Sometimes clear rounds and red rosettes are easy to come by, but if our confidence jumping horses takes a knock, it can take a lot of work to rebuild our nerve. As part of this series on confidence for riders, experts give their tips for getting back in the positive zone over fences in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers
Outsiders to the horse world tend to think riders are so brave jumping fences, but the reality is often quite the opposite. Confidence is a delicate attribute, which can easily be shaken. It only takes a couple of bad rounds, a few missed strides, a fall or overfacing ourselves or our horse. And when it ebbs, we may look back at photos of us soaring over jumps and wonder how we ever found it so easy. But a knock to our confidence jumping horses can be carefully rebuilt with the right approach and mindset.
5 ways to regain confidence jumping horses
1. Back to basics
International showjumping coach and Hong Kong Jockey Club showjumping performance manager Corinne Bracken says the first thing she does with any rider who is having confidence issues is takes them back to basics.
“It’s so important that they fall in love with the basic work that they do on a horse, so pole work, focusing on their own position, and doing tiny jumps,” Corinne says.
Jumping much smaller fences than you are used to can help rebuild your nerve.
(Image credit: Emma Herrod)
“If you go back to basics it gives you a good security to fall back on, should it happen again. For me the basics are the most important thing for any horse and rider.”
2. Repetition is key
“Once we’ve re-established those basics and we’ve got a good solid foundation, the next is repetition. I want somebody to do something 100 times well, before they try to do something new,” says Corinne.
“You want it to become second nature; so the mind doesn’t have to think about what you’re doing on the horse and it just does it naturally. You’re retraining all those muscle memories and neuro pathways into just reacting to what’s underneath you, because the minute it becomes a conscious thought, you’ve probably forgotten about 10 other things you should be doing as well.”
3. Assess your work-life balance
Corinne says that when you’re trying to regain your confidence your mindset has to be in the right place.
“Think about why you’re doing it? If you’re someone jumping for pleasure, and it isn’t a pleasure anymore then ask yourself why. And consider what is going on in your work or school life,” she says.
“I find a lot of youth riders lose confidence when they are doing exams because often the brain is so overloaded that they’re mentally tired and therefore physically they can’t do the task at hand. The same happens when people are very busy at work and they find their riding starts to deteriorate.
“While you might not be able to cut back on work, you can back off the intensity of your training or competing, and spend time riding for pleasure. I also encourage young riders to keep it fun during exam time and to focus on training rather than competing until their exams are over.”
Enjoy riding for the sake of it, without the pressure of training.
(Image credit: Emma Herrod Photography)
4. Pick a keyword
Tina Canton of Tinderbox Sport Horses, a BHSI, UKCC level three coach, and Centre 10 advanced coach recommends using a memorable word to encourage a break in the thought process when building confidence jumping horses.
“I like to use keywords with my riders where I ask them to pick a word and if they are going round a course and their horse gets a little bit keen and they’re getting run off with, I’ll ask them to say their keyword,” explains Tina. “It might be something simple like ‘reset’ and it just means half-halt and put your canter back to where you want it.
“You might jump a fence and say ‘reset’, jump another fence and say ‘reset’, and so on. The rider will then feel like they have a plan and they’re in control.
“I always ask the rider to pick their own word, because it makes people think about it, and you understand what it means.”
5. Choose three points to focus on
Equestrian mental performance coach Poppy Blandford, who works with top riders including Jodie Hall-McAteer encourages riders to pick a number of processes to focus on during jumping sessions.
“If I was going into the ring on your horse, think about what instructions would you give me?” she asks.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re jumping 60cm or 1.60m. When we have a relationship with a horse it can become incredibly complex and emotionally driven, and we’re having so many experiences at once that it can be hard to siphon it down into what we should be focusing on in the moment.”
In the ring, narrow your focus on to three key points to prevent your mind fretting about too many things.
(Image credit: Alamy)
“When we’re trying to achieve something it’s incredibly important that we can take all the information that’s flying around our heads and really filter it down into three or four key focus points.
“When you’re under pressure the mind can only focus on that many things at once – so it might be, ‘Can I keep my body tall, can I focus on my breathing, can I keep the canter?’
“Therefore we have a process to follow, and the brain relaxes because it’s got a solution. When you simplify and become calm, your subconscious will kick in.
“It sounds simple, but no matter what level you’re at it’s really important that you remember what you’re supposed to be doing.”
Did you find these tips helpful? Let us know by emailing hhletters@futurenet.com with your name, nearest town and county, and your letter might be published in Horse & Hound magazine
Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
