:( Does this make me a terrible rider?

[ImaLittleBoston]

I just started jumping, I've been wishing on jumping for 5 years, but never got the chance. I've started jumping wilson over something about 1ft, and im glad hes smooth, I dont know much about jumping any other horse, but I hardly move when he jumps, so on with the story, almost a week ago, wilson didnt pick up his legs, and he knocks the pole down, and when he took his next step, he steped on it and tripped, and when he tried to catch himself, he tripped again, and because I pole bended with our mare a while ago, and she fell after slipping on a rock during a turn, Right onto her side, so As wilson was trying to catch himself, all I could think about was willow falling , So I let go of my stirrups, and didnt have time to catch myself, landing on my hips, and knocking the wind out of myself. So now I've just avoided jumping, aka "I think I want to practice trotting poles today" or "he needs to tune up on his aids" or "The ring is to dusty/ muddy". Is it just anxiety, Or am I just not made for jumping? I know it wasnt the horses falt, nor the rider, But It just seems like im cursed with horses this month :( ever since pickle (thats what I call wilson) got gelded. Will the fear of the horse falling and hurting himself go away? Because im not afraid of falling, Im afraid of my horse falling and breaking something.


BTW he didnt fall after the jump, just me

[CurlyWurlyRach]

not quite sure i understand but you say you hardly move when he jumps, thats probably why he cant pick his feet up. You have to get off the horses back to jump.
shorten your stirrups and bend at the hips just lift your bum out of the saddle, move your hands up his neck (so when he streaches over the jump you dont jab is mouth) and look up.

[ImaLittleBoston]

What I mean is, My ass doesnt have to leave the seat :P I know to release, but my mother has informed me at the height of the jump, I shouldnt need to point the horse comes up to meet me I thought two point was for higher jumps?

[CurlyWurlyRach]

2 point is good for all jumps.

[palmerlover52]

Even weeny little cross poles like I'm happy doing :p It just makes for good practice..and it would help him LOADS if you shift your weight forward (ie. 2 point) to move with his centre of gravity. Try and get a little kid on your back and jump with them....making them do nothing when you jump (it's really hard) and making them lean forward when you jump....it's SOOOO much easier when they lean forward!!

Bad example, but you get the idea ;)

Briony
xxx

[*Sez*]

My last jumping accident story...:-

I think it's safe to say that I've got a little carried away with this jumping lark . I was schooling on Saturday with my dad and my friend in the school and thought I'd pop over the little jump (about 18 inches) because my dad hadn't seen us jumping yet, and was keen to see how we were getting on. He jumped it really nicely, in a calm and relaxed way, and we went over it easily in both directions.

So I thought we'd have a go at the slightly bigger one that had been set up- a cross pole set at 2ft. The cross itself was probably only around 10-12 inches. We trotted up to it, and he slammed on the brakes so he could have a good look at it and a sniff and then he started backing away Hmmm.... seems very scary, Mum!
I niggled him forward a little, to show him that it wasn't really all that frightening, and was exactly the same as the smaller cross poles we were jumping all last week. He decided, from a standstill, to launch himself into the air and clear it. But we were over and it was safe. We circled around and went at it again at a more confident trot. Two strides out, he slowed and refused. I got shot forward in the saddle and at the last second he reconsidered and jumped. I completely unbalanced him and was shot forward again over the jump. When all four feet were on the ground again, let off a massive corkscrew buck. Instinctively, I grabbed on to his neck to try to balance myself, but there's not a lot of Salsa's neck, and when it suddenly disappeared infront of me I gave in to the inevitable and braced myself for hitting the deck.

Cue shocked horse, and equally shocked spectators and me rolling around in agony and groaning "catch him, please! Catch him!" I spent about five minutes on the floor waiting for my muscles to relax and that awful winded feeling to fade so that I could start assessing the damage. For a terrifying moment, I thought I'd be having a hospital trip because I couldn't move my legs, which turned out to be a muscle spasm in my lower back. Fortunately the shock and adrenaline kicked in and I dragged myself out of the sand, clicked my back, hips and knees back into place and got myself back into the saddle. I've only twice in my life not got back on, both times with Salsa, and I was determined, pain or not, to get back on. We had a quiet walk around to calm our frayed nerves, and when we got back to the barn I started to wonder how on earth I would get off again... By this point my back and hips had completely siezed up and I felt a bit like a Barbie that had been bent into position and perched on the horse. It was a large military operation getting me out of the saddle onto a mounting block and then onto the floor .

One hot bath later, the bruises started to come out and I've got an interesting catalogue of wounds - multiple bruises on my arms, back, legs and ribs; various cuts and scrapes; what looks like a nettle rash on the inside of my right elbow; a bleeding toenail; a bruised and painful pelvis; and a big graze across my lower back where I was sandpapered on landing.

So I'm very sore and feeling very sorry for myself . The swelling is starting to go down, so I will be able to feel if anything is out in my back and start crunching it all back into place. My elbow is feeling a bit worse for wear, but it all feels connected up properly. I'm having a bit more trouble than usual getting around, but I think it's just muscular aches and bruises. If I'm still having problems at the end of the week, I'll nip down to the minor injuries unit and get them to take a look at me. My normal tramadol and ibruprofen are making the pain a bit more bearable, so I can't imagine they'd give me anything else if I went down there.
So we'll give the jumping a miss for a while until I'm feeling a bit more human again, and we'll work in some trot poles and a little jump in a week or two to remind us that we can do it and that one fall isn't the end of the world .


Sorry, it's very long :rolleyes: . My point is that everyone takes a tumble from time to time, and often it's simply a small error that caused the problem in the first place. Does it make me a bad rider that I unbalanced my horse and fell off? Not really, no - it just means I need more practise and to be careful about pushing us out of our comfort zone. I know you've have a scary falling incident recently which seems to be playing on your mind and perhaps this made you a little tense?

My advice would be to take a week or two off jumping and do as you're doing - lots of schooling and LOADS of trotting poles. When you're ready (try some Rescue Remedy if you're feeling a bit nervous), raise opposite ends of your poles and trot through until you're happy. Then raise both ends of your final pole to form a tiny jump. Chances are you'll just trot over it, which is fine for now - you need to work on your confidence. Eventually you can make it a little higher, but try to avoid "placing" him before the jump, as some horses find this very confusing. Just be prepared for him to take off and lift yourself to encourage him to jump a little bigger. I think part of the reason he hit the jump may have been that you didn't take some of your weight off his back - giving that release encourages the horse to jump higher and makes clearing the jump more likely. I probably bend far too much when I jump, but we've never yet had a jump down.
Good luck! Let us know how you get on!

[BeachRiding]

You need to go into a two-point, sitting on his back will make jumping too difficult for him.

[ImaLittleBoston]

So, I jumped him today :D and it went great, I got a few tips from people who live around me to, about whether or not to use two-point, And I've had about 4 people watch him jump, And no one think I should have to use two-point with him. I mean, I tried it, but it seems more awkward then letting him come up to meet me, And after that fall, the jumps seem more sucessful without it to. I think I did a 1 1/2 FT today, Im proud of myself :) because im always so nevous about it getting close, and then when im done I soo proud of wilson and I.