Getting confidence up to Jump, and ultimately go XC

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simplyme

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Hi all,

I lost my confidence beautifully jumping after a couple of impressive falls whilst jumping (and knocking myself out... oops).... I've given it a couple of years of keeping all six legs on the ground and am happy in my flatwork and have ridden all shapes and sizes whilst I've been inbetween horse shares...

I now have the opportunity to share an absolutely gorgeous, complete gentleman of a horse who absolutely loves his jumping, hacking and XC. I'd love to get my confidence up so that I can make the most of him....

Other than lessons with an instructor I trust (who knows me, and the horse), and lots of schooling/ flatwork, hacking and popping over logs etc whilst hacking...do you have any ultimate confidence boosting tricks up your sleeves? I am a back protector and hat wearer so wear all the necessary gear to be prepared to hit the deck...but would like not to do that!

I'd love to be in a place where I can go XC as I loved the little bit of XC I did before I had my falls....

Any tips really appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I lost my confidence jumping after a fall. I started off just trotting over tiny x poles and only going higher when I felt comfortable. I did lots of XC schooling and only jumped the small ones to start with. Also I jumped regularly as if I didn't jump for a few weeks I found my confidence dropped again. Sponsored rides help too as most have a variety of jumps and you can pick and choose the ones you want. Good luck, it's horrible loosing your confidence. It will come back thou!
 
Sorry also it helped to have someone on the ground. Just to encourage me and say you can do it !! My OH was brill at this. Ex Army and used to make me think yes I can do it!!
 
so nice to hear there are other people who are scared of jumping :D

my mare SHOULD be a total confidence-giver, she jumps anything off any stride at any time, she would never ever stop - but for some reason this doesn't make me any more confident!!

i'd love to do same as OP and be able to take her to do a bit of mini XC without needing spare knickers LOL :o
 
I TOTALLY lost my confidence when I broke endless bones what felt like week after week.. i tried everything to get it back including lessons but because the lessons were at a set time I ended up so nervous that I was making excuses before I even got on!

In the end I started just pootling around in my own time, every so often when no one was looking i would put up a teeny (like 6in) x-pole and trot over that and then stop, without people watching I could just do what I wanted when I wanted with no pressure. Some days I would be really brave and the fences got to a vaguely big height, week later i would be back to square one and tiny x-poles again. But I did it regularly and just had fun doing it. Sure you won't take this long but probably about 3 months later i was brave enough for my first lesson, then had lessons religiously on a weekly basis with someone who knew my concerns and so didnt push me, then asked them to push me a bit. All went swimmingly until I had a few falls competing, but instead of things crashing down I was able to think I fell off but didnt hurt myself its ok... and so the memory of all the broken bones and hospital visits gradually receeded.

Now I am back jumping normal height (ish) and every so often still pop a few even bigger jumps on my own with no pressure. Every so often I collapse (did about a month ago) and lose the plot completely so what I do is get someone else (a trusted friend) to jump her over what I am about to jump, and i can see she does it with no probs and then i get on and do it!

Sorry lecture over, i think for me it was about fun and not overthinking, and sneaking off (ooo and a neck strap) really helped!!
 
I find fun rides are one of the best things to help my confidence XC. After you've had a few jumping lessons, find an understanding friend with a quite, well mannered horse to go with you. The jumps on fun rides can vary, some have lots of nice little fences. Go round and jump what you want, no pressure, perhaps just going from trot to start with and if the horse is as gentlemanly as you say, you should gain confidence in no time!
 
Having helped a young girl that was terrified of xc,though happy to sj in a "safe" place, to go round BE100 last season, something never expected of her. I found the key things to gaining confidence were,
1) total trust in the horse and having someone on the ground you also trust. 2)Never being afraid to say you do not want to do something, knowing you will not be made to until you are ready.
3)feeling completely in control, trotting into fences for as long as you need to.
4)having an aim, however small, we did a pairs xc which was a really big deal she refused to start but refused to give up, resulting in a clear round once she got going and a bonus rosette for being placed:D
5)jumping regularly so it is not such a big deal, the horse will be more relaxed also, it does not have to be much but little and often means progress can be made at a realistic pace.
It can be done with support and once you get started there will be no stopping you.
 
:D
be positive said:
Having helped a young girl that was terrified of xc,though happy to sj in a "safe" place, to go round BE100 last season, something never expected of her. I found the key things to gaining confidence were,
1) total trust in the horse and having someone on the ground you also trust. 2)Never being afraid to say you do not want to do something, knowing you will not be made to until you are ready.
3)feeling completely in control, trotting into fences for as long as you need to.
4)having an aim, however small, we did a pairs xc which was a really big deal she refused to start but refused to give up, resulting in a clear round once she got going and a bonus rosette for being placed:D
5)jumping regularly so it is not such a big deal, the horse will be more relaxed also, it does not have to be much but little and often means progress can be made at a realistic pace.
It can be done with support and once you get started there will be no stopping you.
Click to expand...

Can second every word of this one.

I have gone from terrified at less than a foot to jumping nearly 3 at home with my instructor, and confidently taking part in my riding club team in combined training and going clear over 9 jumps at 75cm. Infact i seem to remember my last lesson before the competition I told my instructor to get the jumps up!:eek:
The key is definatly jumping regularly. Horse is now workman like about it all rather than "whoo hoo" and gung ho, and I am also getting a workman like approach. I am taking it slow going up the heights though.... I know it is all in my head, but confidence is a funny thing and if you get it wrong so easily shattered.
We are off for XC training on sunday, and for the first time in my life, I can actually say I am really excited about it:D
 
Hi,
I highly reccomend John Smart's clinics for this. He is in Sussex but runs clinics in Surrey - at Pachesham - both x-c & s-j. He is the BEST for novice riders & novices horses. If Pachesham is not too far, then try him there. Good luck!
 
Ooh I am on the road to recovery hopefully with a loss of confidence in riding after a nasty fall. After coming to the conclusion that it was never going to work with my very sharp mare I sold her on and now have a more experienced gelding on loan who is doing such a cracking job of fixing my confidence and who is a proper school master jumping that I have booked to do jump cross on him next week!

I have always had a dream of doing x country but was always too scared but having Max who I already trust only 8 weeks after getting him, a good friend who has similar fears with jumping and joining a riding club that has a special jump cross group for nervous nellies I am taking steps to realise my dream.

With jump cross you get the fun of x country but the jumps fall down!
 
The BEST person I know for restoring confidence to nervous riders to jump is the lovely Pat Burgess.

She was the British Team coach throughout the 80s training riders such as Lucinda Green, Ginny Leng and Richard Meade amongst many others. But don't let those big names put you off, as she's most happy helping riders of ANY level to find confidence. Based in Wiltshire, so not a million miles from you www.patburgessjumping.com
 
simplyme said:
Hi all,

I lost my confidence beautifully jumping after a couple of impressive falls whilst jumping (and knocking myself out... oops).... I've given it a couple of years of keeping all six legs on the ground and am happy in my flatwork and have ridden all shapes and sizes whilst I've been inbetween horse shares...

I now have the opportunity to share an absolutely gorgeous, complete gentleman of a horse who absolutely loves his jumping, hacking and XC. I'd love to get my confidence up so that I can make the most of him....

Other than lessons with an instructor I trust (who knows me, and the horse), and lots of schooling/ flatwork, hacking and popping over logs etc whilst hacking...do you have any ultimate confidence boosting tricks up your sleeves? I am a back protector and hat wearer so wear all the necessary gear to be prepared to hit the deck...but would like not to do that!

I'd love to be in a place where I can go XC as I loved the little bit of XC I did before I had my falls....

Any tips really appreciated.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I am so with you on this! I learned to ride in arenas, and even after working with horses for my gap year I still hadn't actually ridden out. A few falls later and the idea of riding 'out there' was terrifying!

My friend persuaded me to try a sponsored ride with her.

I totally agree with the posters here that they and fun rides are the best way to get started on XC. There's no pressure to even jump at all if you don't want to. You can just ride round with a friend and try one low log, or splash through some water, if you want to.

I started like that as I was absolutely terrified, but after twenty minutes I gingerly trotted up to a tiny log and popped over. It was so exhilarating and I got completely carried away and was jumping all the (low) fences I came across!
 
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