molly7886
Well-Known Member
Quick bit of background, as I've lurked here for a while but never properly introduced myself (hello from rude lurker
) I've had horses since I could earn enough pocket money to contribute. Ok rider, but I have to work at it as it doesn't come naturally.Bit of a RC allrounder doing novice teams on what I now realise were quite straight forward horses. 7 years ago I bought a laidback 5 year old TB who had been re-schooled by my then instructor. She competed him up to PN while I learnt to ride him. His laidback exterior disguised a sensitive soul & it took a while to get used to him as he was so used to being set up perfectly & wasn't hugely confident in himself. Things went t**'s up in my personal life- huge work pressure, relationship break up, health scare.I took all my tension to the stables with me & instead of being a pleasure my riding also went to pieces. Horse felt my tension, started stopping at jumps, I got criticised for 'ruining him' catch 22 situation, I rode worse & we ended up completely losing faith in each other. I contemplated selling him but knew I wouldn't find such a 'nice person' again(loved him despite not being able to ride him properly) so I gave up competing & just hacked. Being in a happier place in my life now I decided to see if I could give competitions a go again without putting pressure on myself. I had a bit of hypnotherapy last year, found really good supportive instructors who have been helping me for the last 6 months. I went completely back to basics. To start off with it wasn't pretty-horse expected me to abandon him & didn't trust me at all but at last I feel like we've made a break thtough. Both on the flat & jumping I'm getting consistent good work from him. I feel relaxed & actually look forward to doing stuff with him (big contrast to physically throwing up behind lorry which was where I was at a couple of years ago!) Had a jumping lesson Wednesday (first since before xmas) & although little jumps it went fab, not a single hesitation on either our parts & this morning had best flatwork session I can ever remember. Really feel we've got a partnership back again
. I can't explain how happy I am! I was told by a number of people to accpet he wasn't the horse for me, I'd ruined him etc but now I really feel vindicated. I'm even going to give a U/A dressage test a go tomorrow. Sorry this has turned into 'war & peace'. I understand its traditional to offer refreshments after long posts so hot chocolate with whippy cream & a flake if you've endured this one but had to put in writing how good it feels
