Riding with "balls"

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sherbet

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Why is it that some people seem to be able to get on and just ride no worries, ride with balls as I say

I seem to think about all the what ifs, all I want to do is ride and not care, not be worried about hacking by myself

Do you think you can learn to be carefree, do you think it comes the more you ride a tricky situation you realise you can ride
 
I use to ride with Balls as you say then lost my confidence when i bought my new horse who was too much for me, I change my riding and had lots of lessons and now i ride the same horse with balls and the thing is he is the same but because i am different he doesn’t misbehave any more - - funny that!!!!
 
I think i ride completely carefree - i truly dont ever think about any consequences - if i thought of all the possible outcomes i probably wouldnt get on a horse in the 1st place! -If you ride with confidence then it comes over to the horse and they generally will then be confident in you.
I definately think it comes with lots of experience and having dealt with difficult situations and coming out okay.

Out of interest did you start riding as an adult?
 
Ha ha you mean riding with confidence... I wondered if you were talking about how men ride, or about riding stallions
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Riding with confidence is about trusting your horse and trusting yourself enough to fix whatever goes wrong
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no ridden all my life. Just found as I have got older and had a couple of falls in the last year I have found it harder to push myself.

I would love to hack out by myself as dont always have anyone to ride with but I just cant seem to get over the what if.

I meet a friend at the bottom of the drive way which is about 1/3 mile and my boy just strides out and calls for friends but I cant seem to get mysef just to hop on and go

i have done loads with my boy only had him a year but will take him anywhere if I have company - silly and it makes me shout at myself for being a nervous nelly!
 
You sound a bit like me, I think the older you get the 'balls' disappear! I hate riding on my own, and I don't have any company during the week - so I don't ride very much and I have two horses! I have even advertised for a sharer (free - no cost involved and no one replied!)

Where are you? I'm near Rye, East Sussex, it would be great if we were near each other!
 
Apparently the older you get the more you worry as you don't bounce back quite so easily as you do when you're a kid.

Just something I heard, might not be true in all cases.

If you're still young then I think you'll get better as you do experience difficult situations and deal with them.
 
For some reason I can still rade anyone elses horse with balls - when it comes to my own i'm a real wimp - it's all in the mind !
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think i ride completely carefree - i truly dont ever think about any consequences - if i thought of all the possible outcomes i probably wouldnt get on a horse in the 1st place! -If you ride with confidence then it comes over to the horse and they generally will then be confident in you.


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I am the exact opposite of you! I overthink EVERYTHING, literally I have the most absurd crazy accident in my head about anything I do and it's very vivid... lol... think ''Final Destination'' but with me and my horse and non of the events actually happening!!!

xx
 
[ QUOTE ]
Apparently the older you get the more you worry as you don't bounce back quite so easily as you do when you're a kid.

Just something I heard, might not be true in all cases.

If you're still young then I think you'll get better as you do experience difficult situations and deal with them.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is absolutely true in my case. As a child I used to ride anything, without caring. Falling off was funny!

Now I will only jump or hack out on my own horse. I had to work an awful lot on getting my confidence back with jumping after a couple of nasty falls, and even now I won't jump anything like I used to!
 
I suppose when your young you ride so many different ponies and do so many different things with them but when you get older i think alot of people fall into a routine and a 'comfort zone' of having 1 or 2 horses and just hacking and jumping certain size jumps and the same schooling exercises every time and after a period of time are too nervous to step out of it.
I think the only way to combat the fears is to face them - you dont have to go crazy but if your scared to go anywhere alone just go a little way further than youd like alone and go a bit further each time. Set yourself small goals each week and try to reach them.
 
I think that, when I'm on course, or competing, I'm gutsy and I really go for it. Apart from that I'm an awful wimp- I think I just turn it on for the comps!

My sister has 'balls' as you put it, even if she wouldn't agree, because she does go for it, even when most people get off in tears she'll keep kicking and going and it works. It means she keeps getting put on naughtier and naughtier ponies though...

We are 17, and 15. Think it's how many knocks and what personality you are though. I'm quiet until I know what I'm doing whereas as Al is gobby as hell and outgoing!
 
I used to ride anything, the naughtier the better, go anywhere and jump whatever, even up to a couple of years ago. Now I'v hit my 30s I think something has changed in me - and I imagine the most awful things happening! 3 years ago I was flying round cross country. now I'm terrified to hack out alone and I stick to dressage!
I'm convinced it's an age thing... Maybe my body clock is telling me it's time to pop out a few sprogs!
 
I think the the bottom line is, ride yours and the horses arse off through different situations and it will all come together, now and again you will get caught unawares, but you will deal with it better.
 
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For some reason I can still rade anyone elses horse with balls - when it comes to my own i'm a real wimp - it's all in the mind !

[/ QUOTE ]

I think thats fairly normal tbh. I rode my friends youngster when we were at college and galloped her up the common next to the racecourse. My friend couldnt believe I'd ridden her for the first time and galloped flat out, but it was what I was used to (came from a trekking centre where we got all the naughty cast offs to ride and just had to get on with it). It never occurred to me I could have fallen off. But then I always figure if you ride someone elses horse and fall off or dont enjoy it you dont have to get back on, where as with your own horse its a bit different as you cant run away from the problems.
 
Your fear is there for an evolutionary - it is what stops you from taking risks beyond your abilities. Embrace it and look it straight in the eye and ask if it is a reasonable and justified fear - and f it is then adjust your activity and expectations to reduce your risk.


I used to be afraid of every horse I rodde. Then I got soem help, and now I am afraid when I really need to be afraid to self-preserve
 
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