show nerves

[arab_roots]

I have a week long jumper show comming up next week in Bend OR (still in WA so still just doing jumpers) . All the girls tell me that this show is very friendly. The nerves have gotten so bad that I am having nightmares of the show with everyone laughing at me when I go off course. My trainer has tried to calm my nerves to no avail. What do you do to calm your nerves? Thanks a ton.

[Fence2Fence]

Breathe. Breathe deeply.

Rescue remedy.

Envision successful rounds.

I try to keep competing in cosmic perspective and count my 'blessings'. If I was worried about going off course, I'd start thinking about how lucky I was to have a sound and happy horse. Or how I don't live in Darfur. Or that I don't have to live with my mother-in-law for a week. Or that I haven't been held as a hostage for seven years in South America. You get the picture. :-)

I've been making a habit of missing my course walks for show jumping lately. This last time, I nearly blew past fence three. I kept my cool and I was able to stop the horse, turn him on his haunches and pick up my line without crossing my path. Going off course can be fixed. Maybe it would help you to think about "if I make this error, I can do this...or that..."


You'll do fine. People will comiserate with you if you go off course---it happens to everyone.

[missamandarose]

Nerves are big thing to overcome, no matter how laid-back a show is. Its hard to get over that mental hurdle of "what if..." (fill in the blank with "go off course, fall... whatever). TRUST me, I know and have been through this plenty this year, as its my first year back to showing since my college days doing IHSA.

What I have found to help is to think about terriffic experiences you've had in the past, be it a great schooling session or a show where you did well. Remembering those experiences helps me realize that I can do well because I've done it before. Very simplistic, I know, but it does help me!

And each new positive experience makes that mental hurdle of nerves smaller and smaller. Good luck!!! You'll do fine!

[spmoonie]

I like to watch videos of awesome rounds on youtube. It gets me motivated. & you can always learn by watching them.

[Mudroom]

pick up the book The Inner Game of Tennis,

unless you compete against me ;-)

[evntr06]

I go through that myself quite a bit, and here's what helped me in the past.

1. Go to as many shows as possible. Experience(especially positive) tends to dull nerves, when you're thinking that its all "same old".

2. Practice jumping rounds in lessons, as if it was a show. Make up a course, learn it, and ride it from start to finish as if you were at a show (you can do that with your trainor who may also give suggestions for improvement).

3. Make yourself concentrate at what you need to do while performing in a class, i.e. half halt here, keep straight there, use your leg before the jump, etc. whatever you are going to need to be doing while riding. You can also play out those details in your head before the show. While doing that, you can also make "plan B" in your head, something like "if A happens, I'll do B", etc. Making myself concentrate on details and actions helps to ignore the big picture and the "oh my God I am at a show" type thinking... Sometimes easier said then done, but it does get easier with experience...

[kacey'srider]

I used to deal with TERRIBLE show nerves. I cried after every dressage test and couldn't eat... all that fun stuff. Now, I am much better after going to every schooling show possible for a few years.

Xanex really helped, if you can get some from your doctor. But,I don't even take it any more. It's been years, actually!

I also drank lots of chammomile tea... and a mimosa on the side works wonders!

good luck!

[Sudi's Girl]

Not that I'm suggesting this, but a friend of mine used to drink a beer/glass of wine etc. in the morning before dressage to calm her down. I always thought that was funny though.

I experience the same thing and end up completely tiring myself out before the show from lack of sleep. I would try to stay away from sleeping drugs though as they're addictive. Maybe read something or watch tv before you go to bed to get your mind on something else?

Sorry - best of luck!

[sharri13]

Whether it's the drive from work to the farm, or a long haul to an event, I listen to classical music. It helps to calm me, keeps my mind clear, and I don't have any lyrics running through my head! Good luck - I am certain you will do great!

[bip]

Ugh, I do not know. When I was a kid/teen, my dad taught me a bunch of relaxation strategies to deal with nerves. Now, when I get nervous I feel the intense need to take a nap. I feel like if I could just sleep for 10 minutes, I would wake up refreshed and focused (I wouldn't). None of the strategies actually involved napping, and I don't even do them anymore, but they were so relaxing that I just associate feeling nervous with becoming deeply relaxed - too relaxed!

I was watching the olympic trials for swimming and I liked the thing a lot of swimmers did just before going on the blocks where they would bounce up and down. I need the equivalent of that to get my blood pumping.

At my last competition I tried to convince me that the nerves were good and not to try to relax or avoid feeling them, but to let them compel me to get out there and ride. Did not work even a little. :(

You are so fortunate that your fear is going off course. As a jumper rider, you get several chances a day to get it right (and yes, several different courses to goof you up, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day!) A teenager at my barn who does h/j has that fear too. At her last schooling show she went off course in her medal class but the judge let her continue and even called her back for the test (which I thought was odd, but at a schooling show anything can happen). I think she will feel much more confident now, now that she's seen that going off course isn't the end of the world.

[slickteam12brs]

It wont help you for this show (unless you read really fast) but there is a great book called "With Winning in Mind" by Lanny Bassham. It is all about changing the way you think about competition. It has lots of activitiesin it, so by the time you go to the show you "know" you have allready had a great ride, done amazing and everyone is jealous. Really calms your nerves and help you perform better.

[bip]

there is a great book called "With Winning in Mind" by Lanny Bassham.

Winning is pretty ambitious, and losing is not what makes me nervous. How about a book on "With not maiming/killing you or your horse over a 2'6' log in mind"? 'Cause as far as I can tell, that's the main source of my nerves.

[MTshowjumper]

Feel content in the fact that you can't make a bigger spectacle of yourself in that particular show than I did one year. Bend was my at the time very naughty horses first jumper show years ago (said horse is 19 now and a pro). The first day we went in the ring he immediatly started rearing, and rearing, and rearing and the judge finally rang the buzzer and I got him going forward and jumped the first jump only to be eleminated since we didn't go around the arena again to go through the cones (I was just happy he stopped rearing!). The next day I get through half the course turn onto the diagonal going away from the gate only to get halfway across the ring when he throws on the brakes almost sending me flying over his head (this was a favorite trick of his when we wheren't anywhere near a jump so I couldn't anticipate it), he then RAN backwards all the way across the ring in a straight line and right out the gate completely ignoring me kicking him forward. After that complete strangers who apparently witnessed our backward exit would all show up and block the gate everytime I went in the ring for the rest of the week (Sweet of them but very embarraseing for me!) The good news is he was much better the rest of the week, I think we even got a couple of ribbons gate blocking crew and all.

The show was very friendly (thus the help keeping my horse in the ring), and if all you have to worry about is forgetting your course I'd say you are in good shape. Going off course is something everyone has done at least once and no one is going to laugh at you for it since it has probably happened to them as well. On the bright side, after a week of showing you should probably get much more comfortable with it. Just remember to drink lots of water even while you ride, that show was HOT, and I almost passed out while riding since I am bad about that kind of thing.

[arab_roots]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I just had the worst lesson today. We were cantering with out our irons and Gambit the horse took off with me. We finally worked through all that when our trainer had us start jumping. We literally stopped at every jump. I was getting frustrated and so was my trainer. I talked to my trainer and we think it is just because I hadn't ridden him in a couple of days that we just weren't in sync with each other. She still thinks that I should go to the show and that I will do well. I will let yall know how we did. Thanks again for all your help. :D