Showjumping nerves

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Emily thorne

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Hi, I need to tips to help me get over my fear of showjumping, and ride more confidently over jumps.
I was never a nervous rider, up until recently. My old pony was well behaved, but could be dirty when it came to jumping. She didn't enjoy it, and used to duck out of jumps and drop her shoulder/buck me off. That happened many times in lessons/shows. I have recently sold this pony under instructors advise, as she did not enjoy jumping. The more we did it, the more she hated it, which resulted in her bucking me off. This has caused me to loose a lot of confidence, mainly when jumping.
My new one enjoys jumping a lot more, and happily goes forwards into fences. The problem isn't her, it's me. Despite this I still get nervous. I do enjoy competing, however I don't enjoy getting scared. I also dislike many people watching me, as I don't think I ride well.
Does anyone have any tips to over come this? I have a competition this Saturday and am jumping 70cm which I am very worried about!
Many thanks. X
 
I'd knock the competitions on the head until you are more confident with your pony. I'd practice with an instructor till you are confident jumping a certain height, and then for my first few competitions I'd jump and much lower height till I get bored with jumping that height and naturally want to move up. There's no point going in and being a bag of nerves doing a course, it just upsets you and its not fair on your pony. Go in at a level you are 100% confident at, even if its tiny crosspoles, and then move up as your confidence grows. A few shows at a lower level will be WAAYY more beneficial than pushing yourself at a level you are nervous at. Practice at a boring level and use it as a schooling exercise for getting your rythmn and lines into jumps right, and for getting over people watching you.

As regards people watching it took me years to realise that no-one actually cares how you do! It's a huge relief when you realise that. If you have a bad round most people just feel sympathy, but they honestly don't care about how you ride, they are too busy worrying about their own stuff!

It can be really hard to get your confidence back if you have a horse that doesn't like jumping. But the one you have now sounds great, so I'm sure you'l be flying in no time!
 
I know exactly how you feel - my little chap thinks nothing of flying 3ft 3 and is as honest as they come, but I'm a quivering jelly thinking about jumping 70cm! For me the key has been realizing that I get a better, more comfortable jump if I allow him to build up some speed (rather than hanging on and slowing him down due to my nerves). Then it's just practising little and often e.g. popping a couple of fences in the school at the end of a flatwork session - it just makes it less of an 'event' and more normal! x
 
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