Confidence problems?

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LittleLady2

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My boy has recently been broken in (around 5 months ago) our riding was going really well, up to a point where he become so nervous of everything. He comes to a point on the road, which is on a corner and stops dead and will not budge until he is really coaxed on. I've walked him out by hand, still scared. Had mother walk with us, still scared. When walking him out I could hear his breathing change and his heart was going really fast. How can I build his confidence up? It's not possible for me to go riding with others as I don't know anyone with horses around me and I have my own stables so it's just me there.

Any help will be great! I feel like I'm slightly apprehensive to go out riding as I don't know what he's going to do next, haven't ridden in a while as it's knocked my confidence as well.
 
if there is no-one to go out with you could you break down the hacks to say a few mins and turn round before he starts to get stressed so each outing becomes positive gradually increasing length of hack by a couple of minutes.? I am no expert but my last mare used to bolt home because she had no confidence hacking on her own and i used this method. took a while but we hacked for miles bareback before i lost her.
 
You could longline him instead of riding, if your confidence is shaky: get someone to come with you to walk by his head. I wouldn't go turning around though; circular routes would be better.
 
perhaps try a really good calmer - i think there is a recent post on them. It should take the edge off while you work through the problem.

Never do a hack where you have to turn round at this stage. Singing while you ride can help you both stay calm too.
 
what would you do though if the shortest circular route was over a half hour ride? I see that turning round is not the perfect option but a very short positive ride is surely more beneficial than struggling through feeling tense and nervous letting it rub off on a young horse? obviously it would be great if you had company to come out with you but not everyone has that.
 
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