At 00:16:40 on 07.10.10, Quicksand610 wrote:
do you guys have any tips that can help me be more consistent while jumping?i always get nervous and at the last second don't release, even though i know i have to and should. and hints??? PLEASE???

At 01:39:01 on 07.10.10, kibby wrote:
some times its good to rest your hands on your horses neck where you would release till you are confident enough to hold your own hands.. This can be a tricky thing for a lot of people because you feel when you are going over the jump that there is not a lot to hold on to, your out of the saddle supposed to be releasing on the reins.. Another thing that can help is dont be fussed with getting yourself out of the saddle so much, while you are jumping anything under 80cm all yu really need to do is tilt your upper body forward, this will stop you using the reins to pull yourself out of the saddle..

At 08:42:07 on 09.11.10, M0p0 wrote:
if your nervous then you need to back down a little. go back to the basics and learn to trust your horse. go into 2 point with c.r. as much as you feel comfortable. but you have to remember to be fair to the horse and if you are not willing to just the just properly, ie. crest release, then you are putting the horse through something that it doesn't need to go through. im not critisizing but you cant put a horse through discomffort because you are afraid. so my advise is, go back to poles and tireds, 20cm jumps untill you are more confident. xx good luck:)

At 21:11:30 on 10.11.10, ToriSilverson wrote:
i would try doing grids, they are great for building confidence of both the horse and rider, once your confident going through it normally, you can tie your reins in a knot and practise giving with your hands without the reins, and then move on from there :)

At 22:33:56 on 10.11.10, NMH wrote:
I agree with ToriSilverson. Grids were how I learned to do it. Realising, through doing grids with good releasing hands, that when I managed to release my hands forward well my horse had not just more confidence, but more scope too, was an added motivation to remember to do it. You need someone with experience to build the grids & encourage you though, to benefit to the max. Good luck let us know how it goes.

At 12:08:58 on 18.11.10, Flicka wrote:
I agree with the advice you've got so far and would like to add, just focus on keeping all of your body relaxed so that you just follow the horse. Slow deep breathing will help with this .And try not to hunch and round your shoulders which many of us do when we are nervous and bracing ourselves as this will lock your elbows and stop your hands following your horses mouth. Good luck.