Jumping anxiety

[Fuzzasaurus12]

@skydy

Time again for the jumping clinic with “George Morris”
http://www.hillbillyfarms.org/critique_arc5.html

LOL wow I haven’t looked at those in a long time

[Fuzzasaurus12]

@evilc123

I think it is very important that you have a trainer who really understands how to address and tackle anxiety. I went through a few years of being relatively fearless, but had a couple bad spills this year which has resulted in me feeling way less confident over jumps that I never would have looked twice at. Luckily my trainer understands this and is firm but empathetic and does a good job explaining why a particular exercise will help reduce the chance of “failure”. If continuing to ride safe and reliable horses is still an option, I think you should stick with that until you come less anxious.

Thanks! The good news is the lesson horses have always been pretty solid, so I don’t have the additional element of worrying about a spooky/stubborn horse or anything. But now that I’m getting back into it for good I plan on being very honest with my new trainer.

[Fuzzasaurus12]

@PerpetualLessonStudent

My fear of jumping rears its ugly head at any height whenever any new variable is added: new horse, new arena, new fence, less than perfect footing, less than perfect weather, etc. For me, what I find has helped the most is riding a confident horse that loves to jump. The kind whose ears prick forward when they see a fence, the kind who can charge at it with confidence. The best thing that ever happened to my jumping skills was an average looking Paint who took care of me. A horse like this will allow you to get comfortable with the action of going over a fence and can also let you experience some “less than perfect” moments in a safe manner ( long spot, short spot, the best horses will try). Perhaps consider the horses you ride in lessons and figure out which is the best confidence builder for you.

One last thing to consider, a little mantra I keep in my mind, is “If it scares me, I have to do it. Otherwise I will always be scared.” See if good ol’ stubbornness can help you trump your fears.

Everyone else has offered great advice as well.

I never thought about it that way but I’m sure that plays a role in more anxiety for me. Anything different = potentially scary by default. A big reason I really look forward to when I can finally buy my own horse instead of using lesson horses is I want to build a true bond in getting to know my horse so well that the ‘horse factor’ isn’t so much of an unknown in the overall picture. But that’ll be after I get all the rust off and my trainer can help me shop. I agree with your mantra, playing it so safe I never do anything new means I’ll never be where I want to be.

[Fuzzasaurus12]

Ajierene- Thanks so much! I’m probably setting the bar too high for how fast i feel like I should be back to where I was ability/confidence wise. I can confirm I’m guilty of the ‘focus on the potential disaster rather than the successes’ mindset. I need to be in the moment or have a positive imagination instead of a bad one :lol:.

[CHT]

Two very simple things you can try:

1. Come up with a Mantra you can repeat to yourself to get you in jumping mode. Mine is: “Be, Believe, Do”. This has the three needed elements for sport:
   Be = means be in the moment. Focus.
   Believe = Trust your skills, preparation and horse
   Do = Get your game face on and just go do it/stop over thinking.

2. Pretend you are someone else. Start watching a rider that is of similar build/age that you respect. They don’t have to be a pro, just someone that looks capable and confident…and then imagine you are them (or that you have their confidence).

At home, you can also try visualizing your lesson (starting with grooming) and identify when you start to get nervous about the jumping. As soon as you get nervous try some deep breathing exercises to bring your heart rate down, and then start the visualization again. Yes, this takes a while, but it will train you to stop the cycle of anxiety.

[Fuzzasaurus12]

@CHT

Two very simple things you can try:

1. Come up with a Mantra you can repeat to yourself to get you in jumping mode. Mine is: “Be, Believe, Do”. This has the three needed elements for sport:
   Be = means be in the moment. Focus.
   Believe = Trust your skills, preparation and horse
   Do = Get your game face on and just go do it/stop over thinking.

2. Pretend you are someone else. Start watching a rider that is of similar build/age that you respect. They don’t have to be a pro, just someone that looks capable and confident…and then imagine you are them (or that you have their confidence).

At home, you can also try visualizing your lesson (starting with grooming) and identify when you start to get nervous about the jumping. As soon as you get nervous try some deep breathing exercises to bring your heart rate down, and then start the visualization again. Yes, this takes a while, but it will train you to stop the cycle of anxiety.

Thanks! Overthinking is probably the biggest contributor to my anxiety, basically I could use a lot of practice at everything you suggested :lol:

[tbchick84]

As usual, lots of great advice. I do think a good lower leg is the key to confident jumping. Trotting without stirrups will give you the solid lower leg, so work in as much of that as you can. Keep the fences low until you can do them in your sleep and are bored with the height. Ultimately though, it sounds like you need to change the conversation you’re having in your head. See my quote? “Do what you can’t do”? I use it to change my conversation. Like most riders, I have road blocks in certain areas. I pretty much had it ingrained in my head that I can’t sit up, keep my heels down or not jump ahead. I had been stuck going nowhere fast for years until I started using that phrase. I’d be cantering around the ring looking at a fence thinking, “I can’t do that one” so I changed the sentence to “I can do that one” and over we went no issues. The first few times, I thought it was a fluke, but it really does affect how you ride. Next time you ride, just pick anything you feel you can’t do and then go prove yourself wrong. I cannot stress how much it has affected my jumping. Jumping went from something i dreaded to being very fun.