Jumping nerves?

Question

I often ride this horse who sometimes refuses a jump! so when i go to jump i often feel nervous which makes her refuse! CAn anyone please give me tips on how to realx more!

And another thing my instructor sed not to kick her so much but to push her over the jump! but i dnt know wot she means! can sum1 please help me?

Thanx in advance!

Answer 1

The best jumping advice I ever got was "throw your heart over the jump and the horse will follow"

You have to see the horse and yourself going over the jump and doing it well.  You can't jump if you're expecting the worst case scenario.  Ride forward, and just keep your heels well down as much as possible so that if she stops you have a little more of a chance of staying on.

Edit:  to "ride forward" we mean, that, every part of you is giving the horse the cues to go forward - that is to say, your mind ist thinking "we're going forward strongy", your body is moving with the horse in a way as if you were chasing someone on another horse who had stolen $1000 from you (I've never tried to describe this before - trying to think of something that would really motivate me).  Riding forward is an attitude of mind and body that the horse feels.  It's a great, exciting feeling, that you really want to go on at speed, and with confidence.

Hope that helps.  Maybe someone else has a better description.  It's probably a little different for each rider.

PS Forward does not mean "fast", because as we all know, you can't go flying to the jump h**l bent for leather and out of balance, because you won't clear a jump of any size.  It's more of an attitude of going forward, but with control and balance.

Answer 2

my horse does this at shows too!

for most horses that refuse

1. it helps to sit back in the saddle and sort of "drive" the horse with your seat without allowing the leg to loosen. if you have seen alot of showjumping, think about how the riders seem really upright and tight

2. visualize the entire jump-which includes the landing and a few strides after, almost pretending the jump isnt there (and visualise yourself doing everything right)

3. go into every jump with the idea your horse might refuse and ride defensively to everything

also, if your horse if refusing for the pure heck of it and isnt afraid or anything, carry a crop and use it whenever he refuses (this sounds cruel, but it has worked wonders for my horse and it hasn't hurt her at all)

my trainer also makes me force my horse to jump from a standstill if she refuses. it teaches the horse that it is much more work to refuse than it is to jump.

but overall, just ride agressively

Answer 3

Riding forward means to ride at a bigger place.

Instend of kicking squeeze with your legs also sit deep in your saddle and drive your horse with your seat.

Answer 4

I ride a green hunter and he is over jumping the jumps so I , like you, get nerves.

What I found that helps is taking a deep breath and look at some thing in the distance in front of the jump. Focus on the the object so your not focusing on her refusing.

Practice jumping over small fences that she doesn't refuse. Then slowly jumper higher.

To help her not refuse jumps set up a low jump with four cones 12ft in front of the jump. Two in the front and two in back. The space btw the cones in front and back of the jump should be 8 feet.

1) Trot over the jump, reverse and go over it again.

2) Then canter it.

After she justs use to move the cones closer together and closer to the jump.

When your trainer is telling you to push her over the jump she means for you to squeeze with your calfs. Just like what you would do when you want to extend the trot.

Squeeze and kiss  to push her over the jump. Also do a crest release ( place your hands half way up her neck) to help her move out more for the jump so she has her head.

Answer 5

I would say try to get your balance and confidence up before jumping anything big. I did a lot of no stirrup work and bareback riding and now people say that i will 'jump the moon'. You want to ride to the jump and not sit forward. Don't worry about the refusal, it happens. Look up and don't anticipiate. :)

I used to ride a Arabian mare that loved to get a nice canter up to a jump and slam on the brakes, everytime i would go over her head for a few lessons. When i rode bareback i would stay on. I worked on flat work for a while and then I just drilled it into my head that i had to quit thinking about it and believe we were going to get over the jump. After that if she refused, i would stay on- saddle or not. She didn't refuse as much once i started riding her to the jump and not waiting for something to happen.

good luck and hope that helped :)

Answer 6

When you are approaching a jump, give your horse more leg - meaning squeeze and keep your leg there (that also means to push over a jump). Sit up tall, and look at something beyond the jump such as a tree. Make sure you are moving quickly enough, because if your horse is too slow, he wont go over it and refuse or he'll walk over it. And steer! If you don't do these, your horse thinks that he doesn't need to jump the fence.

Answer 7

I had the same problem with nerves while jumping. Exept the horse had a huge jump and often jumped long instead of refusing. I told my instructor that I was nervous and that I liked to jump another horse better. We went back to cross rails and went from there.  Eventually, I switched stables because of an incedent, not that I wanted to. Now, im riding a horse that never refuses and makes jumping easy so that i can have fun.  Anyway, im not suggesting u switch stables. If your scared to death to jump him because he refuses, you should ask your instructor if u can ride a different horse because ur not comfertable jumping her.  It can be hard not to be nervous while jumping, so if you are, ask your trainor if you can go down a bit in the size of the jump. Also, breathe. Often, riders who dont breathe get more nervous because they're not inhaling enough air to be relaxed. When ur instructor says to push her over the jump, Im pretty sure she means as follows: 1- sit deeper in the saddle before the jump to keep her going. 2- squeeze right in front of the jump. 3- go towards the jump at a pretty active canter (not too fast and not too slow). I hope I've been a help and good luck!

Answer 8

Build up your confidence over smaller jumps before attempting anything bigger. As for your instructor's advice, think of it as driving the horse from behind. You're a lot stronger (and more confident) sitting deep in the saddle and squeezing your horse forward. You have no power if you are in front of your horse trying to "pull" it over the jump. You should be encouraging the horse with your seat and telling her you are sure she's going to jump - she'll believe you :)

Ride forward means don't be timid and crawl to the jump. Drive your horse forward at a good strong pace.

Answer 9

The best way I can explain is this:

Take a deep breath and think position...do the best you can

Kicking a horse too much can really irrative some horses.  Encourage the horse to approach the jump with vigor - pretend that you are going to take the jump yourself.  Use your legs and seat.

If you have a riding instructor, and she tells you things you do not understand, I am certain that if you ask, she will explain.

Answer 10

well your trainer meant squeeze and don't kick. you should also tap her with your crop so she gets more modervation. and what i would do with this horse is go to a small jump that she won't refuse and make it an 1in  or 2in higher ever time she goes over with out refusing the jump and if you think she is going to refuse it squeeze with your legs, do a kisses sound and at the last minute tap her with your crop. well hope i helped Sabrina

Answer 11

She means instead of kicking you need to dig your heels into her and keep them there till she goes over it. Kicking is easily ignored. Whenever I ride a horse that is known to refuse or go at a scary x-country jump on my own horse I sit down in the saddle and hold my leg onto them and see my self getting over it. Going at any fence you have to just know that you are going over it and there are no two ways about it. I had a trainer tell me once when I was nervous that shouldnt even bother going over the fence if I was nervous cause I wasnt going to get over it anyway. She was right. I decided to try it anyway even though I had reservation and my 110% honest horse calmly ran out. After that I was like 'there is absolutly no way he is not going over that'.

End of my story...hehe

Anyway all I have to say is be completly convinced the horse is going over the jump and if you arnt then make yourself believe it. It probably isnt much help riding wise but calmly lying to myself about stuff has always helped me.

Answer 12

walk calmly over the jump and show her it's ok. and when you and the horse have exsepted it ( your calm and the horse is calm ) try to trot or jump over it  a couple of times and gradualy work your way up to a canter