Sometimes the weather won’t always be warm and sunny. Sometimes, it is going to be cold, or raining or snowing and all of these things may interfere with how you are able to ride your horse. I know that we lessoned in the rain the other day which made it very difficult to see the jumps and the take off points. It is important in situations like these to maintain a rhythm and count you strides to help you keep track of when you need to take off for the jump. This may be hard to focus on when you are being hit with rain or snow but it will help to keep your ride smoother and don’t over do it to try to compensate for the difficulty. I know that I overrode to the first fence because I was trying too hard to make sure that I had the right spot to the fence and when I relaxed and counted my strides I had a much better rhythm and was able to be more successful over the second fence of our warm up! It is helpful to count strides as well because it occupies your mind to prevent any over thinking which may lead to over riding. I myself over ride way too often! I just get so caught up in trying tomato things right and have the ride be perfect that I over do it and end up making mistakes because I am trying too hard! Counting strides is helpful in more situations that just in bad weather, it helps me to maintain my pace without getting too frazzled or caught up in my tendency to over do it. I try to use this strategy every time I ride to help me have better, more smooth rides. It is especially helpful at shows!
Feel
Learning to feel while riding is the most difficult challenge I’ve come across in riding so far. In riding, being able to feel what is happening while you are in the saddle is important. One cannot react to the problems occurring in the saddle and fix them efficiently and effectively without some sort of feel. Interpreting the signals that your horse is sending can be extremely tricky, especially if you are frustrated and can’t quite figure out why your horse is behaving the way that it is. I question myself often while I am in the saddle. I wonder if I am reprimanding my horse for doing something that I may have inadvertently asked her to do. This is where feel would come in, but I’ve been struggling with it. I do not know how to fix my problems in the saddle sometimes because I am not staying in tune with what my horse is trying to tell me. I need to work on maintaining my focus on what she is trying to tell me and being careful and precise in my aids to make sure that I am not creating new problems. The horse that I ride is extremely sensitive which makes it difficult because it is easy to accidentally ask her to do something without even realizing it because she picks up on very subtle shifts of weight and application of pressure. It is safe to say that this process is frustrating and I am simply trying to remember that I need to just keep practicing and in time it will all come together (although sometimes it feels like I will never be able to do it). Right now, the hardest part about it is trying so hard and not getting it. My advice from this experience is to be persistent and let it all come together in time.
First Mini Prix With My New Horse
So yesterday was my first Mini Prix class with my new horse! It was a lot of fun but also really nerve wracking. I had a great time doing it and it made me more excited for the mini prix classes that we will do in the future. What I want to talk about today is using your experiences to motivate you. So we had a pretty good round, it started off great and ended great but it got a little tough in the middle. I had some faults but what I am trying to take out of it is that we got it back together for the finish. It is a great skill to be able to regroup after a mistake and not allow it to ruin the rest of the round. I can say from experience, that this is easier said than done. I am extremely happy with the way that I came back from the mistakes and finished on a good note. It was our first mini prix together so, not surprisingly, I was nervous. My heart was pounding and I could have sworn I was going to throw up. Although my nerves did interfere a bit with my riding I learned that we can still get through it together which is important to remember in future situations. It may not be easy and I will be nervous in the future but this will serve as a reminder that we can get through it regardless and we can still move forward despite the challenges we may face. It is frustrating when you make mistakes, especially ones that you know you shouldn’t make, but it is important to let them drive further progress rather than discourage you about your riding. Use your mistakes as lessons and to drive you to practice and improve. Although it won’t be easy, try to keep this in mind when things get rough. This is us in the Child Adult Classic at Princeton Show Jumping yesterday!
Transitioning to a New Horse
So as I mentioned earlier, I just bought a new horse. I have been riding her for a few months and we have been doing well; however, the horse that I was riding previously and I were doing really well and were extremely competitive together. On my newer horse I wasn’t quite as competitive and she is much harder to ride so I was nervous about whether or not we would come together to be as good as I used to be with the previous horse. Well this past weekend I competed both horses, the one I used to ride (Pryia) and my new horse (Missy). I did level 1 with Pryia and I was not riding as well. I couldn’t see her distances to the fences and I questioned my take offs and striding. I was so nervous, which is not normal because typically I was very confident with her and in our abilities together. We placed well but my riding was not its best. I then competed in level 2 with Missy and we did extremely well. We got all of our strides and all of our distances. I was so proud of her and so happy about the overall performance. Yesterday’s show really showed me that we are coming together and I am becoming better with Missy than I was with Pryia. I am learning to ride better and more suited to the way that Missy needs to be ridden. So the lesson in this story is: be patient and have a little faith. It is extremely difficult to ride horses and reach the higher levels. Just keep practicing and working on your issues and it will all come together. I was so frustrated at first that I could do level 2 with Pryia and not with Missy but I kept practicing and yesterday we finally did it and did it well! Just be patient and have faith in yourself and your horse, the rest will come. (Praia is the white horse, and Missy is the brown horse)
Announcement: New Horse
So it is official, I just bought my first horse yesterday! It is so exciting to me that I finally own my very own horse. Just like it is for many young riders, it has always been a dream of mine. Now my advice to all of you that I learned from this experience is to not take it lightly. If your parents are going to be helping you pay for it and you don’t understand why they aren’t as excited to jump into this as you are, remember the commitment it is. You want to prove your dedication to the sport because they most likely will not be willing to pay that much money to buy a horse if they aren’t sure that you will stick with this sport. Also, be patient. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with owning a horse and for someone who isn’t a horse person (like both of my parents) they don’t always see why making the purchase is worth it. Keep in mind that you are responsible for this animal and it will depend on you for care and it is a huge expense. You should also remember that although it may seem like the best thing ever to you as the rider and the risks and responsibilities may seem standard but to many parents (like my own), the risks almost outweigh the benefits because they don’t necessarily feel the way that the rider does about horses. The biggest fear that my parents had was vet bills, but don’t worry they have insurance for horses! There are lots of options to make it work so if you are interested in buying a horse of your own, make sure to do your research and be patient! I never thought it would work out the way it did but I couldn’t be happier! Here she is, this is Missy!
Fear
I know as well as anyone that riding can be an extremely scary thing to do, especially jumping. You have to trust a 1,000 lb animal with a mind of its own to carry you up and over obstacles that not only scare the horse at times, that even scare the rider. It requires relaxation in the saddle in order to successfully get through the course which is exactly the opposite of what the average person’s natural reflex is when on a speeding horse approaching a solid fence. The best thing that I have found to help me, is counting my strides to maintain a rhythm (constantly counting 1, 2, 1, 2 in my head or sometimes out loud to help steady my breathing). This keeps my mind off of the many things in the course that I am worrying about and helps me to relax. Also, focusing on talking to your horse and just taking each element one at a time can make a long complicated course seem less intimidating.
Show Nerves
A big struggle for me throughout my riding was dealing with nerves, particularly in the show ring. The stress and anxiety that accompanied competing was extremely difficult to overcome, and although I’ve been competing for 7 years now I still struggle with nerves frequently. The nerves at times would control my actions in the saddle often times causing me to make mistakes that I knew better than to make. I would get extremely tense in the saddle and my horse would reflect my emotions and would not perform at her best because she sensed that I was uneasy. I even had issues with refusals because she knew that I was scared of the jump or scared to be in that ring and she would not jump because she knew that no matter how much I fought with her I was truly scared to do it. The only thing that got me through it was my determination to reach the levels that I dreamed of achieving. I was determined to advance and I refused to allow my fears and my anxiety to prevent me from achieving the goals that I worked so hard to reach. I rode everyday regardless of how many times I fell down and I rode everyday regardless of how nervous and scared I was for the moment I sat in the saddle. I just continued everyday to push through the rough patches and try harder every time I got on and keep riding regardless of how hard it got. I turned to the other riders at my barn for support and seemed their help in our practice to tell me if they could see me getting stiff or getting to nervous. I learned to work harder through the struggles and although they can feel discouraging I just kept trying. Even though I knew that my nerves were taking control of my riding many of the times, I had to stick with the other girls in the barn and let them help me to work through it. Honestly, the best thing that I did was continue riding and force myself through it. Slowly I developed the ability to cope with it and tune it out but it was definitely not easy.
Types of Jumps and Show Levels
Welcome!
Show jumping is fast paced and never dull. The 30 seconds spent in the ring are sure to get your heart pounding. As a show jumper myself I would recommend it to any rider seeking a thrilling experience with their horse. It is an exciting discipline full of challenges at every level. Feel free to ask questions and I will be happy to share my personal experiences and lessons learned through my years competing with the talented horses that I have had the pleasure of working with. The key to the sport is dedication and discipline to push yourself to overcome the challenges. Such a fast paced event requires quick thinking and judgement to act accurately on course. Both horse and rider will develop a bond and learn to trust each other throughout the courses. Show jumping is fun both to do and to watch. In this blog show jumpers will share in the passion for the sport as well as the experiences that have made us the riders we are today and help others overcome the same challenges that we have. Show jumping is not an easy discipline by any means and can be frustrating and terrifying at moments, but those moments are the ones that define the dedicated riders who strive to advance and set them apart from the rest. The true passion can be seen in the individuals who push through the struggles and overcome the obstacles standing in their way of achieving their goals with their horse. Sometimes it is reassuring to see that other riders face the same problems and that they can be solved. Although there will be countless difficult rides to come, those are the ones that teach the most. In every ride there is a lesson and this is a place where those lessons will be shared.
showjumpingblog 