Please help :( serious lack of confidence right now!

[ellieplatt]

Basicly, I'm reschooling my ex race horse, and he works like a dream on one rein so uphill and such good action, - this is not the rein i learnt to ride on at my RS when i was little, so when i got my first pony i always wanted to make sure she worked well on that rein unlike the RS ponies and same with all the other horses after i had,

But the rein i did learn to ride on, well now i just feel unbalanced and feeling like i'm a cruddy rider, its really getting me down as he just works so well and really wants to try for me and please. I feel like i'm letting him down. Although saying this i don't think it's ever been as bad as this with other horses I've schooled (from what i remember anyway), so maybe my lack on confidence doesn't help..
The problem is I actually feel like i'm falling totally inwards on the circle, and start riding awfully! Inside hand comes right up and across the neck and i just tense up, this causes him not to walk forward and well just fall in.

So i started just walking him on this rein after riding the other, halting and doing circles to keep him interested, and its really lovely still seeing him interested and working well, but because i'm consentraiting so much on my riding and trying so hard not to fall in it just gets so confusing and I just give up after a few 20m circles
He's such a good horse and probably would work just as beautifully on that rein as the other if i didn't have this problem. I cant have lesson's till I get back from my mums (leave may 28 back on the 14th, so he's going to have 'chill time'), but till then i don't want to completely spoil him and make him lack confidence on this rein, so shall i just not school? Or keep schooling and walking on that rein and getting used and confident to it? I know lessons will help an awful lot but money wise i just cant afford the extra £50 a week/fortnight till i'm back.

Any help would be so great just to tide me over, he's got bags of potential and i just feel like im unworthy of him right now
Fresh chocolate and cream meringues for everyone who comments !!!

 

[ScarlettLady]

try not focusing on your horse for a session, but just focus on your riding.

open that inside hand out, make sure you're sitting balanced and over him equally, that the feeling in your reins is even and that your body is in line with his neck. just try it on loose rein to start with, or hack him out and just think about you and your body till you can get an instructor to help you.
Good luck!

 

[Damnation]

You need to work on both reins. A horse has to be supple both ways.
If you have been schooling on just one rein then yes he is going to akward and stiff in the other direction. Why on earth you would school on just one rein is a bit of an odd concept to me. Unless he has been injured?

Loads of transitions, half halts, the more you do of it the better because its a case of looseing you both up to that rein.
Lunging will also help him free off and relax without a rider ontop. Remember to lunge on BOTH reins..

 

[vroutledge]

Maybe try riding without stirrups for 20minutes just walk and trot, it may help you balance yourself better, without your stirrups you wont want to lean in as it will unbalance you.

 

[ellieplatt]

You need to work on both reins. A horse has to be supple both ways.
If you have been schooling on just one rein then yes he is going to akward and stiff in the other direction. Why on earth you would school on just one rein is a bit of an odd concept to me. Unless he has been injured?

Loads of transitions, half halts, the more you do of it the better because its a case of looseing you both up to that rein.
Lunging will also help him free off and relax without a rider ontop. Remember to lunge on BOTH reins..

I am riding him on both reins, BUT what i am saying is he works excellent on both, although on one rein i have a bad issue and habbit from it as i went to a riding school where the ponies ever plodded one way around and picked up horrible habbits which seems to be coming up and affecting me schooling him on this rein all these years later, god knows why.

He works perfectly on the rein i have issues with (my friend got on the otherday so i could see if it was him, or me) and he worked lovely, so i was posting to see if people had any suggestions of what i could do to help this while I had to wait till next month for lessons.

 

[vroutledge]

then i definitely reccomend trying no stirrups, if you dont have them there to support you when you tend to fall in then you will have to balance yourself up, 10-20mins every session should help.

 

[ellieplatt]

try not focusing on your horse for a session, but just focus on your riding.

open that inside hand out, make sure you're sitting balanced and over him equally, that the feeling in your reins is even and that your body is in line with his neck. just try it on loose rein to start with, or hack him out and just think about you and your body till you can get an instructor to help you.
Good luck!

Thanks becca_norrey , hacking seems to be fine but its just in our little school seems to happen, but i'l deffinately try what you suggested my instructor normally makes me ride stirrupless for a whole 40mins to really get my legs around the horse so this might be why its happening, as i had a 2month break without riding before I bought him

 

[ellieplatt]

then i definitely reccomend trying no stirrups, if you dont have them there to support you when you tend to fall in then you will have to balance yourself up, 10-20mins every session should help.

Thanks for all your help, am going to try this evening

 

[Firewell]

Do you not have a friend who can lunge you so you can work on your position on your bad rein? That way you can concentrate on yourself.
The only other thing is lessons I'm afraid. If you are really worried about affecting your horse you could hack him and just lunge him untill you get lessons? Could you school him out hacking, e,g leg yielding to and fro across lanes and tracks, shoulder in and that sort of thing. That way you can school him laterally but on a straight line to help him stay supple on both reins.
Try not to beat yourself up though, every rider has a flaw and every rider is slightly one sided.. Even the best riders in the world can find one rein easier then the other

 

[Kenzo]

Lessons don't have to cost around £50.00 a time, I appreciate it depends the area and who is available but even if you just had a one off lesson it will be worth it as you can implement what you have learnt into your daily schooling sessions which will put you back on track.

Even paying as little as £20.00 for a half hour session just to watch you and point out anything you are doing wrong, they don't have to be fantastic 'trainers' with rows of ribbons in their horse box, just someone who is good from the ground and can see what you can't.

We all do things we are not aware off and many riders tend to ride better on one rein than others and many horses favour one rein too, it's quite normal to one sided both in humans and horses, but the aim is to be just as supple and comfortable on both sides.

So even if you just had a lesson once a month or every couple of months, you will only improve, may take more time but it will also do your confidence the world of good knowing you are going in the right direction and doing something about it.

Ride on both reins, you need to recognise and feel the difference as to why it feels different on each rein, it could be that you think your horse goes better on one rein (the bend/contact etc) but it could be that the horse isn't, could be that he's actually going better on the other rein, simply because you think it feels better.

Go back to basics, make sure you are warmed up before riding, loosen up any stiff shoulders and elbows with some gentle warm ups before you ride, or you can do them while your pottering about the school, move your arms and shoulders in circular movements both forward and backwards.

Use some reins with the notches in so you can be sure you are riding with the same length rein in each hand, then check your leathers to make sure they are also equal, a slight difference will cause a lobsided rider and eventually a crooked horse over time.

Do very gentle streches after a warm up your horse up on both sides before expecting any good school work, asking your horse to bend round kiss your stirrups, your need to look for an even bend, the head should stay at the same level on both sides, if he has to dip down or can't bend without moving a leg or his body etc then you need to work on evening this up, could be a sign that he's tight through the shoulder/neck area and maybe needs his back etc looking at and some problems sorting out.

Ride with a short whip across your hands so you keep your hands at the same level and same distance apart, will feel strange but it will train your arms and hands, you can also so this by placing schooling whip tucked behind your back but through your elbows (keeps a bend in your elbow) although your elbows will slightly further back than you need, it will make you realise which side feels more at ease and which feels more strange, so you can establish a weak chain in your position/posture and work on that.

Ride squares, lines and circles.

Double check that your saddle fits and is central and remains so during your schooling.

 

[ellieplatt]

Do you not have a friend who can lunge you so you can work on your position on your bad rein? That way you can concentrate on yourself.
The only other thing is lessons I'm afraid. If you are really worried about affecting your horse you could hack him and just lunge him untill you get lessons? Could you school him out hacking, e,g leg yielding to and fro across lanes and tracks, shoulder in and that sort of thing. That way you can school him laterally but on a straight line to help him stay supple on both reins.
Try not to beat yourself up though, every rider has a flaw and every rider is slightly one sided.. Even the best riders in the world can find one rein easier then the other

Yeah thats also another thing i could try, i'm deffo going to try no stirrups then someone lunge and i ride, if no good looks like lots of lunging and like you said schooling out hacking.
Yes very true shame you cant notice it with them though hay haha! Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Damnation]

I am riding him on both reins, BUT what i am saying is he works excellent on both, although on one rein i have a bad issue and habbit from it as i went to a riding school where the ponies ever plodded one way around and picked up horrible habbits which seems to be coming up and affecting me schooling him on this rein all these years later, god knows why.

He works perfectly on the rein i have issues with (my friend got on the otherday so i could see if it was him, or me) and he worked lovely, so i was posting to see if people had any suggestions of what i could do to help this while I had to wait till next month for lessons.

Ah I see, my apologies I must have scan read it.
Trotting without stirrups is good to balance you out because then you have to sit straight and you have to concentrate on yourself otherwise you will fall off! Getting someone to lunge you is good for banance too, you van really focus on yourself then without worrying where the horse goes.

 

[ellieplatt]

Lessons don't have to cost around £50.00 a time, I appreciate it depends the area and who is available but even if you just had a one off lesson it will be worth it as you can implement what you have learnt into your daily schooling sessions which will put you back on track.

Even paying as little as £20.00 for a half hour session just to watch you and point out anything you are doing wrong, they don't have to be fantastic 'trainers' with rows of ribbons in their horse box, just someone who is good from the ground and can see what you can't.

We all do things we are not aware off and many riders tend to ride better on one rein than others and many horses favour one rein too, it's quite normal to one sided both in humans and horses, but the aim is to be just as supple and comfortable on both sides.

So even if you just had a lesson once a month or every couple of months, you will only improve, may take more time but it will also do your confidence the world of good knowing you are going in the right direction and doing something about it.

Ride on both reins, you need to recognise and feel the difference as to why it feels different on each rein, it could be that you think your horse goes better on one rein (the bend/contact etc) but it could be that the horse isn't, could be that he's actually going better on the other rein, simply because you think it feels better.

Go back to basics, make sure you are warmed up before riding, loosen up any stiff shoulders and elbows with some gentle warm ups before you ride, or you can do them while your pottering about the school, move your arms and shoulders in circular movements both forward and backwards.

Use some reins with the notches in so you can be sure you are riding with the same length rein in each hand, then check your leathers to make sure they are also equal, a slight difference will cause a lobsided rider and eventually a crooked horse over time.

Do very gentle streches after a warm up your horse up on both sides before expecting any good school work, asking your horse to bend round kiss your stirrups, your need to look for an even bend, the head should stay at the same level on both sides, if he has to dip down or can't bend without moving a leg or his body etc then you need to work on evening this up, could be a sign that he's tight through the shoulder/neck area and maybe needs his back etc looking at and some problems sorting out.

Ride with a short whip across your hands so you keep your hands at the same level and same distance apart, will feel strange but it will train your arms and hands, you can also so this by placing schooling whip tucked behind your back but through your elbows (keeps a bend in your elbow) although your elbows will slightly further back than you need, it will make you realise which side feels more at ease and which feels more strange, so you can establish a weak chain in your position/posture and work on that.

Ride squares, lines and circles.

Double check that your saddle fits and is central and remains so during your schooling.

Hiya, thankyou very much for all your advice, i never used to pay that for my instructor, she's very very good and i've had her for years used to be a very reasonable £35 pounds for a lesson, but has just kept rising up unfortunately , and I like to have lessons weekly or fornightly just to keep on top of things but am thinking i'm going to have to nuckle down on them as in the current climate I just cant afford her costs, or change instructors.
Only just had the saddle fitted a few weeks back so i doubt it would be that, but I will get everything checked over again.

Also will try streches before getting on - never thought of this before, and will probably help loads as while warming up i probably tighten up more.

 

[ellieplatt]

Ah I see, my apologies I must have scan read it.
Trotting without stirrups is good to balance you out because then you have to sit straight and you have to concentrate on yourself otherwise you will fall off! Getting someone to lunge you is good for banance too, you van really focus on yourself then without worrying where the horse goes.

no worries, i dont think i described my problem as well as i could of done anyway, silly blonde