Help! Jumping woes :(

[russianhorse]

Hi all. Hope you are all well

Right, so since my last "woe is me" post about my dreadful riding etc, I have found a wonderful instructor and Ponio and I have gone from strength to strength

It also turned out that my pendulum leg I had whilst trotting was actually down to a saddle too big for my incy short legs New saddle, problem solved

Anyway......... Yesterday instructor decided it was jumping time :/ The problem I now have is that I'm giving ponio wrong signals. He knows what he's got to do, but as I come up to the jump I'm not telling him what I want, probably even tensing up, so he stops. It really is all rider error aaaargh!

So...... Does anyone know how I can gain the confidence to just grow balls and do it? It's just hacking me right off. Yesterday we jumped about 6 out of 10 times. Today I tried about 6 times but only jumped it about 3

Is it just practice or are there any tips

Thankyou

 

[showpony]

Yep alot of us have been there , keep it tiny tiny for the first while & breath!!!! My instructor has me sing nursery rhymes into a fence if I am tensing up & you wouldnt believe the difference it makes lol.

 

[L&M]

Keep it small and do some gridwork so you haven't got to worry about striding.

I am also nervous about jumping, so always leave a couple of small jumps up in the school, and after every hack make myself jump them on my return.

Good luck and don't let anyone force you out of your comfort zone, whether it be 1ft or 3ft.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Think about dropping the weight into your heels and keeping your knees off the saddle a little, just to stop you clamping on with your leg. Make sure your stirrups are short enough - too long and your legs will swing back as you go over the jump, making you feel unsafe and causing you to grip with your knees and/or rest on his neck with your hands.

Set up jumps with a placing pole so you know pony will meet it on a good stride. If pony is honest: set up a small (eg 2ft or smaller) jump, tie your reins in a knot, set up a straight line to the jump and go into canter, then leave the reins on his neck and 'aeroplane' (like a child playing) as you take up jumping position over the jump. For a few strides before the jump you have no reins and you pick them up again on landing. Pony club used to make us do this. It's good for balance and you can't affect the contact by tensing up because there isn't one!

 

[Lolo]

I really struggled with confidence jumping and getting that back was a long journey for me. I found that only jumping with someone experienced, knowledgeable and kind on the floor was the most important thing I did. It meant I was never going to end up on my own with a problem without someone else to talk me down from it...

 

[Lambkins]

Pole work , pole work and more pole work till u r sick of it and just slowly build the poles into a grid ... So like trot poles then a wee x pole at the end .. Then canter poles and small cross .. Just really simple grid work ..the poles on the floor help pace the horse ..so all you need to do is keep to the middle of the poles and push on xx

 

[FfionWinnie]

My instructor said to me over or through, so you'd therefore make it tiny so it could be jumped from a stand still and never turn him away from it even if it means crashing through it.

Really, unless you are standing on your head dancing a jig, I'm not sure what sort of error you could be making, if the horse was honest it would jump a small jump regardless. What is he like with a more experienced jockey.

Probably most importantly you need to jump with your instructor there to help you.