Progression vs 'just having a go'

slumdog

slumdog

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At what point do you just think "s*d it" and have a go at something that you're not really ready to do? I really want to have a go at the winter amateur qualifier, I'm competing at 110 and schooling round 120-130 and my horse is experienced up to 140. The class is 120 and although I've happily jumped courses of 120 when we've hired places I've never competed at this height. One one hand realistically I'm not ready to be competitive at this height (I couldn't see a distance if I fell over one and some of the riders I'll be against are amazing!) but then again I'm never going to be the next Scott Brash anyway lol and it's only a bit of fun. Would you just have a go? Worse case horse will just say no thanks but he's experienced enough that I'm not going to scare him, nothing ventured nothing gained or play it safe?
 
Absolutely you should do it! You are jumping that height in training so why not - just be ready to recognise if your horse feels a bit overfaced and maybe try and jump some similar sized tracks unaff if you can find them. Good luck and look forward to the report!!!
 
Not SJ, but dressage. I did a similar thing earlier this year. I don't have any transport and have only previously done a little bit of unaffiliated intro and prelim. The only hack-able venue only did affiliated events. I managed to talk myself into hacking there once a month and taking part in an affiliated prelim. I really felt like I was 'getting ideas above my station' playing with the big boys, but everyone was so friendly, and it was so well run. I've been back about 6 times this year and have loved every minute.

Sometimes you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone, if you're happily schooling over those heights at home then you'll be fine. Of course with dressage there is a bit less to lose, if it can't pick up canter at a marker, then the worst that happens is I get a 0 haha! Things like x-country the stakes are a bit higher and maybe not worth a risk if you're not totally comfortable.
 
I was in this situation last year. Rewind a few years or however long ago it was you started jumping 1.10/newcomers. You'd have felt exactly the same then, but you went for it and it's got you to where you are now :)
 
Pushing yourself can be a good thing. If you're comfortable schooling over that height then I would have a go and think of it as a schooling round. You can always retire if you find yourself in over your head.
 
ljohnsonsj said:
I was in this situation last year. Rewind a few years or however long ago it was you started jumping 1.10/newcomers. You'd have felt exactly the same then, but you went for it and it's got you to where you are now :)
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That's true, I went from having only jumped a few british novices on a novice horse, straight to 1.05 and then on to 110 after a couple of shows. (I've still never jumped a discovery lol) and tbh, 2 years ago I was jumping 2ft6 unaffiliated! I still might chicken out yet but I feel a lot better now! Like someone above said, if he's struggling I can always put my hand up and come out, although I think horse will be fine, it's the jockey that's the problem lol! I'll just have to get the photographer to take a photo over the first in case we don't get any further haha!
 
slumdog said:
That's true, I went from having only jumped a few british novices on a novice horse, straight to 1.05 and then on to 110 after a couple of shows. (I've still never jumped a discovery lol) and tbh, 2 years ago I was jumping 2ft6 unaffiliated! I still might chicken out yet but I feel a lot better now! Like someone above said, if he's struggling I can always put my hand up and come out, although I think horse will be fine, it's the jockey that's the problem lol! I'll just have to get the photographer to take a photo over the first in case we don't get any further haha!
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My first horse from ponies was a experienced yet quirky 16.2 Who was out of Disco so i too went straight into 1.05-1.10s. Most of your jump offs you've done at 1.10 would of probably been somewhere around 1.20 depending on how they was ran anyway! Just ride it exactly the same- and once you've done it you will love it and want to do 1.30s! And be in the same situation then haha! If in doubt just kick :)
 
If you are comfortable schooling over the height at home then eventually you would have to take the plunge and jump those heights in competition anyway, so get your brave pants on and do it! I think progression and "just having a go" are the same thing surely? You are progressing, are comfortable at home over those heights so you can "just have a go" at a competition and eventually it will be second nature. And you have to have a go at something slightly out of your comfort zone so you know what you need to do to progress.

Not sure that makes sense but hopefully you understand what I'm getting at!
 
Sometimes you just need to have a go!. I have found that you either surprise yourself and its much less of a step up than you expected, or your an 'also ran' for abit, but it always improves your game at a lower level, if that makes sense! Best of luck. X
 
chestnut cob said:
If you are comfortable schooling over the height at home then eventually you would have to take the plunge and jump those heights in competition anyway, so get your brave pants on and do it! I think progression and "just having a go" are the same thing surely? You are progressing, are comfortable at home over those heights so you can "just have a go" at a competition and eventually it will be second nature. And you have to have a go at something slightly out of your comfort zone so you know what you need to do to progress.

Not sure that makes sense but hopefully you understand what I'm getting at!
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I'd never really thought about it like that, if I don't just have a go then I'll never progress, and if I wait until I'm perfect round 110 then I'll be waiting forever chasing perfection! If you see someone crying whilst walking the course at arena show it's probably me haha :)
 
Granted you'll never know unless you try but what I will say is that the winter amateur qualifiers will be full up, max height all the way round, complex courses, difficult lines where you will HAVE to make a decision, for example they will build so you may have to chose whether to go on 5 strides or 6... Not something you should be leaving down to the horse ALL the time. There will be no let ups or 'nice' fences. It's a qualifier after all.
I'd go in a 1.20 open first, or Foxhunter if you're eligible. These will usually be built a bit nicer and be a bit more forgiving. Once you have a few rounds under your belt, kick on and crack on! Good luck!
 
Char0901 said:
Granted you'll never know unless you try but what I will say is that the winter amateur qualifiers will be full up, max height all the way round, complex courses, difficult lines where you will HAVE to make a decision, for example they will build so you may have to chose whether to go on 5 strides or 6... Not something you should be leaving down to the horse ALL the time. There will be no let ups or 'nice' fences. It's a qualifier after all.
I'd go in a 1.20 open first, or Foxhunter if you're eligible. These will usually be built a bit nicer and be a bit more forgiving. Once you have a few rounds under your belt, kick on and crack on! Good luck!
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This seems sensible advice.

Can you find some 1.15m classes to do as well? I progressed from 1.15m and a fence down to clear and having to do the jump off to 1.20m so it seemed less daunting!
 
I know mine is dressage but having competed at elem level for years but training higher at home, my dream was to compete it tails so I thought sod it! And entered an advanced where we scored 64% so go for it!
 
Gosh - I am about to be a voice of caution! It's come to something!

When I was getting ready for my first 1.20 (on an experienced horse, so I just had myself to worry about). I did five 1.15s in competition before I did the 1.20, and I was jumping 1.30 at home. I'd never jumped over 1.10 in competition (before I did the 1.15s) and 1.20 seemed like a big step up.

I guess if you are jumping courses of the same height and technicality at home, and if you will ride just the same at home as you will in a comp, then you will be fine. I didn't trust myself on the second point, so that's why I had to do the 1.15s at comps!

My fear with "having a go" and getting it wrong, was - a) it was an event, not a SJ comp, so a disaster on SJ would have meant setting out on the biggest XC we'd done with dashed confidence (or withdrawing); b) I was so so careful not to cause my horse any confidence issues. He'd been ridden by pros and then had to put up with me and I was terrified I'd wreck him; and c) My own confidence was fragile!

That said, I absolutely agree that you should not hang around forever at 1.10 if you want to progress, and I don't think it's bonkers to go to a 1.20 champ in this case, but, if it were me, I'd need my progression to be more gradual, to involve more interim steps and to be sure of my and my horse's confidence throughout.

Keep us updated!
 
My confidence is too fragile to just have a crack at something without doing homework and building blocks first.

Not my confidence with falling off, being outclassed etc, my confidence in not ruining my horse is very shaky and I know if I racked up a cricket score I would take it very much to heart, as I would worry about upsetting my horse.
 
I just do not understand this mentality! Why set yourself up to fail. Instead you should be setting yourself up for success.

I would be moving onto 1.15m classes, maybe look specifically for two phase after a few straight 1.15m classes and then introducing 1.20m classes. Why would you jump straight from 1.10m to 1.20m when there are classes offered in between?

Not getting at the Op but this mentality of just giving things a go is a personal bugbear of mine. Ultimately there is always a time you will need to make the jump up but at least have done everything in your power to make sure it is going to go well. Far too many people just go ahead and do stuff without any of the consolidation behind it and then wonder why its gone wrong and the horse has lost confidence in the partnership or takes the piss.
 
I would also err on the side of caution. Confidence is such a precious thing, once lost it takes forever to regain, both for you and your horse.
Schooling, even round courses at a venue, is completely different to going in a ring and jumping a course, full up, with tricky distances, spooky fillers and full size spreads. I would be particularly concerned if you are struggling to see a stride, fine up to 85cm, risky much above that.
 
Having gave it proper thought and sat down to do my entries, I've entered the 110 and 115 :) I'm going to aim for the Blue Chip Karma Performance at vale view in December once I have a few 120 opens under my belt :) boring but sensible. :)
 
OP that sounds like a great idea. Qualifiers are always quite meaty, technical courses so it would probably be unwise to do one of your first 120s there and risk ruining your confidence.
 
I think you're doing the right thing.
Not seeing a stride when you get bigger is very risky. I was jumping at home in my lesson and was jumping a 1.35 oxer (as wide as it was tall!) I'm usually pretty good at seeing a stride, but messed up big time. My mare cat-lept the fence (bless her, she should have stopped, would have been safer, but she was a real trier and as brave as a lion) She jumped so big, she jumped me off and I landed stood next to her at the other side of the fence. Something didn't feel right in my ankle, but I got back on, jumped a smaller fence and came at it again. Jumped it beautifully but ouch... my ankle. 2 years later I've just had all the metal work removed. Now I make sure I'm 100% on a stride for anything above 1.05.
Thankfully didn't scare my little mare at all, but it so easily could have.
 
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