Memorizing a course

[horselover]

Ok, my first jumping show is the first weekend in May.(Which, coincidentally, is also the Kentucky Derby- those of you who have never seen it should watch! :)) So, anyway, i am very nervous, to say the least.

One of the things I am nervous about si memorizing the course. I won't be doing a very difficult one- I am only going to be jumping up to 2'6", which is no big deal at all for me. But, does anyone have any tips for memorizing a course in the short time you have before going in to jump?????

Any other tips would also be VERY much appreciated :)

[Maci]

Well, if you know how the course is visually going to be laid out in the jumping arena that you are competing in, maybe you could help memorize the order they go in by certain landmarks? For example- "First I go over the jump by the hotdog stand, then I turn right, and go over the two jumps by the judges." Something like that. Or maybe, you can get the names of the jumps, and try to make a rhyme or song about the direction of the course, to help you remember. Could you set up a course similar to that to practice on, but instead you can jump the jumps in the order that is called for in your competition? Or, you could draw the course out on paper and go throught it with a pencil, saying the "path" out-loud, pretending that it is you and Rascal.

Good Luck In Your Competition!
Maci :)

[floppy]

hmm i never did any competing because im terrible with nerves...but i did do courses at my riding school intending that should i stay another year in the country i was going to start competing..
do you get any details of what the course may look like before hand??(i dont know) if so you could learn it and try drawing it out for yourself..thats what i did for dressage tests...might help for jumping?
but dont you get to walk the course before the competition??
and dont they usually have numbers beside each fence? i watched my cousin do a jumping competition last year and they had numbers by each fence!

[intouch]

to make sure you get to walk the course, this will help you to remember it. Then make sure there are several riders in front of you and watch them, which will help get it into your head. The difficult bit is if you get into the jump off and they change to a shortened course! Never had to do this, don't know how they do it at all!

[Showjumper]

You should arrive at the show in plenty of time. Walk the course at least three times. The first time, just look for the next jump and get the order sorted. The second time, walk to course, taking into account the ground surface, turns, and suchlike. The third time, try and estimate how many strides to put in between each jump, where to turn to get a good line, etc. I usually walk the course four or five times to make sure it’s engraved on my brain, because in competition, you need to be focused on controlling your horse and getting around the course safely – looking for jumps can put you off balance, so always try and remember where they are. If you forget the course, stop or slow down, take a good look around and then continue. You shouldn’t be penalised for this. You will improve with time – I promise. Good luck and happy landings!!!

PS!!! For the jump-off, you're usually given 5 minutes to walk the shortened course. Look for the quickest approaches, but DON'T TAKE RISKS!!! Rather take wide loops and finish 2nd or 3rd, than turn sharply to get 1st and risking injuring your horse.

[intouch]

I'm afraid we never get time to walk a course more than once, and certainly not before a jump-off! Things must be much more laid back where you come from, here there is always the next class waiting to have the ring, always behind time!

[Showjumper]

oh, that's unlucky. You'll just have to practice memorising everything quickly and watch the other competitors. You WILL improve as you get more used to it

[horselover]

I appreciate all the ideas everyone has given me.

I was going to say the same thing as Intouch did- that we don't have that much time to memorize a course at all- they don't give it to you before you get to the show, an even then, you only get to see it a short time before you jump. That's why I am so nervous about it.

Showjumper- WOW! I wish that we could walk a course that many times. The only time you would be able to do that here is if you were competing in 3-day eventing- you get to walk the x-country course 2x. Showjumping, well, no such luck :(

Floppy- there are numbers, but they don't help you too much b/c you can't really see them unless you are headed to the jump.

Maci- I like your idea of trying to visulaize it- I will keep that in mind when i go.

I amgoing to have to memorize 2 patterns, one after the other b/c we go through 2x. But my instructor said she will help me, and she won't have me go in til I am ready.

but I am still nervous! :) My hands are shaking right now just thinking about it! Does anyone remeber what happened to David O'Conner in the Sydney Olympics this summer when he was in the showjumping???? He came over a jump, then he slowed and looked around- he couldn't remeber the next jump! He remebered it in a few seconds, and went on to get the gold, but I can see something like this happpening to me! :) And not remebering!

[Somethingroyal]

Are you riding hunters? If you are the courses usually go something like- Enter arena circle left, outside line, inside diagonal, inside diagonal, outside line, circle right, leave arena. This can be put simply into Circle L Outside Inside Inside Oustide Circle R. That is usually pretty easy to memorize. My only other advice is to ride the course like it seems it should be ridden. Usually when you come off one jump there are only so many options, and the most natural one is usually right!

[horselover]

I will be riding both hunters and equitation. I know that the hunters will be pretty easy, my instructor told me that. But I am concerned about equitation.

I like how you said to remember the hunter course- I will do that. Thanks for the help! :D

[Liz E.]

In Farnum 3-Day-Event, they have arrows to tell you were to go in the interactive show jumping course. I wish we had little arrows,lol.

[Somethingroyal]

There was a class for the really little kids at a show once, and they did it in the fenced off parking lot. THe kids had to follow green and blue horseshoe prints. THe winner was the one that stayed the closest to the lines and had the best position.

[Fran_C]

No nifty tips as such but, when you walk the course make sure you walk it exactly as you are going to ride it, start at the start and make sure you walk right thorough the finish, walk every turn as you would ride it, pace out the distances between every combination and related distance, and any related differences on a dogsleg to work out your line in between you fences, first pace it out from the first to the second fencnce and then pace it out backwards from the second to the first fence, this will help you learn your line and ride it neatly, the last thing is don't rush round walking the course like some people do, in England all the kids rush round as fast as they can and hardly give the turns a glance, and that really shows in their round, the turns are AWFUL, don't be worried about taking your time you can walk the course once so make the most of it!

[DavidH]

Hi Horselover,
I would agree generally with the things already said but with a proviso, dont make life too complicated for yourself. As you are only jumping 2'6", the distances are not really going to cause you problems. However, trying to remember striding as well as the course on your first outing could prove difficult so stick to just remembering the course and leave the horse to work out the striding.

As Fran said, walk the course exactly on the line you will jump and note whether the second fence is left or right of the first. If the second fence is left then approach the first in left canter lead and vica versa.

Walk the course by yourself or with your trainer so you can concentrate, not chat with your friends.

Watch a few people jump the course before you warm up. This really helps to learn a course.

Remember that you are doing this for fun- Enjoy It.

Good Luck
David H

[Edited by DavidH on 27th Apr 2001 at 05:01 PM]

[horselover]

I am goigto definately think about whatyou both said. The show is next weekend, so I am starting to really get enrvous now. I jsust keep imagining myself going over the course well and not making any mistakes. That's my real goal- to just not make a fool of myself!

I think the best idea is to just walk the course and concentrate. I tlike the idea, Fran, about walking backwards too. I have never heard of that. Rascal is ususally very good at finding the distances, although this is his first show, so I don't really know how he will reat. But I am going to try to let him find the distance for us with a little encouragement from me, unless they specifically ask for a certain number of strides in between particular fences.

Thanks again!

[TD]

i find that to help me memorise a course i walk it then when i leave the arena i go through the course in my head and make sure i know where every jump is. i find it worth while to watch a few people jump so u definity know it but this might b a problem if u'r quite early in the class. thats 1 good thing about competing in presances (i didn't spell that right) or some people call it "chase me charlie" u only jump 1 jump and u can't not know where u'r going. good luck anyway. TD

[Za]

it really completley simple, walk it, then go round the jumps in your mind and visualise them. try and make sure you have time to watch a few horses jump, that will help too. As you are just starting out you will have occasional mind blanks, but when you do more its really simple.
trsut me, ive jumped enough!!

[Jess]

if i'm thinking right, it sounds like you're a hunter. my advice is, school over the course a couple of times. say it's an outside line, single diagonal, inside line and then an outside combination. just say to yourself "outside, inside, inside, outside". just say it over and over again in your head and picture yourself schooling over it. also, remember it by strides: 5, 6, 5, 4, 3. i know this is an old post, and your show has come and gone, but this has always helped me, even in the upper level junior 3'9" classes. best of luck in shows to come.

[Edited by Jess on 9th Jun 2001 at 11:35 PM]