help?

[asdfghbeth]

I was always quite confident with jumping but i had to stop riding for a few months because of ill health and now I'm back we're doing lots of jumping and i feel really nervous and when the jumps get put up higher i back out, i was wondering if anyone had advice because i really enjoy jumping and i don't want to miss out because i lost my confidence..

[pboy]

I'm also nervous once the jumps get bigger, though I try to hide it!! The things that I find helpful are:

- Grids - you can set up a grid so the horse always meets the final element spot on. You can then build up the height of the final element and be confident that you'll take off in the right place, which helps the confidence of you and your horse. A small bounce then one-stride to an upright can be good for this

- Jump small jumps until they're boring! My TB was a very sticky jumper to start with and lacked confidence. We stuck to 50cm for all our sessions until it suddenly clicked and he was looking for the next jump with his ears pricked. Now he'll jump anything and it's my nerves that hold him back ;-)

- Look up. If a jump's scary, make sure you focus on something beyond it such as a tree or fence post (you should do this anyway but if it's scary then you really have to focus on looking up and over the jump!). Get your line as you come around the corner, look up at the distant object and count down your strides to the fence. You'll be flying over before you've even realised it's there and it will feel great!

- Just do it! Having stuck to 50-60cm with the odd fence at 70, I was in the school a few weeks ago and some people were practicing over an 80cm course. The YM asked if I wanted to have a go and I thought 'what the hell, ok'. The jumps looked big compared to what I was used to but Classy didn't seem to notice at all (see point above)! He felt exactly the same over 80 as he did over 60 - I quickly realised it wasn't a big deal

- Final one - if you're in a group lesson, go first. I find it's a lot easier to be brave if I don't have too much time to think about it (and possibly see others get it wrong)

I hope that helps! Essentially you need to gently push the boundaries of your comfort zone, but don't ever feel pressured into something that you really don't want to do. And remember you're not alone in getting nervous!

[racaille]

Hi Beth and welcome to the forum - do introduce yourself as we are a nosy bunch

Pboy has given you great advice above and I can't improve on it. Confidence is a strange thing, it comes and goes and we all get attacks of the nerves from time to time. I'm quite happy to do bigger jumps when it's just for fun but put me in a competition ring and I turn to jelly. Silly. But my biggest tip is (as Pboy says) don't look at the jump!!! You shouldn't anyway, you should be looking where you are going next, my old RI used to say if you look down that's where you'll end up! But if you focus on where you are going next you just won't see the size of the jump.

[fleabitten]

Being a nervous kind of rider myself, i have found a difference between normal nerves and being just downright scared. When I was scared i would have maybe looked at a jump and thought 'thats far too big/theres no way im doing that/i really dont want to do this' and if i did it and got on well i wouldnt have felt glad i did it, just relieved!

But now im much more confident in general, i still do get a bit nervous which prevents me riding as positively as required sometimes, but i would maybe look at a jump and think 'ooh, will i do it?' and generally its a good idea to do it because i felt good having pushed myself and enjoyed the feeling of completing it even though you feel a bit nervous at the thought of doing it.

Some really good suggestions above but i think the one that works best for me is to just take the pressure off yourself - from your post you sound as though you feel like you should be doing it and you are beating yourself up because you feel nervous about it. Also its frustrating being nervous, i know - but i think that trying to pressure yourself or getting annoyed over how you are feeling about it doesnt help.

I dont know whether you have your own horse/pony or whether you ride at a riding school but what i found helped me was jumping in a safe environment (a lesson) with an instructor that understands and encourages you, and also really good horses that look after you. Starting off with easy small jumps and putting them up slightly over time so you hardly notice - you raise the jumps as your confidence grows, not before

[asdfghbeth]

thank you, I'm often put on an ex polo horse and she often runs straight through the jumps instead of jumping it, she doesn't care but that definately doesn't help, but thanks for the advice i'll try it!

[toomanyhorses]

Could you ask to ride a different horse for a while as you get your confidence back? You have already been given some good advice. My only advice that i use is imagine yourself doing well what scares you at the moment, it does help.

[asdfghbeth]

thanks for all the advice, i'll definitely try it!