How to build confidence over bigger jumps

[GaMare]

First off- don’t beat yourself up for being nervous about fence height. It’s a common & reasonable fear. We don’t all bounce like we did at 12! Remember that you did jump higher & did it well. It’s ok to feel like you need to knock the rust off & rebuild your strength a bit before you go higher.

I had some height issues after a few falls & am just working back to 100% A few things that helped me were:

• Gradually building up the fence height of a couple jumps in a larger course so I had a rhythm & a few good fences before the “big” one
• Telling my trainer if a particular fence was my “boogey-man” and talking through the exact plan to ride it from the jump before until the jump after it. It helped me to have a plan & her to know that coming up to that jump a little more vocal support (just like that, good with your body, etc.) would be appreciated.
• Take the time to challenge yourself while getting bored. Go to a show at 2’6". Show fences always seem taller so those 2’6" classes will feel like 2’9" ft. If you normally do hunters, do a 2’6" jumper class just for the heck of it. If you do jumpers, find a hunter class. Ask your trainer for some really technical, challenging 2’6" courses. Add in a few higher fences in grids.
• Time off the horse in the gym. Core strength is key!

All that will make 2’9" a non-event and build confidence in your riding tool kit so when the jumps go up you’ll know you’ve jumped scarier looking, more complicated exercises well.

[CindyCRNA]

It helped me to go up an inch at a time. Stay at 2’7" until comfortable, then go to 2’8" and stay there. You will also re-develop your strength which leads to stability which leads to confidence.

[Lord_Helpus]

Jump the new, higher height in a gymnastic before jumping it as part of a course. There are several components to feeling comfortable at a new height; one is worrying about what it will feel like to jump that high. If you can jump a 2’9" oxer (or even 3’) as the 3rd element if a gymnastic, you will know exactly what to expect as far as the thrust and time in the air.

If possible, move the last element out by 1 stride, then 2 strides, then 3 strides from the middle element of the gymnastic. This will ease you into the feel for jumping the height on its own.

When you are ready to jump the new height as a single jump, put a pole 9’ out in front. This will set you up for meeting the jump correctly so you do not have to worry about your distance.

Point being: control every possible element of jumping the new height. Then you will find that you have less to worry about.

[KateKat]

[QUOTE=fourfillies;8470691]
Great advice here. 2’6" looks like mountain as my 4yo wiggles down to it. Not so much on my been there/done that/take a joke A/O horse.[/QUOTE]

I agree that the horse you’re riding also makes a HUGE difference in fence height and confidence. Like one the ones I know who will take care of things and have the scope to jump a lot higher than I’m jumping I don’t fear the height. But my greenie now who is a bit wiggly and spooky? Jumped him like 2’9" for the first time last week and I was petrified!

[foursocks]

Lots of good advice here! For me, like PNWjumper and a few others have commented, it is all about the horse I’m on, and what I’ve been doing with it. My young guy is mad scopey, loves to jump, and is very steady, so when we were doing an in and out a few weeks ago in a lesson and the back oxer got up to 4’6" it didn’t even make me blink. On any other horse I would have been nervous but even though this was the highest we’ve jumped together so far I know my horse, I trust my trainer, and it was easy.

Hah- I am not saying that 4’6" is easy for me (and it was only one jump, not a whole course, so we’re not at all ready for the big time), but because we worked up to it and it was part of the flow of the lesson it didn’t seem all that high. Two of my friends measured afterward, and I was honestly surprised- I thought 4’ at most. I went back out and measured it myself and they were right. My reaction: “Holy cow! 4’6”!!! Holy cow!!!" So while the thought of it afterward was scary, while doing it I didn’t question anything.

Secondly, once you do higher stuff for a bit everything else looks small. I’m currently doing the High Adult Jumpers with my boy and after showing him consistently last year at that height it seems totally doable and normal, whereas when we started the year and moved up from the Lows it was a little daunting. It is really what you are used to- and when I get nervous thinking about moving up to the Low A/Os I remind myself that we easily, several times, cantered through a 3’9" to 4’6" in and out (and in the still of the video someone took he is more than a foot over it) and I should just relax about it and trust myself and my horse.

Way easier said than done, but repetition on a horse you trust will help, as well as building up steadily to bigger fences through grids first, then lines and singles, and then whole courses. Good luck!

[jhg140]

I think some of my anxiety about jumping in general comes from this intense need to be as accurate as possible, in order to avoid catastrophe. When I moved from the adults to the 3’3" A/Os, I think it took me like 5 shows to feel very confident at that height (we don’t school at height at home). My horse is scopey as hell, and we’d had some very successful shows, but you want to know what made me feel most confident? Messing up and knowing my horse could easily clear the jumps and keep ticking.

My horse is not exactly a packer and has a stop, so for him to still hop over a solid 3’3" single oxer with me pulling like a fool to the base… And then the next day, easily clearing the two stride when I decided to wing it two strides out… Stuff like that, for me, is a huge mental help. And making mistakes comes with saddle time over fences, whether it be at home or at shows.

As long as you’re on a horse who has the scope to make up for these kinds of mistakes, unfortunately, it’s about saddle time. I wish there was an easy fix!

I’ll also echo what a few other people said… Focusing on my canter quality to the first jump has been immensely beneficial to my courses. I used to crawl to the first jump because I was nervous, and it was just making things worse. Picking up a strong, balanced canter has made things so much better. Also, watching the higher hunter divisions, and watching some of the mistakes made there, has made me feel like, ok, if people can make mistakes at this height, I can make mistakes a hole lower

Good luck!

[Asand]

I’m nervous too, but seeing my 11 year old jump over a fence really put thins into perspective.

[longtimelurker]

[QUOTE=jhg140;8477547]
Also, watching the higher hunter divisions, and watching some of the mistakes made there, has made me feel like, ok, if people can make mistakes at this height, I can make mistakes a hole lower

Good luck![/QUOTE]

Totally agree with this! When the jumps get big, I also get obsessed with accuracy (“I miss sometimes! What if I miss!!!” It’s been a big help to realize that EVERYONE misses sometimes – to jumps of all fence heights!

[snowrider]

Gymnastics. If I had a student who was jumping 2’9" courses they’d be comfortable jumping a 3’3" or even an occasional 3’6" oxer at the end of our regular gymnastics. Most of your jumping should be gymnastics anyway, in the learning and moving up stage. It gives the rider a chance to jump without worrying about striding and learn how to move their body at a given height and it is easy on the horses with a novice rider. It teaches both parties to wait.

There are a million variations but a good place to start is to trot in over a few poles to a crossrail, one stride to a vertical, and one or two more strides to an oxer. Repeat 11 billion times, making the second two fences higher as you get better at it. Practice without stirrups over lower heights and without reins if your horse is a good boy. Move the fences so it’s 2 or 3 strides or add a bounce occasionally. There are whole books on gymnastic set-ups.

To learn to find a take off spot. Put a cone or other object on the ground then practice cantering past it so that your horses front feet land right next to the cone. You want to be able to put the horse’s front feet wherever you want them. You need a ground person, ideally with a rake to see how well you’re doing.

When you can do that well, move the cone to the middle of the ring and practice on curved and diagonal lines. Then add another cone at 5.5 strides away and practice shortening and lengthening in your “line”. You can use ground poles but then the horse helps you out, I like it better when the horse doesn’t know what you’re doing.

When I worked as a rider at a jumper barn we rarely jumped full courses and we always jumped gymnastics. We had a permanent chute set up in one of the rings for years.

[juliaeharper]

One of my friends that I ride with had some similar problems after a few falls. She just took it slowly and slowly worked her way back up. Once she got comfortable with one height, my trainer would bump it up a hole and wouldn’t bump it up again until she got comfortable with that new height. She hasn’t had any problems since then. She also continued to ride horses that she trusted and knew would take care of her. If it helps, you could ride a school horse or another horse at the barn that you know will take care of you and jumps higher jumps consistently. That way they really know what they’re doing and will help you build up confidence!