To jump or not to jump?

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Bessieboo

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Hi everyone

Well up until about a week ago I was having a real dilemma with jumping. To be brief I had totally lost my confidence and was scared to jump at all. I then had a couple of weeks break and came back to find that my confidence had come back.

Over the weekend I jumped my hairy little coblet very successfully and felt great about it all. So last night I jumped her again and all was going very well until we went to one fence, a fence that we had successfully jumped 4 times the day before. Well the first time our approach was really good, I was confident riding her on etc and then at the very last moment she stopped dead which resulted in me flying over her head and landing with her bridle in my hand! A real You've Been Framed Moment! Not to be defeated though I mounted back up popped a smaller fence and then took her round again with even more determination than before only this time at the very last minute she did an almighty swerve and again off I came! Ok so brushed myself off, got very cross with her and mounted up again. Third time lucky I took her round again, pushing her on and giving her a little tap for the last stride we successfully jumped it.

So now I am asking myself, as a woman of 46, am I mental to be doing this? Should I continue to jump with her or give it up as a bad job? Normally she loves to jump and can jump much higher than what I took her over last night but I just don't know if I am foolish for wanting to continue to jump.

Anyway cookies and hot chocolate to anyone who reads this.

Any advice, as always, greatly appreciated.
 
No idea on the answer - I think only you can really answer that :D

That said, really well done for brushing yourself off and carrying on - something I'm struggling to work on! :eek: Hope you're not too bruised :)
 
I think this is really only something you can answer yourself, but if I can offer a few words of encouragement.

I started riding again (after a 20 years break) two years ago. I had never jumped before, but under the guidance of my OH I started. Last year I jumped both in the school and on XC schooling courses. This year I have begun in earnest to test my strength of character and I am determined to jump 3' and as many different obstacles as possible, we popped a 2 1/2' hedge the other night.

I am 51 years old and my pony is 14.2hh.

Oh and I have fallen and been dumped more times than I can even recall, it's no biggie in my mind and I just hop back on and carry on.

GO ON...you know you want to :D
 
Keep jumping!!! Just put it down to a bad day that's all. Maybe your horse felt your nerves hence the awkward jump, even though you'd jumped it before. Could you maybe lower that particular jump to an easy peasy height and then gradually raise it? I've found the best thing for my jumping nerves is to pop a jump every day! Doesn't have to be big but it makes me feel that I CAN do it! Hope this helps :-)
 
I would say its mostly down to nerves. Perhaps you're jumping the horse too often too - and its getting bored? I would get a few lessons - do some grids and find your confidence and balance again. Jump lower things until you're over confident. Most of all enjoy!xx (from another 40-something!)
 
Thanks for the advice everyone.

I think I will see how I go tonight and probably won't jump her for a few days just to make sure that she is not bored and then see how I feel. We have a fun ride planned on Sunday where there is the opportunity to do some very small cross country jumps and I would love the chance to have a go but I will just wait and see.

Not too bruised this morning, my left shoulder is just a bit sore but other than that I feel fine.

Anyways I will keep you informed as to how I get on tonight!
 
I'm 47 and finding it harder and harder as I get older to keep my nerves in check with jumping. I think self preservation instinct gets stronger as you age! I'm fine once I've had regular sessions or lessons over a period of time as it doesn't become such a big thing but I go most of the winter without jumping and then we have this lovely jumping paddock put out for the summer at the yard and I just get so nervous though when it goes right I do love it. I jump no higher than 2ft-2ft3 and never progress higher than that as I know my confidence cut off point. Pony loves jumping. We have our first jumping lesson of the summer today in about an hour...I'm on the emergency essence! Though I know pony is going to enjoy it and my instructor will build us up slowly...again, must be like Groundhog Day for him with me every summer :D. I'd say just take your time and do no more or no higher than you feel confident with and then you can slowly progress but sounds like you're doing really well already!

I think you'll know instinctively when you really want to quit jumping, someone at our yard who's in her early 60s took a bad tumble last year jumping after her horse threw her head up as spooked over a jump so knocked her out in the saddle and while was fine apart from mild concussion and bruising called it a day then.
 
Thanks for that Brandy. The people who were watching couldn't believe how brave I was and even a girl at yard who jumps alot and really high said to me that she would have bottled it because of the way my ponio was behaving.

I have decided that I am going to school her tonight just to make sure she is listening to me properly and then pop a couple of small jumps just at the end of the session.

I will let you know how I get on tomorrow.

:)
 
My boy will jump pretty much anything I point him at (and some things I don't). We were schooling late last year and my OH was setting the jumps up. She put up a double which H was jumping very well until it went up a couple of holes more and that was that, flat refusal. Even when we changed it to cross poles he still would not try. This is VERY out of character and I cussed my OH for having over faced him.

We started jumping in the school again a few weeks ago and the jumps were still as we left them in November (when it got too cold and wet). I put the cross poles on the double down a little and gave the boy a go, he went, but was clearly trying to figure out the best way of jumping the double. By the end of the session he was jumping it with ease and higher than it was set last year.

I think he just could not work out how best to jump it and no matter how many times or even how low we set the jump up, he was not going to try. With a fresh start, he figured it in no time. Mind you, it didn't prevent him stopping dead just as he landed the second element for the first time, flinging me straight over his head and onto my ar$e. I figured that he was getting his own back, and saying " See! I CAN jump it".

I'm not suggesting a 6 month break for the jump your horse does not like, but a change is as good as a rest.
 
QUOTE -I'm 47 and finding it harder and harder as I get older to keep my nerves in check with jumping. I think self preservation instinct gets stronger as you age! UNQUOTE

Just a tad older and I get angry thinking about what I used to jump, team chase, event, BSJA etc and yet now any excuse not to jump. Defo agree with above.

To OP - as you keep trying it seems like you really want to so just keep it small and see if you're confidence gets better.
 
Why not book yourself in for a lesson? the only way now I will carry on jumping and then have the confidence to go higher is through having lessons. I have gone back to booking in regular slots as opposed to being a bit hit and miss. We are going out for a jump schooling session to give my boy a chance to see different fillers etc before going out again. And I too, have evented, jumped opens and never gave it a thought before hand! I still want to do it, but am not so "gung ho" anymore.
 
Bessieboo said:
Normally she loves to jump and can jump much higher than what I took her over last night but I just don't know if I am foolish for wanting to continue to jump.

Anyway cookies and hot chocolate to anyone who reads this.

Any advice, as always, greatly appreciated.
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If she's started putting unusual dirty stops/run outs then it could be down to something phyical, perhaps she's tweaked something?

I'd probably give a her a bit of a rest period from jumping, just in case, then start working her over jumps again, if she's still doing this out of character then perhaps get her checked over?

Think I answered your original question without meaning to by say the above, if you enjoy it, do it, your never too old! :)
 
My mother is very late 50's (hitting the big 6-0 this year!!!) and has just started to learn to jump! She has been a 'happy hacker' for years but realised that she has never jumped or even been to a show!

Her old 'happy hack horse' is equally old but has always been a keen jumper with me and will still happily pop round a 2ft6 course. So I gave her her first 'jumping lesson' last week! Bless! She wasnt stylish but really enjoyed it! She now wants to enter the 'old-crumblies 1ft 6' SJ class at our local show this summer - and the vetran's class obvioustly!

Moral of the story - if you enjoy it, keep it up! If not - don't worry... horses are supposed to be enjoyable afterall!
 
As others have said, jumping or not is up to you :)

As for the pony, you jumped at the weekend, and yesterday - it could be that she is tired and wants a break from it. Some horses seem to want to jump every day, some don't, not even two days in a row.

As Kenzo says, get things checked. Little Lad used to put in mahoosive stops - could see it coming one stride out. Turns out that the points of the tree of the saddle had been digging into the backs of his shoulders :(. Little knots of tension. He knew it would hurt on landing if he went over the bigger jumps, so he tried very hard not to :(.

As to age, there is a magazine out with a section on middle-aged and beyond people getting into or back into riding, including jumping. Makes for interesting reading :)

I'm forty-seven. Dizz is a six year old DWB. I came off her last September and banged my head. Short story is three months off riding. Just getting nerve back. Jumped her on Saturday, only eight inches, but we jumped :D :D :D. Felt amazing. I bought her to BSJA, so we've a way to go lol.

Do what feels right for you and for your horse.

Have a hot choccy and a hug just to keep you going.
 
Thanks for that Mrs M :)

I am going to have a break from jumping her for a couple of days and just relax etc. I love her to bits as she is my dream pony. I was nine years old when I first wanted a horse and waited till I was 45 to get her so I am going to make sure I enjoy her now.

Hugs to all who have replied x
 
Well done for getting back on!

How about jumping just for 'fun' for a while and stick to heights you know you and your horse find easy. If you start to get bored then maybe pop them up or go to a competition.

I have just finished a successful Unaffiliated sj series, with me and my pony coming 2nd over a series of 12 shows, jumping classes up to 1m. However when looking back on it I didn't really enjoy it, especially as the heights got bigger, and have decided to have a break over the summer to see if I actually even want to go back to sj at all.

Instead we are doing loads of fun rides and having a great time jumping more xc style jumps, and looking forward to hunting resuming as love jumping hunt fences, so will get my fix that way without the stresss of competitions.

Good luck on whatever you decide.
 
Well if you are so am I! I am 46 in August, I started team chasing and hunting last year (I used to event but my mare made it clear she didn't like that and preferred to party with others). Plus I bought a three year to show jump and went flying over his head last weekend, just like you I got back on. I only questioned it the next day when it was painful to breathe due to my brusied and grazed sternum. So long as you feel confident it is the right thing to do.
 
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