Peformance under pressure?

[jodee]

and no i don't mean pee-ing when someone is watching:lol:

ok, so i have had Perdy since mid may and in that time i have jumped at home 5 or 6 times, hired a show jumping course for practice and been to 4 shows doing jumping. now at home he races around, pulls my arms out the sockets, trys to run out of jumps and tank it up the field. I think this is partially due to the fact I have to jump in a field he grazes in and the other horses get put into another field but stand at the gate and watch. the field is on a slight hill so naturally i tend to jump up hill towards the other horses which is probally the cause. when we are at home jumping, HE KNOWS BEST! :evilgrin:

when i took him to hire a showjumping course he was again very cocky, and wanted to do things his way (flat out gallop) several times we would jump say three jumps then he would get over excited bounce around and try and tank off, so i was having to turn alot of cirles to keep control.

But at a show he is completly different,:innocent: we haven't come home from a show without winning our jumping class (okay so only four shows so not really undefeated champions yet:lol:) so he is well behaved at shows, but he gets nervous... im not kidding... i struggle to warm him up. he is a very forward going normally but when warming up at a show he doesnt want to trot and i can only get him to canter when going over the practice jump. he tends to turn and race for it so i can only jump the practice fence once or twice or he starts to get faster and faster over it. then we we go into the ring he picks up on my nerves and he starts heavy breathing, quite loud! my mum could hear him from outside the ring. he cant trot... he just cannot do it. when i try to push him on his breathing gets heavier and louder (its like he is saying i cant, i cant, im not ready.) so we walk across the ring (past the scariest jump of course) and over to the first jump. when i turn for the first jump he is suddenly in the zone and races for it. he is strong but listens to where i want him to go. in all the pics over the jumps he has one ear forward and one ear back listening to me. he makes turns that he would never make at home and really trys for me, i can push him on faster and bring him back in the jump off.

So i have come to the conclusion he performs so much better under pressure!

Do you think he is genuinely nervous? the breathing thing is quite funny to listten too!

does anyone elses horse perform better under pressure or just mine?:lol:

hmmm or maybe i ride differently?

[Ussiarella]

No that´s right!
I have recognice the same by Shadow!
I have riding lessons in another stabel he doesn´t know the arena and the yard and even though he should no al this after over 1 year riding once a week there he is still under pressure but it is a good perssure not a negative pressure and he is much better as normal :-)

[eeek]

Not sure if he's nervous as such without seeing him, but yes I do think a lot of horses perform better in a competition environment.

My boy is a bit like yours in that he's quite an old stick at home and likes to do things his way. He's always well-behaved, but he lets me know what he would like to do! He also clowns about a lot, pretending to be scared of things he's seen a million times, banging the door when he wants his tea and generally making his presence known. But as soon as we're in a new place (unless it's the hunting field!) he is completely professional and tries his utmost best.

I have also noticed that when I drive him in a race he tries much harder than he does for a strange driver.

[Loony]

Awww bless him! Thats quite backwards, usually we perform worse under pressure :lol:

Hey at least he behaves when it counts huh? :cheekywink:

[Tanner]

Markus performs much better at shows. He is always honest jumping but at home he can get quick or just a bit cocky. At shows he is *almost* always a perfect gentleman and really waits and listens to me when I tell him to back off/move forward. Not sure what it is wtih him except maybe he isn't sure what to expect and it make him actually listen instead of trying to go auto-pilot lol

[CityLights]

maybe it would be worth taking him out more, he might just be unsure in new enviornments, is he good to hack out? maybe take him out in hand to stand about and watch the world go by and not do anything hardwork or really exciting like showing in hand then he might start to chill out and not get so nervous or excited with anticipation of maybe doing something fun, he may also draw more confidence from you if your on the ground and if your transfering nerves to him when riding it might not be a problem in the ground

maybe also give him some pre show calmer just to chill him out a bit then he might cope a little better,

[Osci]

Oscar performs better in the show ring than at home or in the warm up. He's worst in the warm up as he is on edge probably not helped by my nerves :evilgrin: but once in the ring he usually goes into auto pilot & jumps nicely albeit at top speed! :lol:

[kirsty1]

Dino (pic in aviater) always went better at shows especially if showing, or being in a group lesson as he was a complete show off!