--- In IceHorses@yahoogroups.com, Lorraine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Have you ever been nervous because the last horse you > owned was spooky? How do you get over it???? > > Lorraine
Hello Lorraine, Around Xmas 2 years ago, I fell off my Icelandic. The horses had all been in their stalls with no turnout for about a week and a half due to a big snow storm. So the first nice sunny day that the arena was plowed, I showed up to ride my horse Blessi. I paid no attention to all the comments about the horses having lots of energy--really well behaved horses bucking, a small pony kicking the Belgium horse, etc. I paid no attention to any of this, saddled up my horse, got on him, he took a few steps, and took off instantly at the first leg pressure. Being a beginning rider, I fell off the back. However, the ground was frozen. I didn't break any bones but there was a lot of soft tissue damage. The pain was really bad and lasted for 6 months. I couldn't sit, drive, or walk without pain. My fear level just went through the roof. Everytime, I got on Blessi I would breath fast, sometimes tremble, have almost a mini panic attack. John Lyons wrote an excellent essay "But I am scared" which appears in his book Private Lessons. I really recommend the entire essay but here is a quote (pg 167) "Here's the rule 'Ride where you can, not where you can't' comes into play. The rider should ask himself what he can do with the horse and feel 100 percent safe. That may be just walking and trotting in the arena. No problem. That's the place to start. The rider should only walk and trot in the arena until he's so bored, or so confident that he just naturally feels ready to make a more adventuresome move. The next step may be either a change of location--say, to riding in an empty pasture--or it may involve more speed in the same location. Whatever the choice, the rider should concentrate on gaining better control of the horse within boundaries where he feels absolutely safe, only changing one parameter at a time." This advice has really helped me. Some of the things I have done to work on my fear issue are: Let people know that I am a nervous rider. People have been very patient and supportive of me. When I was really nervous, someone would walk with me on the lanes around the stable. Or people with really steady horses would go on a trail ride with me and keep to a nice steady walk. Get a riding coach/buddy. Sometimes when I was riding Blessi, I would be doing something that might prevent him from relaxing completely. My riding coach/buddy would pinpoint that one thing such as holding the reins too tight, too loose, sitting too tense, that was preventing total horse relaxation. Have a patient and supportive riding instructor. My normal riding instructor Svanny worked with me for months doing the basics and repeating exercises to build a comfort level. Go to some clinics. I went to a Centered Riding Clinic at Icefarm this year and learned so much. It really helped to ride other horses than Blessi in a different environment with really supportive instructors--many thanks to Robyn, Christine, and Barbara. One of the best things I learned was the neutral pelvis riding position. It is a way of finding that best balance right over the center of the horse. When I get nervous, I get out of neutral position and then start losing my balance. When I lose my balance, I get more nervous. Getting back into neutral pelvis makes me feel a lot more secure. Check my horse's energy level. When I first get my horse, I let him loose in the arena. Several times a year due to spring, cold break in the weather, Blessi gets a case of the buckies. By letting him loose in the arena, he has the opportunity to show off and burn off and toot off some energy. I also lunge him if I feel the necessity-- I'm not sure how the group feels about lunging. I try to only lunge himat a slow trot to gauge energy level. Blessi lets me know when his energy level is right because he will start trotting with his head low to the ground and he starts licking and chewing. Sometimes we lunge for 5 minutes because his energy level is just right and sometimes for 10 or a little more if the energy level is higher than I am comfortable with. Work on ground exercises. We used to do, and have started again, to do ground exercises. I have gotten a lot of them off the Iceryder site--unwrap the pony, etc,--or just made stuff up like putting a ball with a gyro and motor into a box so it scoots across the arena by itself and letting Blessi get used to it. The more I know how Blessi reacts to stuff and the more he gets desensitized, the more comfortable we both are. Only do what I am comfortable doing. We were doing a trail ride in Leavenworth, WA. Blessi is normally nice and dependable on the trail but for some reason he wanted to tolt not walk and be in the lead. He did slow down to a slow walk for the creek crossings. I rode this for about 10 minutes but he was hard to stop. I was feeling good about the experience--not nervous) but I did not want to do this for the entire ride. I dismounted and some people walked me and Blessi back to the trail head. During other rides, if another horse is getting nervous or acting up, I will dismount (if practical) and walk Blessi. Or if we come across a new distraction (eg, riding through industrial sprinklers during the winery ride), I will stop, dismount, and lead him through the sprinklers for the first time. Of course, this is when the ground exercises and training for standing like a stone at the mounting block really helps since I need something to mount from and that may be a hillside, stone, or stump on the trail. It has taken almost 2 years to come back from that fall and I still have a little bit of fear everytime I get on the horse. I had had Blessi for over a year when I fell off and I had never asked him for more than a walk. However, with the help of friends, instructors, some clinics, and lots of support, I am now trotting and tolting Blessi. Next month I am going to start cantering. Good luck with the fear issue. I will probably work on this issue all my life. Regards, Pamela
