My advice to ANYONE with confidence issues jumping..

showpony

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long story short have been a regular poster on anything to do with confidence;)

Little update below..

My own 4YO mare is going from strength to strenth - we have just clicked & her flatwork is coming on in leaps & bounds, she is getting the hang of lateral movements & is such a quick learner, we are having loads of fun & from wk to wk can see how much we are improving thanks to a great instructor & lots of bloody hard work & determination.. but the main thing is I NEVER EVER gave up even though we have had our hairy moments I am much more confident to ride her through tantrums etc...
Sometimes I think in life we need to push ourselves & 2mths ago gave myself a great big kick up the backside & just got on with it , she is now is a solid routine etc which helps, stands still when Im getting up, no issues anymore with her " hiding in the corner " when the bridle comes out.
IMO sometimes people just give up too soon & Im sorry if this sounds harsh but having bad falls , 10 yr break followed by some testing moments including falls when I bought her a couple of mths ago I have BATTLED through it & have come so far, not without many tears but if I can do it ANYONE can!

So if you are still reading fair play! the last bit of confidence problems I need to work through is jumping, as my own horse is so young I just havent been able to hop on & start jumping, she is green & this has caused me to adopt a hunter style jumping position ( all down to me NOTHING to do with the horse, as she is still learning ) SO I bit the bullet & made the decision to take some jumping lessons on a schoolmaster show jumper that a friend owns who competed at a high level all over the UK... had lesson couple wks ago & did get through it but had some mental blocks & ended up circuling on front of a few jumps until I calmed down & convinced myself I could do it..
Today had another jumping lesson on the " schoolmaster" & what a difference, instructor a real confidence builder but very straight & honest - after first couple of jumps got into my stride & low & behold I was adopting a forward jumping position & LOVING it - last couple of jumps which was over an OXER about 90cms or so was my favourite - saw glimers of my riding from when I was younger... finished the session off with a nice walk down the road...
Tomorrow going to try some of the techniques with my own Mare & confident of doing at least 10 jumps - not big but want to work on rhythm & line & will probably stick on a neck strap aswell..

One pic from today - myself & my instructor were just so focused we forgot to get camera out till end of lesson!

My Motto from now on is " Keep Calm & just BLOODY well do it" :D

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Fab fab. I went to a 'getting ur head in the right place' workshop tonight with the sole purpose of banishing the jumping nerves.

Not helped by, in last weeks clinic, someone shouting to the instructor 'see 'instructors name' if u look hard enough really hard, ull always find someone worse than u'

I left.
 
LOL I would have left too!!! What I found really helped was picking a spot on the wall & focusing on that so I was looking up which helped me go forward! Also canter poles & a circle really takes mind off the jump so not as much time to panic:) Although I must say I was just very very relaxed today, knew I could do it & just got on with it!! Looking forward to doing what I learnt today on my 4 YO tomoro!

Fab fab. I went to a 'getting ur head in the right place' workshop tonight with the sole purpose of banishing the jumping nerves.

Not helped by, in last weeks clinic, someone shouting to the instructor 'see 'instructors name' if u look hard enough really hard, ull always find someone worse than u'

I left.
 
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