Keeping hands quiet when jumping

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Flying_Form

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Hi,
I had a bad fall while jumping about a month ago and as a result I've lost a bit of confidence. Now, when i come up to a fence about two or three strides beforehand, my hands lift instead of staying down, and I tighten my reins as a result and don't give my horse its head very much. It's purely defensive and I do it because I'm nervous but it isn't fair on my horse. Is there any way I can just get used to keeping my hands low and quiet on my approach to the fence?
 
View said:
Hard to give advice without being there to watch on the ground.

canter poles, grids with an instructor to rebuild your confidence.
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i would also say same.
start again doing something small and well within your comfort zone where you aren’t snatching (even if it feels ridiculous) and then build it up.
If you start snatching again, go back a step.

As I’m sure you’re aware it’s all in YOUR head, so try build up some positive experiences for yourself.

dont expect too much from yourself - do you have a good coach you can work with?
 
Neck strap holding does impede the horse’s head slightly but avoids socking it & slides up the neck a little when needed. Neck straps aren’t a perfect solution, they can also make you tip forward, balance on your hands etc, but in my experience for exactly this (getting used to keeping your hands low & quiet to a fence after a bad fright) they are absolute genius. Magic confidence blanket that stops you practicing your bad habit until you’re back into the swing of things. Also avoids getting nervous that you might hurt your horses mouth & feedback is really helpful too as you can feel when you hands would have moved & that is a surprisingly effective bit of training.
 
Agree with Small Steps; if you've had a confidence knock, then the small jumps you are popping, it shouldn't be a problem that you are holding a neck strap. I use an old stirrup leather. There are some cool neck straps out there now that have an extra strap that is like an elevated handle, which allows a bit more movement in the hands.
Lots of canter poles and small fences, and grids to build up confidence again.
 
You need to come up with a do this thing, rather than a don't lift my hands thought. So as others say perhaps your new mantra 3 strides out is put your hands on the 2nd plait or something. It's much easier to focus on doing something than not doing something.
 
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I’d say a neck strap is helpful for the initial wobbly period as you get more confident and more balanced. Moving to lowering hands on the neck as you wean yourself off the neck strap. Working on core strength and balance in the meantime to try to avoid any temptation to lean on the reins. That’s what I’m working on at the moment anyway !
 
For me it boils down to my core muscles, particularly the muscles that stabilise the bottom of the scapula.. this enables the hands (and arms) to follow the horse's head freely without pulling your torso forward and out of balance.
 
Zuzan said:
For me it boils down to my core muscles, particularly the muscles that stabilise the bottom of the scapula.. this enables the hands (and arms) to follow the horse's head freely without pulling your torso forward and out of balance.
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think the rider CAN follow the horse usually…but after a confidence wobble is defensively snatching before the jump. It’s a psychological issue.
 
mini_b said:
think the rider CAN follow the horse usually…but after a confidence wobble is defensively snatching before the jump. It’s a psychological issue.
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It's funny what tension / fear do to muscles.. often it means the peripherals / limbs become tense and the core curls up .. muscle memory is v important for confidence and the ability to deal with nerves.
 
mini_b said:
think the rider CAN follow the horse usually…but after a confidence wobble is defensively snatching before the jump. It’s a psychological issue.
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Spent the past few days doing bounces, cross poles and grids - my horse knows exactly what he’s doing so I just let him do what he loves (jumping) and focused on my hands and it’s crazy what a few positive experiences can do because now I’m not doing it as often as I was before!!
 
Alibear said:
You need to come up with a do this thing, rather than a don't lift my hands thought. So as others say perhaps your new mantra 3 strides out is put your hands on the 2nd plait or something. It's much easier to focus on doing something than not doing something.
Click to expand...

I took the plait advice over the neck strap advice just because I am not a huge fan of the neck strap as mine is part of the breastplate and is rather low down which stops me from giving my horse a release on his mouth - one stride out I’d let go but mentally pretend I was still holding on so I wouldn’t put to much pressure on my horses mouth and the difference it made. Did a few grids so I could just focus on my hands rather than navigating a course of jumps and it has worked wonders!!
 
As several have said, a neck strap can be a good place to start.

After a few crashes and completely losing my nerve jumping, I got into a shocking habit of not keeping my hands down after and between fences which looks horrific when you watch back on video ? however, a neck strap sorted this right out and now it's just muscle memory for me to keep my hands down ?‍♀️. It might impede the horse a bit, but no way near as much as hands waving around all over the shop.
 
ycbm said:
I found this impedes releasing the horses head by pushing your hands forward or up the crest as it jumps the fence.
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I saw this reply a while ago and thought maybe my advice to do that was wrong. So I have been mulling it over since then. But I agree with he above posters and still think they are very useful. Today I was at Somerford at the same time as Olympic riders who were wearing neck straps. My RI who is a working pupil for one of them said they all use them on their young event horses who can be unpredictable as it prevents them from upsetting the horses by catching them in the mouth when they are introduced to XC jumping. If it's good enough for them then it's definitely accetable for me!
 
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