do this a lot (and then get shouted at for it) :o it's a bad habit
I picked up from my old boy who had a nasty stop in him.

practice makes perfect - drop the fences right down (advice I got from here and it really does work) and just keep going until it gets boring. :p
remember to sit still, don't fuss with your horse on the approach and keep the rhythm steady.
I have to remind myself not to drop the contact the stride before the fence as well :o

good luck with your show. :)
I have my first show on Saturday and I've decided that we're going to do the 80cm class so i can concentrate on our rhythm and getting the dreaded first show under our belt and out of the way.
 
Orthe's Daystars said:
:)Once upon a time I was young, brave & very competitive.:D

Now I'm nearly 55, with wrecked knee joints and still want to compete at local RC level.:(

Just got fantastic 15 hh Irish Cremello after a break of 18 months. He's brave, honest and used to competitive fearless teenage rider.:D

My problem - started to jump him over baby fences to build my confidence. During lesson today I had an "OMG i'm going to fall off & hurt myself" panic attack where I just freeze, drop reins & leave poor honest pony to get over jump on his own.:eek:

Any suggestions on how I can help myself to man up & not let this brilliant pony down? I already have a fantastic instructor who knows how my wimpish brain works - how do other more mature ladies cope when the fear strikes???
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I would try even babier fences for a whaile and perhaps show in hand or less demanding to get first outing under your belt that's what I'm doing ... the bonny pony class at 46 LOL;)
 
Neck strap for mane for sticky situations, but the best advice I've been told is, if you ride like that, then you're setting yourself up in the worst way you can for the exact problems you're fearing.... so suck it up, sit up and kick on ;)


ETA - I'm not 'mature' which I know is what you asked for, but do suffer with 'lack of guts' for a better term!
 
:DHi there Thanks for the advice - Holy Crap Strap had me in stitches:p
Think making the fences boringly low is a good one, as is sit up &kick on. (preferred by instructor who I really trust)

Weird effect - put me at head of other yard riders on baby ponies or any situation where somebody needs a lead & nerves totally vanish - I'm so concerned they get round safely I forget I was ever frightened (Had some great Pairs HT results)

Any other suggestions (from any age group) very welcome:D:D
 
Go out and enter some pairs then :p I funnily enough am the same...get me on a 'mission' (or hunting if its winter lol) and I'm well away. I try to 'channel hunting' in situations like that...hence sit up and kick on :p. good luck and have fun
 
Build a course of small jumps that you have to navigate.
Too much to think about, land then turn ect., decide beforehand that you want to trot over some, go a different way over others, overload your brain so it hasn't got time to trigger a panic attack.

Even when ultra confident, there's that moment that sometimes strikes (thinking years back now) when a single fence in a ring can be daunting, all that time on the turn and the run up to think about what can go wrong.
Same size fence in a series of fences and you instead concentrate on the next one coming up.

Found myself worrying on my last pony, we used to jump gorse bushes/ditches/logs on the forest, some of the bushes were quite big (it just kind of grows a big spread). So I used to work out a course round them and the big ones became just another "fence" to get over before the next.
 
I used to be brave once upon time but then spent years doing dressage 'cos I was terrified of jumping. In the last couple of years I have started eventing on my little mare. I have to walk the sj and xc thinking constantly that they are only small (that is not what they look!!) I have taken a few years of jumping little fences and have had a couple of big setbacks in that time due to me 'wimping out'. I have an instructor that I have complete faith in but the things that seem to work for me are chanting in my head 'it's little she can walk it' over and over on the approach and not looking at the fence once I'm straight at it. Might seem daft but works for me. Good luck and don't give up. :)
 
:D:D Thanks to all you good people out there who bothered to reply:):)

Am going to local tack shop today to buy a replacement hat - some of my problems caused by oversized hat slipping down until I can't see what (or where) I'm supposed to be going!!!:eek::eek:

Of course, this could be classed as a Good Thing - if I can't see the fence it won't seem so big!!!! However that's not fair on Brave Little Horse - poor b****** is already having to decide when to take off, now he's being asked to read the jump numbers as well:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Anyway, a bit of horsey Retail Therapy sounds like a real boost!!!

Good Luck to everyone competing this w/end - whatever your chosen stuff remember this is meant to be FUN - and at least you are being brave enough to have a go - Cheers to you all!!!!!
 
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