First showjumping competition!

[ohdearme]

Hi all!

Looking for a bit of advice - have a showjumping comp on Saturday (unaff - 60/70cm) and am very nervous! It'll be my first ever showjumping show (only done dressage & showing in the past!), so have no idea what's going to happen, have never even walked a course before, and very rarely done courses at home.

Took my (new loan!) pony to a SJ arena yesterday to try him with a proper course and he was fab, but being ex-BSJA is very good, but speedy and fairly strong. I found it quite difficult to get him back to me enough to do the sharp turns etc, and first time round ended up missing one turn entirely, whizzing off in another direction and getting lost!

Am worried that his speediness and my inexperience with courses will result in me getting lost/forgetting my way half way through and panicking! What happens if you completely forget your way mid-course?!

Also am not sure what height to do - I have heard at shows, courses are often built slightly higher than usual - is this true?

Any general SJ/show tips greatly appreciated! I'm sure I'll love it when I'm there, but I'm always a bit of a nervy person beforehand!

Thanks x

 

[PaddyMonty]

Lots of questions.......
To get your horse to steady dont try to do it on a straight line, use the turn for this as the horse will be less likely to be locked at that point. The tighter the turn the easier it is to get the horse back. Dont fall in to the trap of just pulling back on the reins, it wont work. You need to think about putting your leg on and pushing the back end of the horse in to your hand. Focus on the canter NOT the jumps.
So with that in mind walk the course several times. The first time is just to find out where all the fences are. The second time you need to walk the line around the course that you want the horse to follow and think about where you can use turns to steady up. Watch a few in your class go round before you start to warm up and as they are jumping think what fence they will have to go to next. It's a great way to lock a course in to your mind.
As for heights, it's not that some shows build bigger than they should, it's that most unaff shows build smaller than the class height. At the end of the day a 5cm difference in height will make not difference to the horse what so ever.
If you do forget your course just come back to walk and think about it calmly. At unaff comps you are generally not against the clock on the first round so you have time.
Most important of all though is to have fun. It's not life and death, just a great way to spend a day

 

[Shay]

Could a friend come with you to help with walking the course? Even someone to hold the pony at the ringside can make a lot of difference and moral support is everything!

Paddy Monty has done a really good job of answering your questions. Only one more thing comes to mind... If it all goes wrong don't worry. Most organizers will let you have another go "HC". This is where you enter again - and pay an entry fee again - but you don't actually compete. HC stands for Hors Concours - without competing. You might find there is a clear round competition as well - where you pay at the ringside and just jump clear for a rosette. Good for practice!