I find his fear escalates with his speed, > so we are working at taking things nice and slow. I > know a lot of trainers advocate walking, trotting and > cantering the first ride, but I know my Andi, and we > are going to keep things at a nice walk for a while to > boost his confidence with me on his back. After my > unplanned dismount, he calmed down for me quick, and > we continued as if nothing had happened. We ended on > a good note both happy campers. > > Susan in NV
Susan: You are doing definitely the right thing. Also, it is not always fear where speed can get you into trouble with a green horse. If you allowing a very green horse to canter at speed, he might just forget his responsibility to you and go wheeeee and buck just for the joy of life and running etc. This happened to me a few years ago. I was riding a young gelding - probably on his fourth of fifth ride and I allowed him to canter. I should have known better! He just ran and it was fun for me too but he suddenly started to buck - not really hard but I was not prepared for it even though I should have known. I came off and landed on me right leg. I swung round because of the momentum and tore my then good knee (the other one was damaged from a lacking meniscus fo 38 years already) all to pieces: two torn menisci, several small fractures inside the knee. I was on crutches for several months until I could get arthroscopic surgery to get the menisci repaired. So it is a good idea to walk first and then trot in a controlled environment first. Anneliese
