1Lucie
Well-Known Member
I am a nervous rider and have never been much of a jumper. I have been riding on and off for about 15years but as a youngster my parents could only afford for me to have group riding lessons for years.
At grand age of 27 I purchased my first horse, a black 7year old ISH (Aug 2011) who is so calm and has the most forgiving personality. I have never had the confidence to compete and am particularly nervous about people watching me ride!
However, my friend (who is experienced and riding instructor) encouraged me to go with her yesterday to Sissons Farm Ec, Peterborough.
On the morning i was so nervous, unable to eat my breakfast and felt so so sick!! I got my boy ready and onto the lorry he went!
Arrived at the show and it was fairly quiet, phew i thought! Tacked him up and went into the practice arena.....umm not a great start for me....as i entered the arena he side kicked out and had a mini buck. Most unlike my black beast, he felt so tense and so was I.
The nerves were really kicking in and i just walked around until..... he put in another buck, much bigger than the first
.... uh oh i thought this is not looking good. We walked around on a long rein and were joined by many other horses.
Suddenly we both started to relax and we trotted and cantered around the arena while my friend went into the ring. The black beast began to work beautifully, his canter was actually better than we had been doing at home!!!
Next for the pratice jumps.... flew over them beautifully! My confidence grew and i really started to believe we could both do it.
Then our number was called...... my heart sank but i knew there was not bottling out now! Then it was my turn to enter the ring
We entered the ring and calmly trotted up the first jump, black beast decided he wanted to canter and i let him knowing he jumps far better in canter. Woohoo over the first one without knocking or anything remotly going wrong.
This continued and we reached jumped number 5, the double. Now me and black beast havent done many of these and this was potentially going to be our sticking point. But he flew over it in canter, i couldnt believe it!! We continued for the rest of the course.
We then reached jump 8.... uh oh a skinny. We hadnt actually ever jumped a skinny together before and i was unsure what he would make of it. As we approached i could feel he was a little unsure. Plenty of leg and he went towards it, jummping beautifully. So far so good... only two more jumps to go...
Flew over number 9 and 10. Clear round was announced over the tannoy...me and the black beast had actually got a clear round.. que one very big smile
Now for the pics....
I am at the back displaying my yellow rossette!
To all the nervous riders out there, you can do it! I absolutly loved it and i'm hoping to dabble in a bit of dressage next!
At grand age of 27 I purchased my first horse, a black 7year old ISH (Aug 2011) who is so calm and has the most forgiving personality. I have never had the confidence to compete and am particularly nervous about people watching me ride!
However, my friend (who is experienced and riding instructor) encouraged me to go with her yesterday to Sissons Farm Ec, Peterborough.
On the morning i was so nervous, unable to eat my breakfast and felt so so sick!! I got my boy ready and onto the lorry he went!
Arrived at the show and it was fairly quiet, phew i thought! Tacked him up and went into the practice arena.....umm not a great start for me....as i entered the arena he side kicked out and had a mini buck. Most unlike my black beast, he felt so tense and so was I.
The nerves were really kicking in and i just walked around until..... he put in another buck, much bigger than the first
.... uh oh i thought this is not looking good. We walked around on a long rein and were joined by many other horses.Suddenly we both started to relax and we trotted and cantered around the arena while my friend went into the ring. The black beast began to work beautifully, his canter was actually better than we had been doing at home!!!
Next for the pratice jumps.... flew over them beautifully! My confidence grew and i really started to believe we could both do it.
Then our number was called...... my heart sank but i knew there was not bottling out now! Then it was my turn to enter the ring
We entered the ring and calmly trotted up the first jump, black beast decided he wanted to canter and i let him knowing he jumps far better in canter. Woohoo over the first one without knocking or anything remotly going wrong.This continued and we reached jumped number 5, the double. Now me and black beast havent done many of these and this was potentially going to be our sticking point. But he flew over it in canter, i couldnt believe it!! We continued for the rest of the course.
We then reached jump 8.... uh oh a skinny. We hadnt actually ever jumped a skinny together before and i was unsure what he would make of it. As we approached i could feel he was a little unsure. Plenty of leg and he went towards it, jummping beautifully. So far so good... only two more jumps to go...
Flew over number 9 and 10. Clear round was announced over the tannoy...me and the black beast had actually got a clear round.. que one very big smile
Now for the pics....
I am at the back displaying my yellow rossette!
To all the nervous riders out there, you can do it! I absolutly loved it and i'm hoping to dabble in a bit of dressage next!
