Jumping Competition.......Ahh!!!

[lady ridealot]

Hello! i have only ever done showjumping in the lessons and although i am confident i am soo scared of taking my jumping to the next level!

The yard i ride at run a jumping evening once a fortnight where many people compete, on both the school horses and the liveries. I was working at my yard recently and had the chance to jump a section of the course, the horse i jumped it on had done two rounds the night before and was NOT in the mood to jump it again, he was feeling lazy (quite understandable!) and it was hard work to get his canter going! Anyway, baisically it did not go too well!! So afterwards i was talking to the head girl and she thinks that i should enter the jump evening!! :eek: Im just too scared of making a complete fool of myself in front of the whole yard! She says the best way to get over it is just to jump it and see!!!!

What do you all think out there!?!

Thankyou! x :)

[FreedomStar]

it's frightening, but once you get through the first round, the ones after aren't so bad. Just keep a cool head and think of keeping an even rhythm.

[kedwards]

You may or may not decide that competition is for you. However, whether you decide to give it a go or not, bear in mind that there is nothing humiliating about making mistakes at a show. Anyone who has shown more than a few times has had the experience of things going wrong. So nobody whose opinion ought to matter, would consider someone a fool for a less-then-perfect round.

The people who look foolish are the ones who criticize others, who mistreat their horses, or who blame their horses for their own mistakes. We all make errors in our ongoing process of becoming better riders. There's nothing foolish about that at all. It's an important part of learning.

If you think you want to give it a try - go ahead and do it with an eye to having fun and learning a thing or two. If things don't go perfectly, smile graciously, analyze what went wrong, and use that information to improve your ride the next time.

[k888tie]

i thnk if u put up a post on here to see how many people have made mistakes...and have fallen off...and made idiots out of themselves while riding and jumping...i would have thought the number would have been quite high!

remember every1 started off jumping a cross pole...and did trotting poles...been left behind or been infront of the horse! its nothin most ppl at competitions havent seen before! so dont worry!

but i would DEFINATELY give it a go as it wil be good for your confidence! if you think u wil do rubishly then u more than likely wil!...so be positive! you also dont have to see it as a real competition or anytihng....more as a way of broadening your knowledge or riding..and seeing how other people ride.....so i would definately go!:D