Well, mostly I'm just a lurker here on the Horse Forum. Anyways, I've been reading some of the other confidence threads on here, and nothing quite matches my problem.
I've been riding for 4 years. I have plenty of experience at the canter, and my current teacher says I've got an excellent seat. The horse I'm currently riding is a purebred, 16hh Arabian named Kemmel. He has this amazing, long-strided, super smooth canter that matches me perfectly, as I'm quite tall.
But, for some reason, I have absolutely no confidence when I'm cantering him. He has only done a few naughty things while I was riding him, none of which were major. I've never fallen off, and he goes almost perfect for me.
Whenever my teacher tells me to start cantering, I always stall, trotting another circle, making excuses like "there's a person there that I don't want to run into". It may be 2 or 3 circles later that I'll actually start cantering. When I do, he goes absolutely wonderful, steering fine, rarely breaking gait, always on the proper lead. He never takes off.
I've been cantering long enough that I have no major issues - my seat never leaves the saddle, my hands are fine, etc.. I just need to turn my toes in and work on encouraging Kemmel to drive from behind more and become more supple to the bit (he's a little heavy on the forehand sometimes).
What is my problem? I hate, hate, hate cantering, even though I have no issues. I'm terrified that Kemmel is going to crash into another horse or something, even though he never has. I don't know why I feel so insecure.
I've been riding for 4 years. I have plenty of experience at the canter, and my current teacher says I've got an excellent seat. The horse I'm currently riding is a purebred, 16hh Arabian named Kemmel. He has this amazing, long-strided, super smooth canter that matches me perfectly, as I'm quite tall.
But, for some reason, I have absolutely no confidence when I'm cantering him. He has only done a few naughty things while I was riding him, none of which were major. I've never fallen off, and he goes almost perfect for me.
Whenever my teacher tells me to start cantering, I always stall, trotting another circle, making excuses like "there's a person there that I don't want to run into". It may be 2 or 3 circles later that I'll actually start cantering. When I do, he goes absolutely wonderful, steering fine, rarely breaking gait, always on the proper lead. He never takes off.
I've been cantering long enough that I have no major issues - my seat never leaves the saddle, my hands are fine, etc.. I just need to turn my toes in and work on encouraging Kemmel to drive from behind more and become more supple to the bit (he's a little heavy on the forehand sometimes).
What is my problem? I hate, hate, hate cantering, even though I have no issues. I'm terrified that Kemmel is going to crash into another horse or something, even though he never has. I don't know why I feel so insecure.