ls This Normal?

Recently (as of June/July), my trainer has been putting the fences up to 2'9 and 3'. Just today she put them up to 3'3, and our first time over Thumps got a bit of a surprise, caught his knee (not normal for him lol) and tripped after the jump. Thanks to my habit over the higher fences of jumping ahead (yuck), l took a tumble. L tried a couple more times, but he stopped every single time. L know that it was completely my fault :S. L'm fine up to 3', but anything over that l just... second-guess myself. About six strides out l'm just like, "Hold on, am l ready to be jumping this height? Should we be going this fast? Am l setting him up to a bad distance?" et cetera, et cetera... Needless to say, Thumper gets a bit confused and stops :). Lt didn't help that there is a summer camp at my barn and all of the little 10 year olds came up to watch... my trainer says that it's good for me, though, to get used to riding in front of crowds :). (and l'm sure she's right)
Ls this normal? L know that if it's my first time at this height, it's not going to be perfect, but it just felt... abnormally bad. L get so frustrated when l have a lesson like this, because l'm at the point where l'm not quite consistent, l'm about 75% there, and l know that l CAN do it, it just doesn't always happen, lol. L guess l'm just looking for encouragement that this isn't so completely uncommon... And thank you for reading my long post of complaints :).

When you start second guessing yourself your horse feels the same as you do, that's why you can make it up to 3' but as soon as you go higher you feel yourself getting afraid because of what happened. I have never jumped a horse before, just whats been out in the fields and stuff but nothing in events but my suggestion to you is try and relax. The more you stress over that you might not make it the more your horse is going to resist you. If you can relax and free your mind over it and make the jump without even thinking about it im sure your horse is going to pick up on the energy and thank you because he knows that if your confident you and him can make it, then you can.

I know all that sounded REALLY cheesy but its very true. Your horse feels just as much as you do. I hope it helped.
Xo

Was it a single fence or a combination ?

I found that when im jumping a higher jump it helps if its the last fence in a grid or a line. That way you set yourself up for a good distance & don't have to worry about it.

Also counting your strides ! Just talking in general to your horse about what is happening or what is coming up will help you relax & focus. I really like to start counting my strides about 6-7 strides from the fence.

As a side note - thinking of my old trainer screaming at me 'just ride the d*mn horse' helps me a lot =P

lt was just a single fence. L'll ask her if we could try some grids, l'm sure if it would make me more comfortable it would be fine with her :) l'll definitely try that next time. L'll work on being more vocal next week, as well, haha :). Thanks so much for the advice! L don't know why l psych myself out like that, l know Thumper can do it, and l know that if l rode him stronger l can do it, as well, l just always doubt my decisions regarding pace or distances :(. Oh well, hopefully it'll get better in time!

It will get better !! It is a frustrating place to be though, I know !

It's totally normal. I'm guessing once he started stopping you got it in your head that he was going to stop again and he did. You'll get over it. Just try again another day. I'm sure you'll be fine. Your trainer won't make you do something if they know you couldn't do it or werent ready. Try not to over think it and just do it. It's way more easier said than done though.
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It's totally normal. Have you ever tried breathing exercises or yoga? When I feel myself getting nervous, (trying something new and challenging) I count 1,2,1,2 to my horse's strides.

I might get slammed for this, but if you have a chronic jumping ahead problem, perhaps you should stay with the lower stuff until that is resolved. As your horse already clearly told you today, he needs you out of his way to jump that height safely. Sure, we all need to test the waters to see if we're ready to move up, but to me it sounds like you should hang out at 2'9" or 3'0" until you're absoulely nailing them and no longer jumping ahead. I don't move up to the next height until I'm bored out of my mind with the height I'm doing. It takes all the negative out of the new height. By the time I try it, both me and my horse are dying to do it. Just my 2 cents.

No, you should definitely not get slammed for that, because you are absolutely right :). We may put 1 fence up a time or two to 3'3 if my trainer thinks it's okay (and l do trust her judgement, she's the type who has no problem keeping you at 1'-1'6 for over a year if you aren't ready to move up), but it certainly will not be a routine thing until l fix my issues at 3'. Lt's typically only over fences that l'm not 100% sure about (not that that makes it any better), but it's obviously an issue that will only get worse with more height and more nerves, as we found out yesterday :).

I remember when I was jumping like 2'0 all the time and then my trainer put it up to 2'3 and I freaked my self out. But you have to remember its only 3 inches!! That's it! Once you start thinking like that raising the height wont freak you out as much. Obiviously 2'3 is different than 3'3 but I thnk you get my point...lol. But I agree with MyBoyPuck all the way. I know its easy to say don't be nervous and I know its hard not to be. Maybe tell your trainer not to share heights until after your lesson..possibility Good Luck!