How to gain back confidence after my pony had a nasty trip

[Just got questions]

Just putting this out there to see if anyone can help I was riding a lovely welsh mare today who I regularly exercise for her owner she’s a joy to ride most of the time but will let you know when she wants to Canter nothing stupid just pulls her head down to try use the lack of reins to speed up she did it today and then fell over I stayed on but she was very close to flipping on top of me she’s fine and I’m fine but we have both had a knock of confidence over this riding is my life it has been for over 10 years I’ve had nasty falls before even been dragged but this for some reason has really spooked me and it’s not like me I’m supposed to be starting jumping her as she’s perfectly fit everyone thinks it was just an issue with footing and her catching her feet in a deep part of the arena just want some advice on how to get over my fear of canter after this fall which happened as we were going into canter

 

[Parrotperson]

What do you mean by ‘lack of reins’?

Did you drop the twin when she went to canter?

I think you need a good instructor.

 

[Parrotperson]

Rein not twin

 

[Lady Jane]

My horse fell with me a couple of times (I discovered he had problems) - that doesn't mean yours has - my horse was falling in the field! It took me years to get over it. I had hypnotism which did help alot but it took the right horse to get me over it completely. If she is on the forehand (implied by head down/lack of reins?) addressing this would help alot

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Don't let her pull the reins out of your hand and decide when she is going to canter. You are in charge, not her. If you can't stop her pulling the reins any other way, bridge your reins so that she is pulling against herself and you are holding both reins in both hands. Practise transitions and frequent changes of direction with her, make sure that she knows she doesn't to choose.

 

[Just got questions]

Don't let her pull the reins out of your hand and decide when she is going to canter. You are in charge, not her. If you can't stop her pulling the reins any other way, bridge your reins so that she is pulling against herself and you are holding both reins in both hands. Practise transitions and frequent changes of direction with her, make sure that she knows she doesn't to choose.

I do normally make her go back to walk when she pulls she only recently started pulling her head down because she has now got a martingale on so can’t pull up but when she pulls down I’ve been told to let the reins slip out of my hand a bit so then we don’t lose balance

 

[Just got questions]

What do you mean by ‘lack of reins’?

Did you drop the twin when she went to canter?

I think you need a good instructor.

I didn’t drop the reins when she yanked her head down I let them slip so I didn’t get yanked out of the saddle as I was collecting them back she went over it’s not an issue with my riding it was an issue with the arena surface and the fact she was just collecting her head up again I want to get my confidence back

 

[BMA2]

It's a time thing...well that's what I think.
Might be an element of fake it till you make it but I'm sure you'll get there.
Oh. And maybe a swig of sloe gin

 

[Emms321]

My pony tripped and fell during a lesson about a month ago. We were cantering and I somersaulted over his head and landed on my head when he went down. He was wearing boots which he had done for lessons for a couple of years. They fitted well and had t come loose.
I was lucky as I didn’t break anything and he wasn’t hurt. I had a hospital check was given strong pain relief.

I can empathise about worries over cantering again. We had a lesson about a month later and we progressed to doing quite a lot of canter exercises which involved me thinking about the exercises and gave me less time to dwell on the canter. I didn’t put his boots on for that lesson and now only use them for hacking.
My confidence is returning, I hope yours does too!

 

[Just got questions]

Just an update I’ve got my confidence back and we’re now jumping over 50cm as she only tiny she’s a 12-12.3 Welsh A pony she’s nowhere near as strong as she was and we have worked on improving her issues she’s now being ridden by me over 4 times a week

 

[Birker2020]

Just an update I’ve got my confidence back and we’re now jumping over 50cm as she only tiny she’s a 12-12.3 Welsh A pony she’s nowhere near as strong as she was and we have worked on improving her issues she’s now being ridden by me over 4 times a week

Great news, well done x

 

[BMA2]

Fab news x

 

[Just got questions]

Another update on Sunday we jumped a 70cm oxer the biggest she’s ever jumped now we are working as a team with little to no issues thank you to everyone who gave me advice

 

[BMA2]

So lovely to hear your update.

 

[ladygreytea]

Just an update I’ve got my confidence back and we’re now jumping over 50cm as she only tiny she’s a 12-12.3 Welsh A pony she’s nowhere near as strong as she was and we have worked on improving her issues she’s now being ridden by me over 4 times a week

It´s been a while since this update but so so nice to see you have recovered from the loss of confidence!