I have a mare that is off the track. Can you say scary? I
took her in trade for another horse, and knew she was going to need some
training. I've come off her quite a few times, some my fault, some because
of her previous race training. After one particularly bad fall, I went
through about a year or so being so afraid that I cried when my trainer told me
to trot.
I found a great trainer/instructor which has helped a great deal.
She's at my barn, so that makes it easier. I went through 3 trainers
before I found one that really clicked with my horse, and with me. That's
important. She rides my mare 1 day a week, and gives me a lesson 1 day a
week (basic dressage, you hopefully learn control). Sometimes for my
lesson, I make her ride the horse for 20 minutes or so until I see that the
horse is nice and calm and in the "listening" mode.
I also rode other horses. I was luck enough to have friends around
who let me ride once in a while, and I baby-sit another friends very bouncy
little Morgan, who does all the same stuff as my mare, but is smaller, and
easier to handle, which gave me tons of confidence.
I've finally started feeling more confident on this mare, I'm trail riding
her, even though she can be spooky, and is very big (15.2 is big for me) and
extremely powerful. I mostly walk, do a little trotting, and try her
out with different horses, and different numbers of horses. Every time I
"survive" a fall or bad spook, it actually helps give me more
confidence.
I'm not sure I'll ever feel confident enough on this wonderful (yes, she
really is) horse to do an endurance ride, but we've both made so much progress,
after many false starts, that I'm going to keep working with her and my
trainer. If down the road, I feel secure enough to try a ride, I'll do it
(or maybe win the lottery so I can afford to have someone "baby sit" me through
a ride). If not, I'm enjoying the journey anyway.
So, yes, it sounds like a lot of people have had to work through fears, it
seems riding horses is a risky venture. But I think if you love it enough,
with time and work, you can over come. You just can't give up.
