Jumping up a level and eating dirt!

slumdog

slumdog

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Hired Onley today to take babyhorse out so I can jump 90cm before we do our first BN which were aiming for at the end of next month. Been concentrating on grid work and building his strength up and I'm noticing a difference which is great :)

What wasn't so great was the famous last words "I'll just do this one to finish" which was a one strided double with an oxer in the front and an upright out. Uprights are the bain of my life anyway so I should have known lol! He jumped the first part huge, which meant he did a small stride between the jumps and took a bit of a flyer at the upright which I wasn't expecting as he normally knocks them, he jumped me out of the saddle which would have been fine, if there wasn't a horse-eating sandbag placed against the side of the school which he spooked at and then threw a bronc in just to make sure that it wasn't going to eat him. Which left me eating dirt! (Onley outdoor is lovely and soft, you should try it ;) )

Got back on once I'd removed sand from my ears and knickers and he jumped it great the next time so we really did leave it on that.

Has anyone else had problems jumping up at level? Jumping 2'9-3' at local level but obviously it varies a lot from BS courses, I think I'm tending to think "ooh that's a bit big" and either backing off or pushing him on and he's either chipping a stride in and scrambling over or taking a flyer at it. Having lessons etc so she'll sort me out but I do seem to be eating dirt more now than in the small RC classes. I've actually only fell off him 3 times (although it seems sooo much more lol!) and all were this season jumping 90cm! I'm in no rush so do I go back down in height? But then I feel if we stay within our comfort zone we'll never progress. We jump this height fine at home, is it normal to have a few teething problems when trying to move forward?

No pics at oh was running round doing the jumps but this is a video of him at home. It's the first time I've posted one so don't crucify me lol
Hope it works

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/...40-8AE9-E510331FA146-370-00000035B86E2158.mp4
 
I sympathise with the 'just one more to finish' and then it all going horribly wrong, done it many times.... :D
 
Knowing when to quit is an essential component of training and one we all learn the hard way. I once watched a very good clinician send the class 'one more time', I think because he was worried people would think they hadn't done enough, and end up with disasters all 'round they then had to try and fix with tired, upset horses and riders.

It's hard to say from your report if you need to change anything. The occasional blip is to be expected but if it's happening a lot and/or you and the horse are losing confidence then the system might need a tweak. Have you discussed it with your instructor?
 
It's defiantly something I'll remember for the future. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

I was thinking last night and it's not as bad as I make it out, I've had a few falls recently but not actually on him (I also have a really tricky 138 as a project) so although I feel like I'm not getting anywhere, we're actually doing ok. I've only fell off him twice jumping since March, it just feels like a lot more lol!

I always take the smallest blip and turn it into the biggest problem, I'm very critical of myself and I really take stuff to heart. My instructor says there's no reason why we won't be jumping BN by the end of summer, I just worry I'm not good enough. I think it's a confidence thing, but having confidence in our ability more than being confident riding if that makes sense?
 
Never just do 'one last one'.

It's well known by those who ski that 'just one more run' before we end the day usually ends in disaster ;) At least you ate soft dirt :D

My Sj trainer keeps trying to drill into me that nothing should change in my approach, position, speed, mindset whether it's a canter pole on the floor or a 3' pole. Unfortunately I hear what she is saying but haven't managed to put it into practice yet :rolleyes:
 
slumdog said:
It's defiantly something I'll remember for the future. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

I was thinking last night and it's not as bad as I make it out, I've had a few falls recently but not actually on him (I also have a really tricky 138 as a project) so although I feel like I'm not getting anywhere, we're actually doing ok. I've only fell off him twice jumping since March, it just feels like a lot more lol!

I always take the smallest blip and turn it into the biggest problem, I'm very critical of myself and I really take stuff to heart. My instructor says there's no reason why we won't be jumping BN by the end of summer, I just worry I'm not good enough. I think it's a confidence thing, but having confidence in our ability more than being confident riding if that makes sense?
Click to expand...

It doesn't sound like you have a "problem" then really. Is the other horse messing up your confidence a bit though?

I take the rather minority (for here anyway) view that "confidence" is not really a mind trick but comes from practice and KNOWING you can trust your skills. I understand that sports psychology, mental rehearsal, NLP etc can be very helpful and I recommend taking the mental game seriously, but at the end of the day you - and the horse - have to have practiced and refined and be able to draw on the appropriate skills, otherwise "confidence" is a house of cards. I know that's unpopular these days and there is nothing wrong at all with a "you can do it" pep talk but you have to believe that encouragement based on fact. It sounds like you know you CAN do what's needed at the new level so don't invent trouble for yourself. If there is a problem when you are schooling or competing, address it and repair it. Then move on and don't dwell on it.
 
That actually makes a lot of sense and is really helpful, thanks :)

It's funny though, as a child/teen I was obviously taught to ride, but now I'm older I realise I've never actually been taught to 'ride'
I'd never even thought about seeing a stride or any other technicalities until I got back into jumping a year ago! I think I get a bit caught up in this sometimes rather than just getting on with it!
 
I read a good quote today from Jimmy Woffard to the effect that we should stop worrying about giving the horse a good ride, we should seek to be an intelligent passenger.

That encapsulates something I've been struggling to covey for years - it is not our job to do the horse's job for it, it's our job to give decent directions and then stay out of the way. :)

I'm not saying technicalities are unimportant - QUITE the opposite - but ephemeral things like 'seeing a stride' will come more easily if you have simple skills like a stable position and an ability to create a good canter. These are boring things that take time and practice and aren't 'sexy'. ;) But they are also things you can work on and measure. If you KNOW you can get your horse off your leg in a decent canter, for instance, then you will be a lot more confident jumping a course.
 
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