At 08:33:54 on 28.01.10, LuvMyMickey wrote:
hey i saw this web sight on facebook and this forum just jumped out at me due to some issues i have been having lately. i am from new zealand and have been riding my pony mickey for half a year now. i love him to bits, hes an amazing jumper and used to jump anything and everything no matter what. just before christmas i went to my first ever show at my riding school. mickey and i were jumping 55cm and 65cm and he flew over the 55 getting me a 1st place ribbon (yay), but when it got to the 65 something wasnt realy feeling right i dont know if it was him or me but whatever it was he stopped at the first jump shooting me up his neck and almost right off. he has never done this before and my confidence got knocked right out, we ended up getting eliminated after another 2 refusals and mickey bolting off arround the arena. during the start of the new year we went to pony club camp up in the hillsnear christchurch and he was amazing. he was galloping up hills, jumping 75cm logs like a breeze and having a blast. getting back to the riding school was good, getting him back onto flat ground was interesting but he managed well.a week later we were jumping a 65cm staircase spread, he went from a canter to halt less than a stride infront of the jump and i went strait over his head, i hit my head and shoulder on the top rail of the jump and then landed directly ontop of my head on the other side. i got back on and went back over with a bit of hesatation from mickey. the bad thing is that now whenever i see a decent sized jump my confidence goes out the window even if i have just been jumping the jump earlyer that day. i hav a show coming up for pony club and im ment to jump mickey 60cm in it the problem is that the thought of jumping mickey anything higher than 50 scares me but im determened to do it, does anyone have any tips to help me prepare for the show

At 19:03:28 on 12.04.10, Run Rabbit Run wrote:
As you jump try concentratingon your breathingor sing a song that you are familiar with that makes you happy. You could also try getting a friend to put you up a course of jumps and don't let them tell you the hights of the jumps, after you have jumped it then let yourself know the hights. I used to have the exact same problem and after doing this for a while I am now confident to do 1.2m tracks on one of my mares and I am now bringing on to younger ponies that haven't done much. Also try thinking about the fact that you can jump these jumps on foot, it should be easier without even having to do the jumping! Rabbit

At 12:15:17 on 31.07.10, Doyza wrote:
I haven't jumped in a long time and would like to start again but nervous about it for my horse becomes strong and i sort of fear falling off like all people. I am also very nervous when competing in comps for I get anxiety and stress which then sort makes my horse worry then it all goes down hill. I have left Pony Club- Had instructor who made uunconfident with jumping. I have a private instructor but at the moment can't ride for the ground is too wet and up to my ankles in mud and way to slipperlty even to do pleasure riding let alone jumping. So what do I do???