As for horses, my previous horse spooked a
huge amount on training rides, but did not on the two 50-milers I rode him
on.
He had all the makings of a great endurance
horse...fast recoveries, soundness, and I never saw him tired in all the time I
had him (3+ years), but I could never get a good conditioning ride on him around
home because of the spooks.
My current horse does not seem to spook, but I
haven't had him long enough nor ridden him long or hard enough to find out what
he's made of. He is enthusiastic about going down the trail, but I've
never ridden him over 12 miles yet.
me too me too... I also find Rescue Remedy by Dr Bach a HUGE help, always
have a spray of the stuff on me and take it for scary stuff, and give some to
the horse too
I also sing or talk to take away nervous tension - and when preparing to
face something scary I deliberately look away from it and pretend to ignore it
I tell myself ' feel the fear and do it anyway' and tell the horse '
let's transform fear into curiosity'... that helps.
I find there is a big difference between riding a confident horse who
spooks & bolts on training rides for fun but who's steady as a rock in
competitions and just wants to go ( my first horse) and riding a nervous
highly strung mare who lacks confidence and gets more scared whenever there is
tension in the air ( my second horse) - with the first horse I just worry
about him dumping & hurting me and having to walk home, with the second I
worry about her dumping me and doing something stupid to herself in the
process on training rides or in competitions and even though she'll
wait for me to get back on the latter is much worse!
From: "Barbara McCrary" <bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject:
Re: [RC] Nervous or Crazy
Very wise words, and ones I
am working hard to believe. I am a pathologically cautious
person...always have been. I've probably missed a lot in life, but
also I haven't had any near-death experiences, either. The older I
get, the less fearful I become.
