Wotcha! Hope you're all well and having fun with your neddies! Not been on NR much recently due to extreme busy-ness, but I have a dilemma and thought I'd ask for your opinions and advice.
So me and Roxy are generally going pretty well, jumping courses of 70cm-80cm and doing some low level XC, and we're pretty good in a non-stressful environment, but when it comes to competitions, it all seems to go out the window. Did an ODE a couple of weeks ago but got eliminated during the SJ as the damn horse refused to jump! I forced her over a few but she was having none of it and so we retired. She can be mare-ish, and I get very nervous in competition environments, so I think we were just having an off-day really. My friend who is a very experienced and good rider wants to compete her in a 70cm ODE in a couple of weeks and see how she goes for her. I am dragging my heels though because if she does badly, it's not going to help my confidence, but paradoxically, if she does well, I don't think I'll feel that great about it either! I've put in a lot of work on Roxy and yes we do need a bit of a push to get past the hurdle of the competition environment, but I'm not convinced letting a super-good rider do it for me is the answer.
Thoughts on a postcard please! Or alternatively just post them here. Thank you!
So me and Roxy are generally going pretty well, jumping courses of 70cm-80cm and doing some low level XC, and we're pretty good in a non-stressful environment, but when it comes to competitions, it all seems to go out the window. Did an ODE a couple of weeks ago but got eliminated during the SJ as the damn horse refused to jump! I forced her over a few but she was having none of it and so we retired. She can be mare-ish, and I get very nervous in competition environments, so I think we were just having an off-day really. My friend who is a very experienced and good rider wants to compete her in a 70cm ODE in a couple of weeks and see how she goes for her. I am dragging my heels though because if she does badly, it's not going to help my confidence, but paradoxically, if she does well, I don't think I'll feel that great about it either! I've put in a lot of work on Roxy and yes we do need a bit of a push to get past the hurdle of the competition environment, but I'm not convinced letting a super-good rider do it for me is the answer.
Thoughts on a postcard please! Or alternatively just post them here. Thank you!