Advise appreciated

[happyface]

OK, just looking for people opinions and experiences.

Have had horses all my life, broke youngsters, trained horses and completed upto medium level......but after losing my horse about 10 years ago I took a step back....and had a horsey break...but as I am sure you will all agree horses just run through you veins and am thinking of starting again......but am now 50 years old, ironically I had balls of steel when it came to horses but am actually really nervous of starting again and maybe having forgot everything....has anyone had a long break and returned to it and what was your experience? Thank you xx

 

[LEC]

You won't forget but I think its normal to have nerves. I came back after a 5/6 year break and was very frustrated for a while as it took a while for me to be back to feeling a lot more confident. I even came back on the same horse (my old PC eventer) but still took me a while to develop my comfort zone. I had a break from 17-23 years old which is a while ago now!

If I was in your boat I would go and get lessons at a top end training centre like Summerhouse, Talland, Yorkshire Riding school and see how you felt about it all. Dabble and see what you want to do? Does the training fire you up? Do you want to compete? or actually after all this time off are you happy doing a bit of fun stuff and just riding.

 

[Fluffypiglet]

Last horse was put down in 2000 and I stopped with horses until 2014. I went to a riding school initially and must have remembered a reasonable amount as I was offered a horse share with one of the livery horses after 4 (?) lessons. Continued with weekly lessons and one other day a week sharing and once I'd got my confidence back I ended the share and bought my own. Despite being determined that I wouldn't own a horse again! However the share had run its course as we were very different riders and I'd got enough of my mojo back that the share nor a riding school were challenging enough. I didn't have a decent riding school with schoolmasters to try. I'm in my late 40's and it's amazing how much has changed since I last owned a horse. I also notice that physically I'm not as young so can struggle with a decent level of fitness. And I decided within a month of owning new horse that DIY livery is not for me so now pay for full livery instead with all the pros and cons of that. It amazed me how much I'd forgotten (couldn't remember the name of a fillet string!) But also how quickly I remembered things, just with more wisdom of age and less physical ability! Definitely less likely to get on the quirky horses these days. Not as brave but also not as reckless.

 

[zandp]

13 year gap, was out mountain biking and some horses cantered past and the next week I was having a riding lesson ! Lessons for about a year and then my RI told me about a share and intro'd me to the horses owner, shared him for almost 2 years and then bought my own as I didn't realise he was for sale. It all went a bit pear shaped at first with my own horse as I'd never owned before just ridden but she's still with me 17 years later. I've lost confidence a few times and am a bit out of practice for riding regularly but that's more as I have a 27 year old and a mysteriously lame 15 year old now. I've worked on a RS as a groom for 4 years part time and loved handling all the different horses and the work although I was the oldest groom by about 20 years. I had forgotten a lot when I came back to lessons but it all came back

 

[my bfg]

Think this is totally normal, I used to be someone who would get on any horse with any issue, but have had a confidence dip and want a quieter life

For building confidence, I would 100% recommend getting a good instructor and having regular lessons no matter what riding level you are at it really helps with making progress, also check out Karl Greenwood on FB and YT, his videos are brilliant for building things up step by step plus are often very funny

 

[vmac66]

I had a, 30 year break although I dipped in and out of horses during that time. I sold my pony when I was 18 and returned to owning at 48. I haven't got the confidence I had but think thats an age think. I keep telling myself 18 year old me is, still in there somewhere. I have a fantastic instructor and a rock solid horse. They both keep me going.

 

[Trouper]

30+ years for me, too. I was encouraged to contemplate a return reading about the Take Back The Reins campaign and seeing folk in their 60's having a go. Having had spinal surgery the back protector was a non-negotiable requirement from my OH but, apart from that, it could not have been easier. I think if you have ridden in your youth the muscle memory is very powerful and all you need to do is strengthen up - to me it felt as if I had never been gone.
The downside was that very soon riding other people's horses was just never going to be enough - I'll leave you to guess where the story went from there .....................!!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I have never really had a gap but I am 50 this year and I am no where near as brave as I was as a younger person, I think it's pretty normal to get a bit more sensible and value your safety as you get older, I think back at some of the things I did and it scares me! I think you just have to accept your a different person now.

 

[meleeka]

When you consider how clueless some horse owners are, I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about!

I was on a yard for many years and was scared to move as I didn’t think I knew enough to cope without the advice of the YO. When I did leave I was astounded to find that people near me came to me for advice and I seemed to be able to help in most situations. I surprised myself at how capable I was, but the lack of knowledge of others, despite owning horses for years, surprised me.

I would say have lessons and don’t over horse yourself. I’m not brave anymore so I make sure I don’t stray too far out of my comfort zone. Confidence is such a delicate thing, so look after it well when you get it.

 

[Birker2020]

OK, just looking for people opinions and experiences.

Have had horses all my life, broke youngsters, trained horses and completed upto medium level......but after losing my horse about 10 years ago I took a step back....and had a horsey break...but as I am sure you will all agree horses just run through you veins and am thinking of starting again......but am now 50 years old, ironically I had balls of steel when it came to horses but am actually really nervous of starting again and maybe having forgot everything....has anyone had a long break and returned to it and what was your experience? Thank you xx

I had an eight year break when I was 17 and bought a nightmare mare! I wasn't really that interested at the time, then I got bequeathed some inheritance from my late Grandad who was in the mounted and decided to buy another horse and got addicted again. I had confidence in bundles when I bought what I class as my first real horse 8 years later, the gap hadn't put me off one bit.

I wouldn't be without a horse in my life, but I miss riding mine as she's a paddock ornament now.