Obilicious
Well-Known Member
was it by buying a confidence giver , going back to a riding school etc?
experiences please ????
experiences please ????
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First thing is to find the right horse! I bought a supposedly safe mare from a friend who threw me off onto the road and broke six of my ribs as well as shattering my confidence into a million pieces. As I healed, I knew I wanted to ride again but I didn't know where or how to start. By chance, a friend was selling her cob as he was too quiet for her so she offered him to me. He was really chilled from the moment he arrived on trial and I knew I had to do lots with him to make the trial worth it. Initially I had to have my husband lead me We started off leading round the school and he'd unclip me and I'd walk on my own for a while. Then we went out hacking, leading him first to see how he reacted to the area, then I hopped on and was led, unclipped until I had an attack of the wibbles, then clipped back on. Then into fields and hubby would walk ahead and I would trot to him. In the school hubby would give me challenges, like he'd make a square of poles and make us walk in and then walk out in a different direction and stop so front feet were one side of the pole and back feet the other. Hubs was brill because I was concentrating so much on the task, I forgot to be nervous. All the while I was sussing out that pony was indeed bombproof and after a while I learned to trust him and we now bomb around the countryside on our own with no fears. It CAN be done, I'm living testament.....
1. Find a safe horse.
2. Find an understanding instructor.
3. Start small and go as slowly as you need to.
4. Get pictures taken and grin stupidly over them at how clever you have been.
Sorted!
Finding a good instructor! Makes a huge difference to understanding things better and helping pony develop plus you have someone to gauge whether you are asking too much or too little, and to push you a little if they think it appropriate. I had my first jumping lesson in near enough 2 years yesterday (life got in the way!) and I'm still buzzing. We weren't jumping as big as in the past (and I class 85-90 as big!) but with much more thought and planning - I can't wait to get the next lesson!