Confidence is coming back!

Pippity

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Went down to the yard to ride today (despite the manky weather - wind and rain) and Pone was being a total pain in the arse. He didn't want to stand for grooming, waved his legs threateningly when I picked out his feet, and tried to chomp my thigh as I was putting his saddle on. I led him out to the school and he carried on kicking up a fuss about standing still while I tightened his girth, then he decided the mounting block was utterly terrifying today and he couldn't possibly go near it.

Anyway, I managed to make myself get on him anyway, and he carried on with spooking at nothing, putting in some private work on his halt-to-canter transitions, and yelling his head off to the horses in the field next to the school.

But I stayed on, and I pushed him forward, even when he threw in a few bucks and I just wanted to get off, or at least halt. And, by the end, I'd got him settled, forward, and working nicely on trotting some 20m circles.

Three months ago, I'd never even have got on him. Four months ago, I probably wouldn't have even tacked him up!

Wheeee! I'm so pleased with myself! I think I'm treating myself to a glass of wine and a hot bath tonight! (And if you've managed to read this far, I think you deserve the same!)
 

Herts05

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Well done you! You must feel amazing - and so you should. He will respect you for it and you have shown that you can retain the upper hand.

Go and bathe in that lovely warm glow of success :)
 

squidsin

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Well done! I've had to squash down fears about getting on my horse this week and she's basically a pussycat (definitely compared to that.) I applaud you and your awesome riding skills!
 

Pippity

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Well done! I've had to squash down fears about getting on my horse this week and she's basically a pussycat (definitely compared to that.) I applaud you and your awesome riding skills!

Oh, Basil's actually a pussycat. He's an RDA pony - he has to be! He was just feeling a little full of himself today.
 

MissJessica

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That is fantastic, I loved reading that!
How did you start to get your confidence back, was it lessons or just biting the bullet.

:)
 

Pippity

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That is fantastic, I loved reading that!
How did you start to get your confidence back, was it lessons or just biting the bullet.

:)

Lessons! I spent the first lesson hunched over and clutching the pommel, just waiting for the riding school dobbin to explode and try to kill me because that's what all horses do.

My instructor pushed me very slightly out of my comfort zone each lesson until, two or three months in, I was cantering again. Then the horse I was riding had a snitfit - just a bit of a buck and lifting her front legs off the ground - and it sank in that I could survive that. And, if I didn't deliberately ride the loonies, and I didn't ride as badly and stupidly as I had during my bad fall, that really was likely to be the worst I came across.

I'm still not a confident rider, and I'll never be as confident as I was before my fall. (Well, not so much confident as unwarrantedly cocky!) But it means I'm a far more thoughtful rider, and I think more about precisely what aids I'm giving the horse.

But I'd never have got where I am without my instructor.
 
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