Has anyone else taken a break from riding due to lack of confidence?

It was a break from riding that caused my confidence issues. So I wouldn't say that it helped at all. That said we are all different so it might be just what you need. I just keep riding and find that is the best way through.
 
I did - but it didn't last long! I had a number of nasty falls (broke leg amongst other things!) and really lost confidence. Mare was a loaner, so she went back home and I said to myself that I would take a break. However, I soon had to go back and had some lessons in the school on a horse I knew and with an instructor I trusted implicitly. I just had a weekly lesson at first and then went more often, building up to hacks out.

Then I went horse-shopping :D
 
Suelin said:
It was a break from riding that caused my confidence issues. So I wouldn't say that it helped at all. That said we are all different so it might be just what you need. I just keep riding and find that is the best way through.
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^^^^ this i split up and sold my ponies and move to a new county.... fives years later my new partner suggested I get back into horses again and bought me a pony. But I had lost my confidence. It has however come back with the help of a good instructor and taking time out to enjoy being around my ponies on the ground.

But the biggest thing that restored my confidence was having a well behaved and nicely schooled pony that i TRUST!!
 
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I think a break can be good if you have had a fall or something, but it depends what you mean by lack of confidence.

Like a lot of people I seemed to have an extreme sense of mortality after breaking my arm, it made me aware how dangerous riding can be (it happened in literally the most mundane situation) and I have been feeling exceptionally anxious in general, however I got a new horse in that time and have been waiting for my new saddle which has forced me to wait just a bit longer (I already had to wait 3 months for it to heal so turning into 4 now) and I feel so much less worried about getting back on now.

I remember watching the Olympics with my heart in my mouth, now I find watching a film with the silly type of action riding no one ever does, and feeling like yes, that looks great fun!
 
Suelin said:
It was a break from riding that caused my confidence issues. So I wouldn't say that it helped at all. That said we are all different so it might be just what you need. I just keep riding and find that is the best way through.
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Native Lover said:
^^^^ this i split up and sold my ponies and move to a new county.... fives years later my new partner suggested I get back into horses again and bought me a pony. But I had lost my confidence. It has however come back with the help of a good instructor and taking time out to enjoy being around my ponies on the ground.

But the biggest thing that restored my confidence was having a well behaved and nicely schooled pony that i TRUST!!
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I understand exactly what you both mean. However, my confidence is already low, therefore I don't think it can be damaged, only helped. The only way is up! :)
 
HorsesHavingFun said:
I understand exactly what you both mean. However, my confidence is already low, therefore I don't think it can be damaged, only helped. The only way is up! :)
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Then its one step forwards two steps back in baby steps achieving small but obtainable goals with your riding :) and your horse. :) I find it helps to set myself little targets with no deadline ie this years target is to jump small jump but jump all the same ... no time limit just working at it all year.

Can you pin point what is causing your loss of confidence?

Mine was the break from having horses not having a major fall or anything.
 
when my sister fell off after a dog attacking our lovely cob, she took a week or two break to get her head around what happened, she then handled Tessy on the ground, led people out on her, and just now a few months on she has started hacking out again on the supercob !

Baby steps :-) xx
 
:D Yip, I took a break for 7 years to have children, rode sporadicly, but more or less 7 years. My confidence was shattered when I came back riding, but I had the best horse and was really flying it. Unfortunately, he passed away 3 years ago, and I went back to square one. I ride out every so often, on a fantastic mare, she's nearly 22. still very lively, but a great confidence giver. I have a 5 year old gelding that I WILL ride this year. I pay a 13 yr old girl to ride him at the moment, but I'm joining the local riding club in jan, and plan to ride him in the summer. So hopefully my confidence will improve. xx
 
This lady writes a blog on confidence issues

http://effectivehorsemanship.wordpress.com/

I dont know if this will help but reading it might help :) Just a suggestion not saying you should have lessons with her or anything. Just I do know she has helped online friends.


I too immagine all the things that could go wrong but i also try to replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
 
HorsesHavingFun said:
Ditto! :D
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I sorted the problem out myself eventually, it may sounds crazy but dont think about what you're doing, i literally got ready for my hack in a day dream and once on board would say to both me and Tess (who would look at me like I'm mental) 2we are going for a lovely plodd, and thats all it shall be" and now i am not sick with an upset stomache before riding.

Not sure if that helps but i feel your pain xx
 
I took a break as lost my confidence when my horse bucked me off, but the only way to get it back is by riding. So I ride little and often and this is helping me regain my confidence.

I try and set each session up to be as successful as possible in the last few months I've surprised myself with what we've done I tend to only ride when my friend's around but have ridden on my own. For me I always lunge her first and tell myself I'm not necessarily getting on (but always do) and it is helping my confidence, I struggle if I book a lesson as that means I have to get on so am not rushing to book another lesson although I did have one before Christmas and really enjoyed it and it went well.

Things that have helped are having someone on the ground to chat to, which helps me relax, singing (usually nursery rhymes) and visualising good things for example getting on and horse stands still, I sit up smile and ask for her to walk on - the more I've visualised this the more its happened. I am also very lucky that the friends and my family are very supportive and no one has suggested I'm silly (I do feel silly though) as on the whole she's a lovely horse and really looks after me.
 
Native Lover said:
This lady writes a blog on confidence issues

http://effectivehorsemanship.wordpress.com/

I dont know if this will help but reading it might help :) Just a suggestion not saying you should have lessons with her or anything. Just I do know she has helped online friends.


I too immagine all the things that could go wrong but i also try to replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
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Thank you! :)
 
tessybear said:
I sorted the problem out myself eventually, it may sounds crazy but dont think about what you're doing, i literally got ready for my hack in a day dream and once on board would say to both me and Tess (who would look at me like I'm mental) 2we are going for a lovely plodd, and thats all it shall be" and now i am not sick with an upset stomache before riding.

Not sure if that helps but i feel your pain xx
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Thank you :)
 
dornrose said:
I took a break as lost my confidence when my horse bucked me off, but the only way to get it back is by riding.
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^^^ Yes, I agree, after a fall it is better to get straight back on, and not leave it. However, I'm just not wanting to ride because of being nervous, so I'm wanting to take a break until I want to do it, otherwise there is no point! :rolleyes: :)
 
Yep me! It's not much fun is it? I feel like I say this all the time but the cause of mine was being bolted with uncontrollably down a road and I couldn't pull the horse up. In the end I gave in and ended up panicking (worst thing I could do but was my reaction!) I bailed out in the end and obviously the gravity pulled me under as I hit the floor and all I saw were hooves but luckily he missed me! The little terror stopped straight after I was off. I escaped with just two bruised knees and a ripped coat but battered, battered confidence.

After this I took on a welsh section d on loan (probably not the best choice ey? 4 years old and green too!) but I clicked with her and I loved her to pieces and we had an amazing bond. Sadly I didn't ride her a lot because of my nerves, I just enjoyed spending time with her/watching her. At one point getting on her, I had to be led on a rope because I was that nervous :o

In the end it wasn't fair for me to keep her even though she was a horse who is happier un ridden anyway lol. I just felt I was holding her back, plus there were many other reasons I couldn't keep her.

Then I got a share horse and he did wonders for my confidence, he was a steady Eddie but I learnt to enjoy hacking again and having lovely canters through the fields because before I was terrified of hacking again, especially in open spaces.
Sadly the share was short lived and I kind of gave up on horses.

Whenever I went to see a friends horse I found myself flinching if they moved and stupid things like that, which would make me really angry! I just had no mojo for it anymore, no desire to ride.

I could go on about all my issues but we would be here all day!

I do feel the break has helped, it has been over a year. I did ride once this summer and I felt very confident, albeit sick on the way to get on! It was a horse I hadn't hacked out before but I just told myself to stop thinking the worst and enjoy it. I did loads! The horse played up once but I laughed about it,before I would've been a tensed ball of nerves. Still, I don't think my confidence is back entirely and I will continue with my break for a bit more until I feel ready.

People tried to push me but this made me worse, baby steps worked for me and great supportive friends to help me through it who wouldn't think I was being useless.

You'll get there op :)
 
Yes, me! One horse out on loan and the other for sale. Im just going to have myself some me time before i start uni in September. This is following a bad fall in April that has damaged my back and shattered my confidence. I'll get back on... eventually.
 
It's important not to over analyse it all. If you don't want to fall off then don't get on as the likelihood is that you will at some point once you have clambered aboard. Get all of the safety equipment going and find a nice arena somewhere (at least you will fall soft) and climb onto a lovely steady dobbin and just mooch about for as long as you feel happy with. Do not be concerned with how you look or how effective a rider you are being. It doesn't actually matter at this point. Gymkhana games (potatoes in buckets, flag races, stepping stones)done at walk are brilliant at giving you something else to concentrate on rather than being nervous of the horse. Have a mounted friend around if you can to chat to about anything. (children MIL's the state of the economy) the subjects don't matter it's allowing you to relax that is important. Don't go faster than you actually want to, it's not important. Mooching is good. Gin & cherry brandy can be helpful as well before you get on. (hic, worked for me!) Whereabouts are you? Maybe someone here can give you some time if you are close enough. It's supposed to be fun and if it isn't then maybe you need to think of another way to enjoy horses. It isn't all about riding. I get huge pleasure from just looking after mine and titivating them (you do that a lot with grey horses!)

Good luck and don't give up.
 
Me! I'm currently on a break for this very reason. I have ridden all my life but had three very nasty falls on returning to riding proper once my children were bigger. I then lost my much loved pony mare and haven't really enjoyed riding since. I tried a "confidence giver" on loan who bucked me off and the only horse I have now is quite prone to spooking and spinning. I thought I would take a break and see if the actual desire to ride would come back.

I would say that twice just recently I have thought that I'd quite like to be riding but it doesn't last long! Perhaps I'll feel more like it once the spring weather comes along.
 
I get anxious and I love riding but always got really nervous beforehand, though in the saddle I felt at home! A couple of experiences where I was nervous, plus out of my comfort zone, have added to the nerves I think and I've somehow developed a mentality about it. I'm only a novice but feel going back into lessons would be too pressured for me, unfortunately I don't have any horsey friends - I would love to just pootle around, work on my position, have a canter, pop a cross-pole etc! I know horses should be in my life but I now worry that I will never reach a competent enough standard to have my own.
 
I lost my confidence after a fall and didn't ride again for two years - it wasn't even a bad fall but I found my imagination going into overdrive about what 'could' have happened! :) What helped was going on a hack with a very sweet instructor who was fine staying in walk all the way. The next time we had a little trot and worked up slowly. It's so helpful if you can find someone calm and sympathetic to ride with!
 
Me, not ridden for a year, due to back problems, now my horse is spooky due to not going out and having a job 2 do, i'm all healed now but scared to get back on in case i hurt myself, unfortunately he is now up for sale as he needs to be in work and i not got the confidence to do it x
 
I would of done it a little while ago if it wasn't for my friend who almost tells me to get on with it! Lol! My mare ran off with me once and I didn't want to get back in her for a hack again but now we are having the time of our lives... All thanks to my friend!
 
Noodles_3 said:
Yep me! It's not much fun is it? I feel like I say this all the time but the cause of mine was being bolted with uncontrollably down a road and I couldn't pull the horse up. In the end I gave in and ended up panicking (worst thing I could do but was my reaction!) I bailed out in the end and obviously the gravity pulled me under as I hit the floor and all I saw were hooves but luckily he missed me! The little terror stopped straight after I was off. I escaped with just two bruised knees and a ripped coat but battered, battered confidence.

After this I took on a welsh section d on loan (probably not the best choice ey? 4 years old and green too!) but I clicked with her and I loved her to pieces and we had an amazing bond. Sadly I didn't ride her a lot because of my nerves, I just enjoyed spending time with her/watching her. At one point getting on her, I had to be led on a rope because I was that nervous :o

In the end it wasn't fair for me to keep her even though she was a horse who is happier un ridden anyway lol. I just felt I was holding her back, plus there were many other reasons I couldn't keep her.

Then I got a share horse and he did wonders for my confidence, he was a steady Eddie but I learnt to enjoy hacking again and having lovely canters through the fields because before I was terrified of hacking again, especially in open spaces.
Sadly the share was short lived and I kind of gave up on horses.

Whenever I went to see a friends horse I found myself flinching if they moved and stupid things like that, which would make me really angry! I just had no mojo for it anymore, no desire to ride.

I could go on about all my issues but we would be here all day!

I do feel the break has helped, it has been over a year. I did ride once this summer and I felt very confident, albeit sick on the way to get on! It was a horse I hadn't hacked out before but I just told myself to stop thinking the worst and enjoy it. I did loads! The horse played up once but I laughed about it,before I would've been a tensed ball of nerves. Still, I don't think my confidence is back entirely and I will continue with my break for a bit more until I feel ready.

People tried to push me but this made me worse, baby steps worked for me and great supportive friends to help me through it who wouldn't think I was being useless.

You'll get there op :)
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Sorry about taking ages to reply and bringing this up from a while ago but my computer decided to be silly :rolleyes: Really interesting to read and really helped me feel that I'm not doing something stupd, thanks! :)
 
Suelin said:
Maybe someone here can give you some time if you are close enough. It's supposed to be fun and if it isn't then maybe you need to think of another way to enjoy horses. It isn't all about riding. I get huge pleasure from just looking after mine and titivating them (you do that a lot with grey horses!)

Good luck and don't give up.
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Thanks :) I have a great instructor ready and waiting for when I want to get back on, and I love just being with horses, so really agree with what you said :)
 
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