When do you realise you are no good and stop?

[Shoei]

i have always loved my jumping, had a few bad falls and it never phased me. I brought my horse 1 year ago and he had done very little. So far he has ditched me x country and hunting and today in the school! I have had a break over the winter from jumping due to loosing my nerve. I had a lesson last week to start building it up, popped a couple of fences up today and the smallest had a landing pole as he can go disunited one way. Well he jumped landed I think jumped the ground pole I lost my shocking seat and he deposited me on the floor. Now have egg on head (not impressed with my hat that came undone) but I'm starting to think I have lost my touch and I should just stick to dressage before I ruin us both!

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

I'm starting to feel the same way so shall follow with interest. Love jumping but am pretty rubbish at it especially if over about 70 cm think I've lost some bottle since I was a kid (25 now) starting to see some of the what ifs too much. I do have lessons.

 

[baymareb]

I'd say a lot depends on why you're falling. Is it because of holes in his training or are you insecure in your seat? Or are they just freak things (horse tripped, bad landing, etc) If the first, I'd back up and work on bringing him along more slowly. If the second, I'd stop jumping and work on my riding. If the third, it depends on what it's doing to your confidence. I'd have a talk with your instructor and she what s/he thinks.

 

[Tern]

Why don't you just give it a couple months break or get someone confident to jump him once every other week so that when you are ready to jump he is already a star!

 

[Walrus]

I think it depends on what you want from your horse and what your aims are. I am very very competitive and am not content with pottering round local shows etc. I bought my fell pony a few years ago, before I knew what I was doing or harboured any competitive aspirations. As we progressed I was desperate to compete, however I soon realised he's not a quality enough fell to show at county level (plus I do not hAve the patience for showing!). We turned to jumping to give workers a go, had a years success at lower level and then my competitive ambition took over, I wanted to push us and had aspirations of big open worker tracks, however I don't have the ability to do it, I scared us both, the pony started stopping and we both lost our confidence.

We've always worked hard at our flatwork and had a bit of success at unaffiliated dressage, so we bit the bullet and went BD. Since then we've placed at area festivals, qualified summer regionals, made our novice debut and got our puncture in horse and hound. I think we've finally found our niche and this also takes the pressure off the jumping. I am determined to get him out xc this year, but just for fun, no pressure and a max of about 50- 60cm with no need to go any bigger.

I think you have to think about what you want, if you really want to compete and do it then get professional help, that's how our dressage has progressed, mainly due to a fab trainer.

 

[SkewbyTwo]

By "a landing pole" do you mean, a pole on the ground, after the fence? If so, I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. I have always found them to be utter madness and I can't count the number of accidents I have seen them cause.

 

[Shoei]

Thanks guys. All 3 jumping falls are when we have been doing something new 1. A ditch x country 2. A massive fence out hunting (my fault.. Over zealous) 3. This landing pole incident which was the 1st time he'd seen one. My instructor says my worst habit is sometimes trying to jump the fence for my horse and I have to try hard to wait for the fence to come to me. I think I am going to percever with my lessons and mix it up with some dressage lessons. If I can sort out this disunited canter he shows some real potential... It sounds like you have done great Walrus with yours, it's nice to here that you changed your plans to suit your horse and have done so well.
Thanks SkewbyTwo it's the 1st time I have ever used them and I don't think I will be doing it again.. But I'm glad to know it's not just me!

 

[Ponycarrots]

I used to fall off jumping ALL THE TIME. I used to think I was crap and I would never be good at jumping. I started to record myself jumping on my phone as I couldn't understand why I was falling off! I watched and saw simple errors in my position, so next time I rode, I rectified them (well, tried my best to!) and...I stayed on!
Now I never fall off (touch wood)! You're never not good enough, you may just be making a silly error that you don't even know you're doing.

 

[Shoei]

Thanks Ponycarrots funnily enough I was trying this for the 1st time today but dim wit me only forgot to switch the camera so got the back of my case and some interesting sound effects!!!!

 

[Ponycarrots]

Lol! You'll remember next time
Above all remember jumping should be fun. If you don't enjoy it, you don't have to do it. I know a lot of fantastic riders who don't jump and that's great!
However if you want to jump give it every chance you can. A friend of mine who is a fantastic huntsman told me, throw your heart over the fence and your horse will follow. What an amazing analogy. Just believe in yourself and your horse, relax and wait for him to take off (don't over anticipate) and don't over face him. I did this with mine a couple of weeks ago and put him off for a while I felt like a monster but he's back up to speed again now.

 

[Shoei]

That is a good analogy, I will try and ignore my own analogy 'throw your ar*e over a fence and your horse will follow'

 

[Sukistokes2]

Just to play devils advocate......what makes dressage any easer?

 

[madmav]

Absolutely Shoei. That was always my biggest mistake. Instructor once told me to feel for the take-off rather than me throwing everything at it. Take it one step (jump!) at a time. And remember we're meant to be doing this for pleasure, not pain!

 

[Shoei]

It's not easier but I certainly fall off less!

 

[maisie06]

I stopped jumping when I realised I was rubbish and always falling off. Then I had problems cantering, now I don't ride at all apart from a very quiet hack in walk only. I am a terrible rider and found this the hard way when I had some lessons and never got any better, the instructor said the best thing I could do for my horse was to stop riding - so I did.

 

[Shoei]

I stopped jumping when I realised I was rubbish and always falling off. Then I had problems cantering, now I don't ride at all apart from a very quiet hack in walk only. I am a terrible rider and found this the hard way when I had some lessons and never got any better, the instructor said the best thing I could do for my horse was to stop riding - so I did.

That's an awful thing for an instructor to say... I'm sure with riding as with everything in life there are areas that we are better at naturally and others we have to work on but to write of riding altogether......

 

[maisie06]

I am pretty much a hopeless case, my balance is rubbish, my position is terrible, and I never improved. For my horse's sake I gave up, the horse now has a decent rider and is going better and better, and doing really well, I was just wrecking him.

 

[Ponycarrots]

Maisie06
You probably had a crap instructor who didn't know how to teach so said a horrible comment like that.
Ignore him/her get on a horse and get another instructor, stupid, horrible **** they must've been

 

[madmav]

Dear Maisie, that is so sad. The person who should have given up is your instructor, on teaching, or engaging with the world.

Of course you are not rubbish at riding. Just been very badly taught - which happens. None of us know how to do anything unless we are shown the right way. And riding is a skill to be learnt like anything else. We don't come into this world knowing how to swim, cook, read, write, etc. But we do need good guides to show us how to acquire new skills.
Gosh, that comment your instructor made to you has made me properly cross!

 

[Firefly9410]

To people who want to jump but feel they are no good, it is not just the rider it is the combination of horse and rider. You could be a reasonably good rider on the flat but if you lack the skills for jumping and have a horse who knows the job and is good at it, it can make a difference to your own performance. I find a bold horse easier to jump than a spooky or nappy one. A lot of why people have bad jumping experiences is that the horses flatwork is not up to scratch so that is worth looking at too.

A good instructor will help confidence. They are not going to let you go ahesd and have a crashing fall they correct you to minimise the risk of that happening. I am happy jumping other peoples horses but having had a few bad falls from mine I am nervous so I stick to small jumps on my own horse unless I am having a lesson.

A good saddle is important too. Just because you can ride anything on the flat in any old saddle if you get one that puts you in a good jumping position and helps you stay there it really makes a difference. Mine is only a GP but it is the right one for me my horse has done some massive spooks and I find it almost impossible to fall off in this saddle.

I think if jumping is not working for you you need to look at why and decide if you want to make the necessary corrections or if you would rather go and do something easier instead. Riding is supposed to be our hobby. If you do not want it to feel like all hard work for little payback there is no shame in sticking with what you are good at. It does not mean you are rubbish it is just a choice to have fun.

 

[Lyle]

I think you have to ask yourself, Do you enjoy it? how much will you miss it?

I went through a similar situation 18 months ago, however I have pinpointed mine to a deep-seated fear that stems back from my childhood. I'd always had excellent jumping ponies, and when I moved onto my first 'real' eventer, she turned out to be a hideously dangerous stopper. She landed me in hospital after a rotational on XC. My parents bought my a superb showjumper from my jumping coach: win, win, the horse jumped the way my coach taught, had miles of scope and the biggest ego about his own ability, so nothing I did could dent it! He seemed to view the weird things I did to make it impossible for him to jump with a kind of disdain, as if to say 'That all you gonna do?'!

Long story short, he was my one in a million. Within 3 years I went from having shattered confidence to pinging around 2* tracks. Unfortunately he suffered a career ending injury at a jump, where I made a mistake. Simply put, my biggest regret was how I rode that jump. Since then, I've mucked around with young TB's, producing them up to Pre-Novice before moving them on. However, I ALWAYS turned into a mess if we got it wrong. I have a psychological hang up about refusing, and can't abide the thought of having another rotational. My pride made me push on, despite the fact that a lot of the time I simply felt sick with fear and confusion, and guilt if I got it wrong. My OH (who is a fearless rider) basically said I can't be facing jumps thinking the worst, I need to be focussing on what I need to do! He was so right. Friends, coaches, everyone tried to council me, we all make mistakes, fall off, crash through things. I came to the realisation, that I didn't want to see my horses hit fences because of me. I'm great up to 90cm, but I don't want to spend forever at that level, I want to aim high, but above that is where it get's tricky. So, with a lovely young TB I had at the time, I spent a season doing Dressage and fell in love! Said TB did find a home bombing around 80 and 90 level eventing with a junior, and I bought myself a lovely, fat, WB!

It IS different, but I'm embracing the change. No one said I'm not allowed to jump, in fact my little WB piglet loves to canter over cross bars. The difference is he has no talent what so ever, so doesn't care if he has to climb it or clear it, he thinks he's doing great! A+ for enthusiasm! But there is no pressure on either of us. It's for FUN! The dressage is where we train hard, the jumps are a release, a kick up out heels, even though they are titchy!!

It has it's perks, only one thing to train for, they don't need to be insanely fit, nice venues , bling etc.

Basically, don't let other people tell you you 'should' do something. Do what you want, live for the now. If in two years time you get the bug again, either train the horse up or buy a schoolmaster and learn to hang on and have fun!

 

[SkewbyTwo]

i have always loved my jumping

My instructor says my worst habit is sometimes trying to jump the fence for my horse and I have to try hard to wait for the fence to come to me

You sound EXACTLY like me, a year or so ago. After a long time struggling on, i.e. continuing to jump and have lessons and try and do as I was told, I changed instructors.

New instructor sorted the problem for me in the first lesson. I am not kidding! A few more lessons and my confidence was back.

My problem was, of course, the wrong instructor. I needed help to get back to finding a good rhythm and canter and "forgetting" the fences. With my original instructor, she would have me jump a fence, she'd refuse to start off low, and we'd barely be scrambling over it before she'd be raising it, or pointing me at another even bigger/more complex one (XC).

I begged to be allowed to do some gridwork. She conceded. But set the grid up in a smallish school, across the diagonal. I then found cornering difficult, and the grid was very long, and quite high. It was a disaster. I wanted it up the long side, but instructor said that the corner was there to help me to make my canter more powerful. I can see the logic, but as much as I tried, we weren't quite at that stage and the corner would "steal" all my power and rhythm.

What did the new instructor do? Lots of extremely SIMPLE exercises with me, with a nice small fence. Cantering circles over canter poles, doing figure of 8s which included two small uprights. Small grids, both in height and number of fences, for me to repeat and repeat and repeat, improving each time. Because what he was asking me to jump was so simple, and the exercise had me mainly cantering, I could suddenly relax, I had FAR less to think about, so I had the time (and courage) to think about exactly what he was asking me to do.

I later heard that the original instructor is well-known for being pretty good on the flat, but annihilating people's and horses' confidence with her jump lessons, by asking for too much, far too soon! I was annoyed with myself for sticking with her for so long (years!!!), when I wasn't improving in this aspect. But of course, like you, I just turned it in on myself as my being inadequate. I was just baffled as to where my mojo had gone and why it didn't seem to want to ever come back.

Looking back now, with some of the stuff I jumped with her, long before I was ready, it was a miracle that neither I nor horse got hurt.

But the key things are - you enjoy jumping. You know you do! I was JUST like this. I kept thinking, I don't need to jump, I can concentrate on other things. But something inside of me wouldn't let it go, as I knew deep down it was my favourite thing.

I do wish you all the best and I have so been where you are! I spent parts of many lessons in floods of tears and frustration. Within just 20 minutes of jumping with the new instructor, I was squealing with delight. Don't give up! Hugs!! xxxx

 

[Walrus]

It IS different, but I'm embracing the change. No one said I'm not allowed to jump, in fact my little WB piglet loves to canter over cross bars. The difference is he has no talent what so ever, so doesn't care if he has to climb it or clear it, he thinks he's doing great! A+ for enthusiasm! But there is no pressure on either of us. It's for FUN! The dressage is where we train hard, the jumps are a release, a kick up out heels, even though they are titchy!!

This is where i am now - i train for dressage and the jumping is just for fun, so if i want to get some x-poles out in the school i will, if i don't i wont! If there are xc jumps out hacking i can go round them or go over them, plus i can aim at the smallest ones and just enjoy popping over them with no pressure and no expectation.

 

[charli_]

If you and the horse enjoy jumping then I say keep it up - but if not, there's no point imo

 

[Turks]

I think you have to ask yourself, Do you enjoy it? how much will you miss it?

I went through a similar situation 18 months ago, however I have pinpointed mine to a deep-seated fear that stems back from my childhood. I'd always had excellent jumping ponies, and when I moved onto my first 'real' eventer, she turned out to be a hideously dangerous stopper. She landed me in hospital after a rotational on XC. My parents bought my a superb showjumper from my jumping coach: win, win, the horse jumped the way my coach taught, had miles of scope and the biggest ego about his own ability, so nothing I did could dent it! He seemed to view the weird things I did to make it impossible for him to jump with a kind of disdain, as if to say 'That all you gonna do?'!

Long story short, he was my one in a million. Within 3 years I went from having shattered confidence to pinging around 2* tracks. Unfortunately he suffered a career ending injury at a jump, where I made a mistake. Simply put, my biggest regret was how I rode that jump. Since then, I've mucked around with young TB's, producing them up to Pre-Novice before moving them on. However, I ALWAYS turned into a mess if we got it wrong. I have a psychological hang up about refusing, and can't abide the thought of having another rotational. My pride made me push on, despite the fact that a lot of the time I simply felt sick with fear and confusion, and guilt if I got it wrong. My OH (who is a fearless rider) basically said I can't be facing jumps thinking the worst, I need to be focussing on what I need to do! He was so right. Friends, coaches, everyone tried to council me, we all make mistakes, fall off, crash through things. I came to the realisation, that I didn't want to see my horses hit fences because of me. I'm great up to 90cm, but I don't want to spend forever at that level, I want to aim high, but above that is where it get's tricky. So, with a lovely young TB I had at the time, I spent a season doing Dressage and fell in love! Said TB did find a home bombing around 80 and 90 level eventing with a junior, and I bought myself a lovely, fat, WB!

It IS different, but I'm embracing the change. No one said I'm not allowed to jump, in fact my little WB piglet loves to canter over cross bars. The difference is he has no talent what so ever, so doesn't care if he has to climb it or clear it, he thinks he's doing great! A+ for enthusiasm! But there is no pressure on either of us. It's for FUN! The dressage is where we train hard, the jumps are a release, a kick up out heels, even though they are titchy!!

It has it's perks, only one thing to train for, they don't need to be insanely fit, nice venues , bling etc.

Basically, don't let other people tell you you 'should' do something. Do what you want, live for the now. If in two years time you get the bug again, either train the horse up or buy a schoolmaster and learn to hang on and have fun!

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