If you have a bad day at competition???

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Peanot

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Just wondering, as when I go to a BSJA and we don`t do very well, it puts me off going for a while. For example, in 2005, I came off when Rox caught hind legs in a jump, (we had a crap stride and I kicked on). Had back checked, had a month off as it was over Xmas, then started with new trainer - flatwork. Did 4 outdoor, but at one show, we got eliminated at a double, the last fence in a discovery.
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So didn`t go anywhere for a couple of months. Then in Oct went to Weston lawns and had a refusal and 2 down, went the following week and won unafilliated and the BN. Back to indoor, next show, 2nd in BN, jumped out the saddle in Dis.
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Went about a month later had 2 runouts so eliminated at fence 6, so went back in HC in BN and had just 1 down. Not been since.
So what I am asking is when you go to a show and you have a not very good result, do you go again the following week or work on the reasons for a while first then go about 2 months later?
Do you think `sod it, had a bad day, better luck next week` or does it put you off for a while?
Just interested as I think that I am making too much of it.
Thank you if you have got this far.
 
i would ask the question is the horse up to show atmosphere??? or Do you change the way you ride at shows???
What about changing disciple and working on your flatwork then go back to jumping???
If it was me, i would defo do more training at lots of different venues go and do lot of small unaffill sj, get comps videoed and work with trainer and get there advise and try again but if problem wasn't fix i would change to disciple to one that the horse was happy to do
 
To be honest we rarely have dreadful days, when we first started jumping Chocolate he didn't have much idea and kept putting short strides in front of the junmps, so we came home, worked out a plan and stuck to it. Last week he jumped really well and with help from a good trainer we think we may have solved that.
Monty was about the most frustrating, nothing we did appeared to calm him down at a comp, and eventually we realised it wasn't fair to him to keep expecting him to do something he clearly found so worrying.
The other horses mostly get small problems and we always come home, sit and watch the videos, talk about how to solve any hiccups and if necessary ask for help from someone wiser than us!
I think if you have a horse that consistantly refuses you need to accept it's doing something it fears or dislikes.
Your horse just sounds lacking in confidence not ability and we would go down a level perhaps to un-affilliated again, jumping much smaller courses until you were going out consistently getting placed before attempting BSJA again.
If in doubt always go back a level or two, get that perfect then try again.
Winning is really important to us but having the horse go well counts even more;
this week we took Layla the 4 yr old for her first sight of a proper course, the clear round over 2' 6" she jumped meant far more to us than any rosette.
It's a hard thing to accept but most problems in horses that start off jumping well then go backwards are because they are asked to do too much too soon.
We wrecked the best jumping horse we ever had years ago by doing just that, and there's nothing like feeling that guilt to make you resolve never to do it again...
 
its sounds like your horse has totally lost its confidence. If i was you id take it out and do some much smaller unaffliated events to get its confidence back up again, then slowly start building him up.

I dont jump (verf often!) however if i do a bad test (Dressage) it makes me all the more determined to do a better test next time. its not really the same as jumping tho.....
 
I'm a wimp so try and ensure horse is very happy at that level before I take it out. Old horse used to have bad days- just got on with it and held out for good days (although he turned out to have navicular poor chap so dont blame him!).

I think preperation is the key to minimise bad days, then if it does all go wrong should make you more determined for next time! And, as above, if you're having consistant problems go back to unaffiliated and get both of your confidence back so you are prepared to do better when you go back!
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We all get it wrong sometimes I only jump in my comfort zone and if I lost my confidence then I would go right back to basics. Take it slowly and build up gradually. If I have a bad day I go home work on it and ride better the next week
 
With jumping if we have a bad day, i do tend to feel a bit disheartened but i try and get someone to video my round so that if it does go wrong i can see what i m doing wrong. It actually makes me more determind to get back out there and try again in the hope of doing better next time!
 
I've had bad days....everyone does
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They are usually a result of going too high, too soon....but occasionally external factors do play a part. Whatever happens, i usually get straight back out there the next week or perhaps the week after and come down to a level where we are both confident at.
 
Thanks for all your replies and taking the time to post, but I don`t think I came across like I wanted to.
As said by some above, we all have bad days but it seems that if we don`t go clear, I think that there must be something wrong and my mind plays on it.
When jumping in the BN when we had stops, it was in an arena where a few of the horses had done the same as it was near the entry and there was a gap where horses heads were sticking through while riders were watching, so it was quite off-putting. So it wasn`t a confidence thing.
When we had the incident with me coming off, we went right back to pole work and jumping small fences and even went to an indoor clear round to test the waters. No problems.
I know that it is my position, folding too far forward and too early, (I`ve been told by new instructor) so I`ve been working on that. I have been going to an indoor school and jumping grids over the last 2 months, 5 times in total, and she is jumping brilliantly, not a stop at all while I am schooling-I do get a little nervous when at a show.
I just wondered if people just carried on or if it put them off, as I find that when I just forget it and put it all behind me and go regularly, we get better until we have an off day and it puts me off.
Sorry about the confusion, I should have done it as a poll!!
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I think everyone's basic personality comes into it a lot, and either you're someone who agonises or someone who just shrugs their shoulders and resolves not to do the same thing again.
From your second post it sounds like it's you not him, so perhaps get some help from a sports coach?
In this family we use the same technique we've used for years, the days before you imagine yourself completing whatever it is effortlessly and smiling.
You do this night after night (now my daughter has got it down to videoing the course the night before a XC and just doing it then)
Funnily enough it then works on the day because you have sorted of trained your brain what to expect, even if it goes pear shaped!
I still stick by my original advice however, if you get refusals, you're asking too much too soon...
 
I just put it down to a bad day - everybody has them! I keep on competing. Unless the horse has had a scare or is finding something tough work then I may move down a class next time out to restore his confidence. But Id still carry on competing every weekend as normal!
 
I think if you think too much about it, it is v easy to not try again (at least at that level) for a while.

My old horse was never a v confident showjumper, and a few bad experiences in combinations etc had put me off SJ any more than about 2'9 on him. I then SJ and ODE at RC 2'9 level for years. However at the grand old age of 24 (with a couple of seasons bloodhound hunting under his belt) I did 2 intro events (95cm SJ and 90cm XC) without a fault. Would he have been capable of this all along. The answer is - I really don't know and potentially I wasted his best years by faffing about within my comfort zone rather than trying to improve.

I am sure you are doing the right thing by having regular lessons, and maybe droppping down 1 level ie from Dis to BN but not going back to unaff stuff, unless you want to stick there.

Hope this helps.

Fiona
 
[ QUOTE ]

I then SJ and ODE at RC 2'9 level for years. However at the grand old age of 24 (with a couple of seasons bloodhound hunting under his belt) I did 2 intro events (95cm SJ and 90cm XC) without a fault.
Would he have been capable of this all along. The answer is - I really don't know and potentially I wasted his best years by faffing about within my comfort zone rather than trying to improve.


Fiona

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Thanks Fiona, when I first got Rox, I stuck to 2`9" and 3` unafilliated for few months, (getting placed nearly every class), even tho her previous owners had jumped BN, Dis and New with her. (New, just the once)
I pushed past my comfort zone and took her BSJA the following year. We only did a couple. Then with issues at home, didn`t really do a lot for the next year.
We went to our local show last year in preperation for BSJA, after not going out for a while, and we got 2nd in the 3` and the following week, we did the 3` and the 3`6" class. (they don`t do a 3`3")
We got 3rd in the 3` and won the 3`6" class but there was only 6 in the 3`6" and 2 got eliminated. But I was chuffed all the same.

It does seem that when we jump the Disco or anything over 1m at home, she folds better and jumps a lot better. I think that she prefers the bigger fences.
My instructor has told me that no matter what happens at the competition, but just to keep going, as the first couple of times out are always a bit tricky! We never seem to go more than twice in a row. Then go again about 2 months later!
I always take things slowly as I am a bit of a chicken when the fences get higher but push myself with the help of trainer.
We are both comfortably jumping 1m05 at home regularly, sticking in the odd 1m10 and 1m15 in our lessons, so the Discovery shouldn`t be a problem. It`s probably just me.
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