When I was younger, I loved to jump big fences. I loved the thrill and the air time. 4′ courses were just a regular lesson. When I started eventing there was no Beginner Novice and the Novice fences looked very manageable, even on a green horse.
But the older I get, the smaller my comfort zone has . I’ve been pondering this dilemma for awhile. Should I push the envelope? Or admit that I don’t bounce like I used to and enjoy the small stuff. Still, it was humbling when I brought a tape measure to the ring and realized the jumps that were starting to look big were, in truth, only 2’6″.
Today I came across this Facebook post from Denny Emerson and realized that I have been shrinking my comfort zone too much. It’s time to get a trainer out to push me a bit and help me remember that I can do it. What about you? Do you still jump big fences or are fences starting to look big to you, too? How do you deal with it?
4′ always looked big to me. Then again, I started jumping it when I was not yet 4′ tall! My trainer would tell me to jump it, and I would, but there was always part of me which didn’t want to. There was also a part of me which wanted to ride dressage from the time before I had even been on a horse (thank you Disney’s Miracle of the White Stallions!) So in my case, the discipline change was obvious. Still, I can’t figure out when 2’6″ became big to the general horse world – I remember growing up you didn’t get to jump at shows if you weren’t jumping at least 3′, and then you could only jump in the easiest, least worthwhile classes! I find the change in general attitude very interesting.