I wish I had more guts.......

[Supertrooper]

Was meant to be riding with a friend this afternoon but she now can't make it. I wish I had the guts to just get on and go out on my own!

The horse I share is fab on his own but he's not very good about going out on his own. I have done it and once I'm on I can generally deal with things but I go through a big debate before hand as to whether I should go or not etc etc and what might happen etc etc.

I think I'm going to go to yard and see how I feel once I get there. Sorry it's a pointless post, just arguing with myself really!!

 

[D66]

Do you have lessons?

 

[Tammytoo]

I know just how you feel! Practically no-one hacks out where I live and some days the thought of going out on my own is so unappealing I just talk myself out of it! You're lucky if you are on a yard with others, probably someone will go out with you. I keep mine at home and unless I have a good reason to ride there is no-one to boot me up the backside and say "Just get on with it!".

Pity you don't live near me!.

 

[skydancer]

I was like this would never go out on my own after she bolted. But now i do and i love it on my own! Basically, i just had to force myself sing ten green bottles to stop my mouth being so dry and constantly encourage her and me
Start doing just a short route and the feeling you get when you get back will be enough to spur you on the next time.

 

[JFTDWS]

I understand - I'm a bit of a wuss about hacking the highland alone at this time of year. I do it several times a week in summer and we get into the swing of it and are fine, but we have shoot issues at this time of year (previous bad experience) and I avoid hacking alone if I can It's pathetic because he's not going to do anythign I can't handle, he'd probably be fine and he'd certainly get over it if I manned up, but when I think about it, I just imagine him ditching me and getting lose on the main road...

So you're not alone, don't feel too bad about it, you will get over it and even if you don't, at least you hack in company, which is more than some

 

[moorman]

Set yourself small achievable targets.
Do all of them without mounting.
When teaching I always make sure the handler/rider is happy with the horse on foot first, we play with and learn everything we can about the horse at ground level, you will also be able to solve most problems on foot too.
I have many clients who take their horses for long walks and really enjoy themselves.
Take the pressure off, and give yourself permission to start again, the graveyard is full of people who would not listen to themselves first and followed others.
Enjoy, it is all meant to be fun!!

 

[Janah]

Don't put pressure on yourself, it is meant to be fun! Your horse won't care if you ride out or not. Spend time grooming and groundwork if you don't feel you want to go out alone. Sometimes less is more.

 

[Supertrooper]

Yes I have lessons on him and we've worked through alot of issues and are much more of a team now. He's like the cowardly lion in the wizard of oz!! He really is sure he can't do it but actually he can but he needs a super confident rider. Once I'm on board I'm ok, it's just the thought of it as I tend to over analyse everything.

Anyway I did ride him this afternoon, plan was to go a short way down farm drive opposite, let him graze nice grass for a bit, turn round and come home. Um, well it took me fifteen minutes to get him to driveway as he planted, BUT I did get him to go forwards in the end and we achieved our aim. To be fair on the boy he never threatened to do anything, the worst he did was step backwards a few times. I found the best way of getting him to move forwards was flexing his neck left/right and growling at him, as soon as he offered to move forwards I took pressure off. So I do feel I've achieved something!

He's very much like this, it's all I can't do when actually I know he can. Unfortunately I can't get off and lead as I feel I have more control on board and also he's a shire x so can't get back on from the ground ;-)

Thanks for your support though, I envy people who can just get on and hack for miles with not a moments worry but we'll get there xx