Two questions for the price of one

[Penny Less]

Question 1, Can you regain confidence with the horse you lost it on?



Question 2 Have been trying to get hold of NED to associate myself with horse and cant get any replies to phone calls or email, is this usual ? Cant register straight through website for some reason

 

[Faro]

Answer 1: Yes, it is possible. I know, I did it. I lost my confidence with one of my Arab boys when he went through a phase of bolting blind (can't see my sig at the moment, but I think he's the one on the left, walking through a puddle). I couldn't hack him out at all, and in a safe arena I had to stay right next to the fence and was too scared to take him any faster than trot. To cut a long story short, however, I am lucky in that I have other horses to ride and also rent my own land, so (as I had only lost my confidence with that particular horse) I turned him away for a year or so completely and concentrated on my others.

When I brought him back into work (which was not after a "set" time, but instead was when I, myself, felt ready) we started off very slowly, but the transformation in the horse was amazing. From a real stress head, drama queen horse, he came back into work really chilled out and happy with his life. He is now a pleasure to ride, has never bolted since, and is embarked upon a career as an endurance horse (not bad considering I used to freeze on him and couldn't take him into open spaces - I could only go in the area and work beside the fence)!

I appreciate that your situation will be different than mine - everyone's will - but just wanted to make sure you know that all is not necessarily lost. There are ways of regaining confidence - it's just a matter of being lucky enough to find the way that works for you.

NLP is good. I only had one session, and that one session did ever such a lot to help me on my journey. If I could have afforded more sessions, then who knows!?

Answer 2: Sorry, no idea whatsoever.

 

[Flicker]

1 - Yes, totally. My gentleman lad once sent me flying through the air (combination of a lot of contributory factors and poor chap just couldn't cope). It was totally out of character, but even so I thought I would never, ever trust him again. 6 months on, with a few lifestyle adjustments for him, a spot of sharp-talking by my trainer and a neck-strap, we are both charging round all over the place, have been to the beach, gone for gallops and done loads of jumping and a dressage competition at the weekend!

2 - sorry, not a clue

 

[Allover]

I was getting nervy on my TB this winter, could not put enough work in him due to the ground, he was getting uptight, i was getting uptight and together we were like coiled springs and i never looked forward to riding him, then i saw 2 things on the tele which helped me immensly,

The first was Monty Roberts explaining how he breathes (i know this sounds silly but bear with me!!) and how this influences the animals he works with, deep breath in and when you breath out push your tummy muscles away. This really helped to relax me when i felt things were getting too tense. The horse calmed immediately, its what i love about horses!

Then i was watching the Dog Whisperer and one of his clients was having trouble (as they do) and he said "well in that case we will empty the whole world and then you will be fine"! I thought to myself he is right, we face challenges everyday with our animals and just because it could happen it does not mean it is going to happen and by avoiding any "dangerous" situations does not help you overcome your nerves, it help nerves overcome you.

So yes i do think that you can overcome your nerves on the same horse that knocked them and i am fully aware that it takes a lot of effort to do so but it is worth it in the end, my boy is super fantastic now! Good luck

p.s. I found singing Bruce Springsteens Thunder Road while out hacking was a good way forward, no animal is going to back up in to that noise!!!!!

 

[Allover]

Oh yes and as for NED, bloody useless, nobody seems to know what they are doing there!

 

[Penny Less]

I used to sing Mull of Kintyre to my horse, but only know two lines ! I know what you mean about fear, its stopped me doing lots of things in my life. My great fear is coming off and doing serious damage to myself.