Where do I start?
I'm an intermediate rider, I just do it for fun and don't compete or anything, but I really, really, really love it. It's one of the highlights of my week. I am mostly learning dressage, maybe jumping at some point, and right now am working a lot on cantering.
Last year in February, I was riding and using a saddle the horse wasn't used to. I guess it was pinching him, because he bucked me off and I went flying and got a concussion. Took a month to recover, too! Not fun. I was able to start riding again after I recovered and was able to canter with not much problem.
Then I took some time off again in the summer because of funds, but I've been riding consistently since before Christmas of last year. But now, when I canter, for some reason, I am so nervous about it! I've been riding the same lesson horse pretty consistently, and she has an amazing canter. I've been getting pretty comfortable with her. She has a nice, smooth, flat canter, which I really like because I don't feel like I'm going to be launched out of the saddle (which dredges up those memories of being kicked off that horse last spring).
I'm not nervous when I go into the canter, and generally when I'm in the canter, I feel pretty good...Depending on the horse I'm riding. I had a lesson today and was on a very bouncy horse. I know what I need to do to not bounce all over the place, in theory, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed and start to get freaked out because I feel like I am going to go flying up over the horse's ears. I know that I need to sit back, relax into the saddle, stretch my heels down, and use the insides of my calves to keep the leg on. But when I'm in the saddle, all I feel like I'm doing is bouncing around like a hot mess.
And also, transitioning out of the canter, I feel like I'm bouncing all over the place, too. I try to just go back to posting trot and use half halts and whatever, but I sometimes just feel so out of control.
Any advice? Anyone else going through the same thing? Anyone felt the same and was able to get over it? Any thoughts would be awesome
Thanks
I'm an intermediate rider, I just do it for fun and don't compete or anything, but I really, really, really love it. It's one of the highlights of my week. I am mostly learning dressage, maybe jumping at some point, and right now am working a lot on cantering.
Last year in February, I was riding and using a saddle the horse wasn't used to. I guess it was pinching him, because he bucked me off and I went flying and got a concussion. Took a month to recover, too! Not fun. I was able to start riding again after I recovered and was able to canter with not much problem.
Then I took some time off again in the summer because of funds, but I've been riding consistently since before Christmas of last year. But now, when I canter, for some reason, I am so nervous about it! I've been riding the same lesson horse pretty consistently, and she has an amazing canter. I've been getting pretty comfortable with her. She has a nice, smooth, flat canter, which I really like because I don't feel like I'm going to be launched out of the saddle (which dredges up those memories of being kicked off that horse last spring).
I'm not nervous when I go into the canter, and generally when I'm in the canter, I feel pretty good...Depending on the horse I'm riding. I had a lesson today and was on a very bouncy horse. I know what I need to do to not bounce all over the place, in theory, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed and start to get freaked out because I feel like I am going to go flying up over the horse's ears. I know that I need to sit back, relax into the saddle, stretch my heels down, and use the insides of my calves to keep the leg on. But when I'm in the saddle, all I feel like I'm doing is bouncing around like a hot mess.
And also, transitioning out of the canter, I feel like I'm bouncing all over the place, too. I try to just go back to posting trot and use half halts and whatever, but I sometimes just feel so out of control.
Any advice? Anyone else going through the same thing? Anyone felt the same and was able to get over it? Any thoughts would be awesome
Thanks