Jumping single fences and a course Confidence

ktj1891

ktj1891

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Over the past month or so I have gone from real high to real low with my lad. We had been jumping the best we have ever jumped but since a fall (jumping something too big that I shouldn't have been doing) and also getting eliminated in my first 90cm course we have lost a bit of trust in each other.

I am completely comfortable jumping 80cm but looking to progress however my lad is now stopping in our school over a cross pole and fillers and its knocking my confidence a bit.

I recently had a jump lesson working on a grid a couple weeks ago (after my fall and elimination) and he was super. But since then I have jumped three at home on my own and the first session he stopped at the first jump a x pole and weekend just gone I jumped him both days, he stopped at poly blocks I put under a fence (I was kicking) at about 2'3 and yesterday I put a gate out for him to jump and he went to stop but cat leaped but continued to go over it sticky right until the end when I finished it on a good note.

I am just despairing a little and I know I shouldn't as its clearly a case that we have just had our confidence and trust in each other knocked a little.

I'm wondering what I can do to build it back up again, should I just work on jumping him twice a week (little and often) and just put some small challenges out for us so fillers etc as I just don't want it in the back of my head the next time I jump away from home he is going to stop at fillers.

I am also looking for advise on jumping single fences and courses and not panicking. when I jump a single fence or a course I worry about the 101 things that could go wrong i.e. wrong stride, stopping etc whereas in a grid im a lot more confident as I know all I need to do it get him to the first canter pole and he will take me through.

I am no where near the best rider or jumping at all and im definitely not confident but I am looking for improve and I just wish I could get outside my head and not worry so much and start enjoying it more!
 
do you have a good instructor you can work out a plan with? Its much easier for someone to look objectively on you riding and give you perspective.
 
For reference jumping in my lesson 2 weeks ago

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is there a chance that when you get nervous you tighten your contact and thats why the horse is stopping? in the pics above it looks like you are using your reins to balance and not give over the fence and allowing the horse to stretch?
 
I wondered that - it looks like you might be hanging on to his head a bit? Also when we are nervous it is easy to hunch forward a bit which puts your weight over his shoulders and might impede take off. As well as giving seriously mixed messages which he might not understand - your legs say jump but your body says don't...

First steps.... give yourself a break. Nerves happen to everyone and are nothing to beat yourself up about. You might want to look at confidence courses like NLP, Ride with your mind or similar; so you can visualise your way out of over thinking things.

Did the horse fall too? Or knock himself? if so might be worth getting him checked over by a vet or physio to be sure there is nothing sore.

Then work with a sympathetic instructor who can push you but not over face you. Give both of you some time. Rushing to get back doesn't help in the long run - but you will get there!
 
Just take the emotion and worry out of it and analyse what your issues are. write down a list of stuff you struggle with and pinpoint how you can fix each particular issue. Don't go out pushing yourself over courses as you are setting yourself up to fail and get disheartened. Just rationally work out what you need to fix

e.g, - If fillers are an issue, hire an arena with a full set of spooky jumps and keep schooling till you are confident
- if you are not confident seeing strides there are tons of schooling books with pole exercises that would work.
- if you are scared going up a height, then stay at the same height until you are bored rigid with it, then gradually raise the height.
- if you are freezing up in panic going into ring, can you get a confidence cd or NLP course that would help. I found a book called http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schooling-Problems-Solved-Revolutionize-Neuro-linguistic/dp/0851317863 brilliant

you can see the tension in the photos in your face and body when you are jumping. Can you reduce the height down until you are more relaxed and soft over the fences. That last fence in the grid looks big, and if it was a spread the horse would definitely struggle over it with the way its head is being restricted. And a sensitive horse would stop jumping. Could you get lessons doing a grid with no reins and stirrups so your position gets stronger?

as an aside, is he an exracer? one of my others is an exracer he started stopping when his sacroiliac started at him. Could it be a physical thing either? If your instructor gets on him does he jump ok with no issues?

I went through something similar a few years ago and its awful when your brain is your worst enemy! But its all fixable!
 
Shay said:
I wondered that - it looks like you might be hanging on to his head a bit? Also when we are nervous it is easy to hunch forward a bit which puts your weight over his shoulders and might impede take off. As well as giving seriously mixed messages which he might not understand - your legs say jump but your body says don't...

First steps.... give yourself a break. Nerves happen to everyone and are nothing to beat yourself up about. You might want to look at confidence courses like NLP, Ride with your mind or similar; so you can visualise your way out of over thinking things.

Did the horse fall too? Or knock himself? if so might be worth getting him checked over by a vet or physio to be sure there is nothing sore.

Then work with a sympathetic instructor who can push you but not over face you. Give both of you some time. Rushing to get back doesn't help in the long run - but you will get there!
Click to expand...

Yes I do get nervous as the fences get bigger and become defensive in my position I agree. I find it hard to move forwards with my hands but I don't catch him in the mouth my reins always slip if I don't go with him. My instructor told me to keep my shoulders up through the uprights so that's why I am sitting up a bit more. I don't have an issue going through a smaller grid it's usually as they get bigger or fillers etc
 
paddi22 said:
Just take the emotion and worry out of it and analyse what your issues are. write down a list of stuff you struggle with and pinpoint how you can fix each particular issue. Don't go out pushing yourself over courses as you are setting yourself up to fail and get disheartened. Just rationally work out what you need to fix



e.g, - If fillers are an issue, hire an arena with a full set of spooky jumps and keep schooling till you are confident
- if you are not confident seeing strides there are tons of schooling books with pole exercises that would work.
- if you are scared going up a height, then stay at the same height until you are bored rigid with it, then gradually raise the height.
- if you are freezing up in panic going into ring, can you get a confidence cd or NLP course that would help. I found a book called http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schooling-Problems-Solved-Revolutionize-Neuro-linguistic/dp/0851317863 brilliant

you can see the tension in the photos in your face and body when you are jumping. Can you reduce the height down until you are more relaxed and soft over the fences. That last fence in the grid looks big, and if it was a spread the horse would definitely struggle over it with the way its head is being restricted. And a sensitive horse would stop jumping. Could you get lessons doing a grid with no reins and stirrups so your position gets stronger?

as an aside, is he an exracer? one of my others is an exracer he started stopping when his sacroiliac started at him. Could it be a physical thing either? If your instructor gets on him does he jump ok with no issues?

I went through something similar a few years ago and its awful when your brain is your worst enemy! But its all fixable!
Click to expand...

My main issue is my nerves and worrying about all the things that could go wrong. Looks like I am going to get to rent a school on Wednesday so happy about that! The tension in my face is brilliant I don't think I ever smile jumping. The last fence was big but my instructor wanted it to replicate the fence I had a stop at competing to show we could both do it. He said it's just being you up to take away each element of the grid to being able to do it as a single fence - he is really good I throughly enjoy my lessons and come away feeling better. He isn't stopping due to pain we have both purely had a rough patch and I would say it's more me than him. Yes he is an ex racer. My instructor hasn't ridden him. Oh and from previous post I missed no he didn't fall at fence he just went through it and I fell on my ass it was the most painful fall I have had to date. I agree my brain is my biggest enemy. I will upload a video to show me on an 80 course.
 
This is us at summer house eventers challenge the day after my bad fall. I was in agony and could barely sit in the saddle. He was such a good boy though and really took care of me being both or first time there and I was worried about a few fences he would stop at. 80 he and I don't have an issue at. My issue is as they get bigger I freeze and come into fences worried so he's well within his right to say no but it's just hard to get confidence when that all happens. I am happy at 80 but I also really want to progress too. I doubt I would ever jump higher than 90 as I'm just too nervous but it is one of my goals!

http://youtu.be/nb1faCpukJA
 
What about jumping two fences on a figure 8? I do that a lot with my horse as it gets me thinking of the turn and then I don't think about the stride. It is also good as it replicates a course but with only two jumps. Starts with two small x poles. Trot over them first, make sure he's really in front of you with a big strong trot so he knows you are committed. Then canter and when you are coming in think about the turn when you land and looking for the next jump. So think jump, turn, jump, turn. The turns will help him stay in an engaged canter and you should hopefully find yourself riding the pattern and the jumps coming up on a good stride. If you get a sticky jump kick on round the next turn opening your hand to turn and not pulling back.
once he's cruising round over the x's, put them to uprights or spreads you can jump both ways.
If your anything like me focusing your brain on something will stop negative thoughts creeping in as you jump!
 
Also remind yourself 90 is only 2 holes up. For him it's nothing. He will not notice the difference between 80 and 90 :) :).
 
Firewell said:
What about jumping two fences on a figure 8? I do that a lot with my horse as it gets me thinking of the turn and then I don't think about the stride. It is also good as it replicates a course but with only two jumps. Starts with two small x poles. Trot over them first, make sure he's really in front of you with a big strong trot so he knows you are committed. Then canter and when you are coming in think about the turn when you land and looking for the next jump. So think jump, turn, jump, turn. The turns will help him stay in an engaged canter and you should hopefully find yourself riding the pattern and the jumps coming up on a good stride. If you get a sticky jump kick on round the next turn opening your hand to turn and not pulling back.
once he's cruising round over the x's, put them to uprights or spreads you can jump both ways.
If your anything like me focusing your brain on something will stop negative thoughts creeping in as you jump!
Click to expand...



This sounds like a good idea. As in having both fences on each diagonal?
 
you'd be well able to jump a metre or more! No reason why you shouldn't once you get the confidence up.
I know you said you were sore in that video, so it mightn't be a normal example of your riding. But from watching it, if I had to make a guess why he's stopping, it's your hands. He's getting caught in the mouth over a few fences as well when your hands are high. And you are using the rein to balance when he is landing, and he's getting pulled back before he hits the ground. In that video sometimes you are pulling him back in time with your stride before the fences sometimes, especially on the ones he knocks. You are probably counting the stride in your head but you are subconsciously fiddling with your hands and putting him off. Since he's a bit of the forehand he looks like he's balancing a bit of your hands, so when they aren't steady he's put off. I know my exracer is super fussy in the mouth, so he used to throw a fit if he was caught in the mouth at all. I always found my hands can be a disaster if i get nervous!
 
paddi22 said:
you'd be well able to jump a metre or more! No reason why you shouldn't once you get the confidence up.
I know you said you were sore in that video, so it mightn't be a normal example of your riding. But from watching it, if I had to make a guess why he's stopping, it's your hands. He's getting caught in the mouth over a few fences as well when your hands are high. And you are using the rein to balance when he is landing, and he's getting pulled back before he hits the ground. In that video sometimes you are pulling him back in time with your stride before the fences sometimes, especially on the ones he knocks. You are probably counting the stride in your head but you are subconsciously fiddling with your hands and putting him off. Since he's a bit of the forehand he looks like he's balancing a bit of your hands, so when they aren't steady he's put off. I know my exracer is super fussy in the mouth, so he used to throw a fit if he was caught in the mouth at all. I always found my hands can be a disaster if i get nervous!
Click to expand...

Yeah I have noticed that and don't even realise I am doing it until I watch the video back. I can give more with my hands when I really think about it and am conscious I sort of try and over exaggerate it but at shows that all goes out the window with my nerves!
 
An update, I took him schooling around a course yesterday and this was the result.

This combination he jumped really nice and as I felt comfortable I went with him and was relaxed even though it was a bit bigger.

http://youtu.be/XBN22Y2bCms

This one was the first time I went over it and as you can see I didn't move forwards with my hands as much and also I wasn't able to sit to it very well. This happens quite a lot and I feel like I come out of the saddle far too much. I don't know how to stop this?

http://youtu.be/P5x2X7zySr0

Overall I had a very good session bar a stop at my very first fence a cross pole ��
 
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