For those with no set plan for their horse.

cblover

cblover

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Hiya all, humour me I think I'm all inside out with myself today. Lol

My history of owning horses and riding regularly stretches back about 25 years until a couple of years ago I fell off big time and broke my back and heel. To be fair I'd been slowing down mentally and physically before that anyway, but it took a long time to come right.

Then of course I lost two horses in 6 months of each other and now have scrappy and lulu. I realise my riding life will never be the same again...I ache more, my energy levels aren't as good and I'm just riding again after quite a break. Lulu is now backed but by no means educated. She has literally been sat on and walked round for 10 mins or so.

I'm so used to having a plan of action with my horse and a goal to work towards, I'm finding it hard to be ok with things changing. I know my body can't go back to the old days but I need to find a way to be ok with it....embrace it even and go down another path with lulu.

Anyone else feel/felt the same? Thanks peeps.
 
But you do have a plan, surely? It might not involve competition but you have the goal ATM of teaching your Lulu to be a calm, sensible, responsive ride. You can break this down into smaller steps; teaching her to walk under saddle, then trot and canter, teaching her to turn in response to the aids, teaching her to do gates etc, etc. There is a long way to go yet before you could be competitive with her anyway. You may decide to show her, or aim for fun/sponsored rides with her. I wouldn't worry about it, just take each day at a time.
 
Hi, I did have big plans for me and Jay, but then I hurt my back, so scaled our plans back, then he did his suspensory, and with complications we nearly lost him in November.

I can't believe it, as I have always been very focused, but I don't have any plans right now.

I am enjoying riding him, revelling in the fact that he seems healthy and sound, hoping that it stays that way, and we will see where we will go from there.

I guess I do have plans of some description, as Pearl says, as in we have completed 6 weeks of walking and have done the odd trot on the flat, straight and level this past week, and we will continue for 6 weeks in including such trot work. But, the plan of 'seeing where we are' is a far plan for lessons, fitness training, smaller competitions etc. Jay was bought to go CCI2* and I know we won't ever aim for THAT again, but no, no real plans. Ideas sure, as in maybe some Freestyle dressage so he doesn't clock points up as I enjoy taking him to a party. I guess it would be nice to do some BE90 next year, maybe? Bt the difference is, as it is not a "plan" we don't have obligations to fulfil in order to fulfil the plan. Currently we go out on hacking adventures.

I guess you and I are sharing part of the same journey, in that a short while ago we would have given our eye teeth for a horse to just enjoy being with and hacking about on for no good reason. Maybe we both need, plain and simple, time to enjoy that simple pleasure, to believe that we have our wonderful horses, that we can do that simple pleasure, before we dare to build on that?

I am not sure about myself, so certainly don't know about your situation, but thought I would throw some ideas in.
 
yes I feel exactly the same. I want to do more but I cant and thats hard to accept. I find it difficult just to bimble about out hacking. I often think, I'll do x/y/z and then realise while I know how to physically I cant. Its hard and I'm still getting my head around it.

I'm clicker training mine and doing some straightness and in hand stuff. I can manage that and am much more inclined to do 20mins of that than I am to wipe myself out tacking up and then riding. So far hes picked it up really quickly and easily. I'm teaching him to do the usual ground work stuff, as well as some "fun" stuff. We have the beginnings of a Spanish walk and bowing is next on the list.

I think its just a case of doing what you can and finding ways to make it productive and enjoyable :)
 
I think a lot of us put too much pressure on ourselves to be out competing and doing "proper" stuff, when in reality just doing what we can is plenty. I lost my two best mares within a couple of years, and the 5yo who is now my main horse has been treated for possible djd, although we are now trialling a ppsm diet. Either way, I am 2 weeks off giving birth, so having backed and ridden him away he is now having an extended break. He's never going to have the ability to jump, or do anything particularly challenging unless the ppsm diet really does work a miracle. However I have scaled back my ambitions to basically just see what suits him. I hope maybe a bit of distance riding, and breaking him to drive, might be possible. But we no longer have a set plan. Just enjoy being with them, and don't feel the need to keep up with others. Anyway, backing and bringing on is a pretty challenging activity in itself!
 
I am wearing the same pants. I am having to face the fact that my life will never be the same again as I will never have the level and fitness and agility. I was recovering from breast cancer DCIS when I fractured my spine and leg.
I had bought a new 4 X 4 to go out and about 6 months previously and now I don't actually know if I will ride again. I too am clicker training my horse I wouldn't part with him it's not his fault he took fright and lost me and I can't afford two.
My plan now is to have no plans.
 
I know exactly what you mean OP. I want to do more than I realistically can. I'm ok with pottering about most of the time. Other people might not see it as pottering about but compared to how I used to be, that's how it feels to me. I used to be like you, with goals and plans. I was always schooling towards something, loving every challenge and going on huge long hacks every chance I got. I lived to ride and wanted nothing more than time in the saddle. Now my body is letting me down and it's sad. I don't enjoy things with horses as much as I used to and it doesn't matter how much I want to do something, some days I just can't. My riding isn't what it was, it can't be, because of the state of my body. There's no fixing the situation and at times it upsets me.

I can't plan anything, not even whether I'm going to ride tomorrow, I have to see how I feel and judge whether I'm able to do it along with whatever else needs doing that day. I might want to get my horse fit but I won't be able to ride every day, no matter how much I might want to. So, I can't keep them consistently fit, I can't do as much as I'd like to with schooling, I think about safety a lot more than I used to, I find long hacks and days out at shows aren't worth the physical "after-effects". There's no point in lessons because it's not a lack of knowledge holding me back, it's a lack of ability to make my body do what I want it to do.

How to be ok with it is something I haven't worked out yet. Most days I'm fine with it and accept it, other days I want to cry in frustration. On the worst days, I'm on the verge of phoning a dealer/the vet. For a long time I'd get upset every time I rode, because of the loss of skill (I used to be a good rider, dammit! Now I'm just average). Not any more though, now it's just the pain that gets to me. I've considered getting out of horses altogether, because it's a lot of hard work and a lot of money for what I'm getting out of it now, but it's not that simple when I consider them part of the family. In all honesty I think I'm either going to downsize to a small pony next time, or not replace the current ones when they go at all, and return to hacking out at riding schools or being a sharer. That will come with it's own frustrations, but at least I won't have the committment to all the hard work regardless of how I'm feeling and I'll be considerably richer too.
 
Thanks all, like i say I'm having a bad day. S&S I could have wrote what you have said, I feel exactly the same. There is no way my two are being sold though.

It's moving forward with things being different I suppose that is hard but I still feel incredibly lucky and proud. Tomorrow is a new day and I'm sure things will seen better. I'm usually such an optimistic person honest!! Lol
 
I have always found that planning equals disappointment especially with horses and also can perhaps sometimes become pressure. Give yourself time, take a deep breath, take each day at a time with the emphasis on enjoyment. I am sure there is pleasure in bucket loads to be had from your horses. Just relax and go with the flow. Good luck.
 
I had big showing and dressage plans, but I lost my confidence even before the accident and I've sort of almost given up.

Will you be continuing Lulu's education? Even hacking her will be furthering her training. I don't think there's a rush to do loads, you can bring her on slowly. Have a think about what you want to do and don't beat yourself up because you're out not competing endlessly.
 
I have big plans for dressage for my horse, but my confidence is low and doesnt look like we will achieve what I wanted to achieve (schooling elementary by winter). But we are progressing, we can do small jumps almost in control all the time, but he isnt schooled properly. He should be doing more as a 7 year old, but hey ho, we are having fun and progressing. :)
 
I have a simple plan - enjoy riding! I don't compete, never have I just revel in the sheer joy of riding my horse and relaxing. I have a pressurised job, why the hell apply leisure pressure on top?
 
Morning all, you are of course all right in what you are saying. My horses give me so much pride and pleasure and that should be enough. I need to stop applying extra pressure and live in the here and now....cos horses do! lol
 
I'm exactly the same, only I'm a bit more relaxed about it!
my youngster is at exactly the same stage as yours, newly backed. I don't want to get on her with no one else there yet as we don t have a school, so its just long reining walking in hand and hopping on when there is someone around to catch her and call the ambulance if needs be. I have absolutely no idea where she will take me or what we will do together, all I know is that I'm playing the long game with her and only stepping out of my comfort zone a tiny bit at a time!
I would be happy if she was a reliable hack for me, but if I do get her out and about to do a few fun rides and trips to the beach I will be over the moon!
 
I am lucky in that I've never been very competitive (not a good enough rider!). I see it from a different angle though. I have 2 horses who were previously competition horses. They were produced and trained hard - and they broke. I discovered classical riding and ground work, it has opened another world for me. I have to judge on the day what they are capable of and that dictates what we do.
They both love the ground work and I definitely feel a stronger 'bond' with them. Actual riding has stopped being the main focus, although I do ride.
 
I'm on the fence on this one! I feel like I am a bit aimless at the moment and feel like I should have an overall plan to work to, as would be good to focus my efforts and motivate me, and help my horse's training. I seem to have lost the love of hacking in particularly lately. I am keen to get out and about but I need to do more in between to make sure we're set up right for any outings we go to.

On the other hand, I actually have lots of micro plans, maybe too many - clinics, lessons, shows, rides etc. Jack of all trades and all that.

I do worry on occasion that we should be making more progress, and my skills and lack of prep work will hold us back. However, I think with the mini events planned that this does give me bits to work on and motivate me in the short term. What happens in the longer term, meh...
 
This is an interesting discussion. While I've never been particularly competitive I always had mini-plans set asides for myself to achieve x,y,z in a lesson say, to hack to a certain place or to jump a particular height. When I got my current horse we had the opportunity to hack to compete which helped keep things on a schedule but my confidence started to plummet. Fast forward a year or so and now horse and I are unfit, the competition venue has closed and we have backslid into pootling round the arena without a clear target to aim for. However, I've discovered that I enjoy riding much more. I turn up to the stables and groom, if I fancy it I'll ride, and type of riding depends on how I feel when my bottom hits the saddle. Previously, I'd spend so much of the day worrying about whether I'd be able to do what my instructor wanted, terrified that horse would misbehave out hacking etc that I was setting myself (and horse) up to fail. Now, we may be bumbling but its normally with a grin on our faces and without the added pressure of routine lessons / competitions etc I've realised a lot of mistakes that I've been making and finally after many years of lessons I'm starting to understand how to correct them.

I'm sure there are people who think that I'm wasting a very nice little horse and that I'm holding her back but I think at the end of the day its about having fun at whatever level you choose.
 
I quit an international show jumping career (and that of my horse) and it took me years to fully get over it, with lots of ups and downs. Horsey-depression (not wanting to go, not wanting to ride, feeling hopeless and guilty and sad etcetcetc) was a part of it. I can now say I'm okay with the decision I made and why I made it, and don't (really) miss the competitions/goals/work/level/future-plans anymore. I see how happy my horses are and I am happier for it. But it took me a long time. I think time and distraction (work, studies, a new hobby) helps a lot with redirecting focus and just appreciating your horse(s) for what and who they are.
 
I had a plan mapped out for this season's eventing, including stepping up a level, but horses are horses and after some time in the horsepital we're just taking each day as it comes and seeing how he improves/what he's happy doing. I'm focusing my competitive drive on my sister, competing vicariously through her!
 
To be honest my plan of action would be to work on myself.. It is pretty much what I have done.. I completely lost my ability to sit to a rather enormous canter and am at a time of life when joints and fitness levels can deterioriate.. so I have been working pretty intensively on a 1:1 level as well as attending classes.. My "pilates" teacher really does far more than pilates incorporating yoga and sommatics. My horse is now noticing the difference.. and giving me more. I am a far more connfident and secure rider as a result of working on my own body .. so that would be my plan of action. I am now firmly of the opinion it is a matter of use it or loose it and surprising myself that I now have more flexibility, core strength and better posture than I did in my teens.. so I no longer believe in resigning to gentle decline and eventual decripitude... I really hope this is a message of hope for you and you find a way to recover from the aches and pains and become stronger and more able again. All the very best on your journey.
 
I'm not particularly competitive and I do feel my confidence was knocked being on a fab yard but everyone was always doing something or aiming towards something and it felt like you were frowned upon for not being the same. I actually got a reputation for having a great horse that I never rode ... I rode all the time, mainly hacking and pottering about but it got me down to the point that, with other factors, I put my boy out on loan with the intention of giving up completely.

Fast forward a year and now having my own place I cant wait to have him back and get horsey again. There is no pressure, I might ride, I might not! I like to think I will be riding all the time but then I always felt I was riding all the time! Having no transport I think is an issue because what's the point in aiming for something if you cant actually get out and get to the places to do stuff but that's a goal for me to have my own transport eventually and in the mean time I will have a regular lesson, do lots of hacking and have lots of fun on my own terms with a cracking horse.
 
You lot are all great and I thank you very much. I've had a crap 12 months and just want to be at peace with the changes I'm experiences. I've never been competitive either but I like to do things right and to the best of my ability.

Part of me just wants to close the door on the horsey world in general...well the negative bits anyways and emmerse myself in my horses and never leave! Lol
 
I'm not particularly competitive, I've just got my first horse (a very successful ex SJ) and we are taking this first year to get to know each other. I'm on a yard where there are some wonderful highly competitive horses and people, and I'm sure some of them wonder what the hell I am doing with such a fine horse ! But, I don't care what other people think - I'm doing what is best for me and my boy at this time in our relationship. I may get to compete at low level stuff next year - it would be great to be able to say I did it, but we'll see where our journey takes us. We are enjoying each other and in my book that is all that matters :)
 
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