The tightness of the horse’s noseband has no influence on the control you have over him. That comes from training. Since you are riding a lesson horse, you are (to a degree) stuck with the training habits he has. I would express your concerns to your trainer that you don’t feel like you can easily control him and / or slow him down. It’s your trainer’s responsiblilty to make sure you are riding a safe mount.

However, if you are getting that anxious, be aware that that affects your horse too. If the rider is nervous or worried, it often causes the horse to speed up (since they can’t relax either). So it would help the both of you if you can learn to control your anxiety.

Think of it this way: WHY do you ride horses?

Ideally the answer should be because it’s FUN and you ENJOY it. So remember that!! Breathe deeply and make yourself smile. And have fun. If you are having fun, it’s pretty hard to be anxious or tense.

It very much is a mental game. Just keep a positive attitude. It’s normal to have a bad day here and there. I guarantee that rider in your group that you think is perfect, she has bad days too.

 

Oh- I didn't know that the noseband was there just because. I thought it had a function. My trainer is good about it- she let's me stop after a few jumps to collect myself. Anyway, yes I ride horses to have fun generally, but other things get in the way of that sometimes.

 

Edit: Forgot to add- if there's any advice to get over jumps without the 'doubting ones self' anxiety that would be appreciated.

Don't increase the level of difficulty (height of jumps, complexity of course) until you are routinely mastering your current level. Then work your edge and advance gradually, rather than in leaps and bounds. I'm currently comfortable with 1.5 - 2 feet when I ride by myself, and as long as I still mentally prepare for a jump (rather than taking it in stride, as a matter of routine), I will not move up in height - for my safety and the horse's.

 

Yes I agree. I want to be comfortable over the jumps I'm dealing with now and rather not increase it too quickly.

 

I'm sure your instructor has said this but are you looking where you want to go instead of concentrating on the corner?
I'm no expert on jumping but I would be collecting my horse just before the corner to prepare for the turn but also looking ahead at the jump so my focus is there.

Don't know if this will help but wishing you a good ride the next lesson.

Plus don't be too hard on yourself, it takes a lot of time to learn all this stuff.

 

I do concentrate on the next jump (if I remember where it is haha). I look straight ahead/over the jump each time.

You really shouldn’t compare yourself to other people. Let me give you a practical example: I went to a dressage clinic-type holiday once. Each student had a test ride with the head coach at the beginning and got paired with a horse. Because my riding sucks, I was given the easiest horse. I did all the excersises easily and on the whole better than other people. But that most definitely does not mean I am a better rider than any of them. The only thing I was looking at is my own improvement between excersises and lessons.

I know I shouldn't but it is easy to fall into. Especially with this kind of sport. I'll chalk it up to it being a bad habit. I use to be really self critical a year ago, and much of that has faded away.

I just thought I'd confess here that I am always fearful, when I am doing anything horseback that is greater than a little trot down the trail. I DO it, but I have feelings of fear in my head. When I pick up a canter, I always have 'what if' feelings in my head, and yet . . I somehow assume other people don't. They seem so fearless.
and yet, they tell me that I look fearless? h m m . . . could it be that almost all of us are riding around, with some kind of fear in our heads, assuming that the other rider has none?

I can relate! I like to canter but sometimes it gives me anxiety if I'm on a fast horse who turns too sharply (thus me loosing some of my balance). I'm sure to the newer riders I look great though.

It's so hard to learn when you're anxious! I know, personally, my body really tenses up, my reaction time is crap, and my brain can't seem to hold more than one thought at once. My body wants to revert into this weird crooked and hunched nervous defensive position that I've worked REALLY hard to correct over the last two and half years.

If your instructor is willing, putting the jumps down to just poles on the ground for you to practice riding over them and getting the distance, once, twice, twenty times -- whatever it takes -- might be helpful. The horse will still have to "jump" over the poles with one bigger canter stride if you're not at the right take-off spot, so you'll definitely know whether you've got the distance or not.

It's also useful to just get in a habit of counting your canter strides as you ride normally around the ring. Look ahead and think, how many strides do I think it will take to get to that particular fence post? Was I right? What do I need to do to place him so his stride lines up just at this particular place? Etc. If you get in this habit then setting them up for jumps starts to become less daunting.

**I say all this as someone who rarely ever jumps anymore, but it IS what I needed to do back in the day to make it all work better. The lesson horse I rode took long spots that would make your hair stand up, that's for sure, so it was important!!

Thank you for this advice- I'll follow through~

 

You really shouldn’t compare yourself to other people. Let me give you a practical example: I went to a dressage clinic-type holiday once. Each student had a test ride with the head coach at the beginning and got paired with a horse. Because my riding sucks, I was given the easiest horse. I did all the excersises easily and on the whole better than other people. But that most definitely does not mean I am a better rider than any of them. The only thing I was looking at is my own improvement between excersises and lessons.

 

Yes, the right horse can make someone look a lot better than they are. I used to think I was a decent rider. Intermediate level anyway. And then I started riding a green horse with barely 2 months training.......that's when I realized how my older horses were really taking care of me the whole time, not my riding experience. Those horses are worth their weight in gold, in my opinion. :smile:

I just thought I'd confess here that I am always fearful, when I am doing anything horseback that is greater than a little trot down the trail. I DO it, but I have feelings of fear in my head. When I pick up a canter, I always have 'what if' feelings in my head, and yet . . I somehow assume other people don't. They seem so fearless.
and yet, they tell me that I look fearless? h m m . . . could it be that almost all of us are riding around, with some kind of fear in our heads, assuming that the other rider has none?

You know, I think so much of it (with me anyway) is the horse. With my old Mustang I could gallop through fields, by myself, and never feel afraid. With my younger horse, just walking in certain areas where he has spooked before can give me butterflies in my stomach. But yes, I think a lot more people are riding with fear that we realize.

@tinyliny - Exactly that. I'm the same way; I always have 'what if' thoughts and I get close to freaking out quite often, tbh. People don't see that though, so I'm led to wonder the same thing. I have to say though, I kinda see the fear as part of the game. Not if it's very serious fear, but just that adrenaline rush you get because you know that something could happen.

Last time I rode my younger horse with a friend, he did a weird little frolicky thing and I turned him around once as a correction to make sure he knew I was still in control. Then I apologized to my friend for my lack of confidence. And she said "You sure looked like you handled that confidently!" So I guess my point is, we can be a nervous wreck inside and still look confident from the outside.

I know nothing about jumping, but I just wanted to say that a lot of us struggle with confidence. You CAN definitely get to a point that you are confident, with enough experience with the right horse. Riding should and can be fun! And I think 80 or 90% of that is getting a comfort level with the horse. Because I have been on both sides of the coin. Seemingly fearless and cantering/galloping around on trails, and also the person who gets butterflies if the horse so much as trips. I've been there, done both!

PS. It's hard to gain experience and confidence riding only once a week. So take it easy on yourself. It's hard to progress quickly that way.

 

I just thought I'd confess here that I am always fearful, when I am doing anything horseback that is greater than a little trot down the trail. I DO it, but I have feelings of fear in my head. When I pick up a canter, I always have 'what if' feelings in my head, and yet . . I somehow assume other people don't. They seem so fearless.
and yet, they tell me that I look fearless? h m m . . . could it be that almost all of us are riding around, with some kind of fear in our heads, assuming that the other rider has none?

 

@tinyliny - Exactly that. I'm the same way; I always have 'what if' thoughts and I get close to freaking out quite often, tbh. People don't see that though, so I'm led to wonder the same thing. I have to say though, I kinda see the fear as part of the game. Not if it's very serious fear, but just that adrenaline rush you get because you know that something could happen.

 

yes. too much and it can be crippling. but, when you have experienced enough 'what if's' actually coming true, then you know that they aren't just silly flights of imagination.

Riding is a non-stop exersize in chance. I mean, we know things can go wrong in such a way that we get hurt or killed. We just choose to believe that it won't be us, not this time. We bank on the odds being with us.


anyway, OP, don't be down on yourself for having fear. the bravest person is the one who IS afraid, but goes out and does things anyway.

 

It's so hard to learn when you're anxious! I know, personally, my body really tenses up, my reaction time is crap, and my brain can't seem to hold more than one thought at once. My body wants to revert into this weird crooked and hunched nervous defensive position that I've worked REALLY hard to correct over the last two and half years.

If your instructor is willing, putting the jumps down to just poles on the ground for you to practice riding over them and getting the distance, once, twice, twenty times -- whatever it takes -- might be helpful. The horse will still have to "jump" over the poles with one bigger canter stride if you're not at the right take-off spot, so you'll definitely know whether you've got the distance or not.

It's also useful to just get in a habit of counting your canter strides as you ride normally around the ring. Look ahead and think, how many strides do I think it will take to get to that particular fence post? Was I right? What do I need to do to place him so his stride lines up just at this particular place? Etc. If you get in this habit then setting them up for jumps starts to become less daunting.

**I say all this as someone who rarely ever jumps anymore, but it IS what I needed to do back in the day to make it all work better. The lesson horse I rode took long spots that would make your hair stand up, that's for sure, so it was important!!

 

Going to add: the only person worth comparing yourself to... is yourself. Measure your progress against YOU.

Also, we all have totally crap riding days. Some days I feel confident and accomplished. Other days, I wonder why anyone ever even lets me near a horse. Often those crap riding days actually accomplish more learning than the good ones, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time.

 

b

Going to add: the only person worth comparing yourself to... is yourself. Measure your progress against YOU.

.

Also, only measure against the NOW you.

If you are a new rider great, there is your start point...if you are a rerider, remember to measure against the new you. I read so many frustrations about ‘not being the rider I was’ well no you might not be....if you are in a different place you are a different rider...


Sorry, pet pony, have to get it there for an airing:cowboy:

 

yeah, the right horse makes a huge difference! I , too, ride a very easy going, easy to ride horse. I have to keep that in mind when I hear other folks worrying about every teeny tiny potential spook generating place; they are on different beasties.

 

New rider also struggling with fear and feeling "slow"... just wanted to say thank you FinalCanter for talking about your frustrating lesson and starting this conversation- it's been comforting to read through.

 

Alright, well, my lesson is this Wednesday night, so We'll see how it goes. I'm definitely going to jump.

 

trust in yourself, throw your heart and mind over the jump and the horse will follow it works