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Confession Time

870K views 13K replies 218 participants last post by  jaydee 
#1 ·
Today I rode my horse for the first time in a little over a year. Well, more like putting around for about 15 minutes but better than I had been doing. I'm trying to find my "want to" again. I don't know where or why it went away but I'd like it back.

The good news is TJ deserves a gold medal for not forgetting his manners in the past year and I wasn't rusty enough to fall off even though I was bareback. :clap: The bad news is I WAS rusty enough that it put my hip in a bind that took a while to walk off. (I need a smiley that shows a little old woman walking with a cane LOL)

If anybody else has something they need to get off their chest please feel free to share it here.
 
#4 ·
I too buy too much horse stuff.

I find myself when it comes to riding, overwhelmed. Between the heavy saddle and the issue with bridling, I almost don't want to ride. I'm trying to work through it though.

Proud of you for literally getting back on the horse! And bareback no less. :)


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#8 ·
I too buy too much horse stuff.

I find myself when it comes to riding, overwhelmed. Between the heavy saddle and the issue with bridling, I almost don't want to ride. I'm trying to work through it though.

Proud of you for literally getting back on the horse! And bareback no less. :)


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Thanks Werecat but I grew up riding bareback so I've always felt pretty comfortable without a saddle. Besides I figured if TJ bucked or my balance wasn't there I was better off not taking the chance of my mud boots getting stuck in the stirrup.

Best of luck working through your issues. It will get easier as you get more practice at it.
 
#9 ·
I bought a new western felt hat the day before meeting with my accountant for a budget session.

(Does it help that it was 20% off? She wasn't impressed.)
Boots, some folks just have no appreciation for a good hat. What crease does it have and what color did you go with?
 
#6 ·
The bad news is I WAS rusty enough that it put my hip in a bind that took a while to walk off. (I need a smiley that shows a little old woman walking with a cane LOL)
There you go....I need that most days, until my knee gets in the swing of things

I buy too much horse stuff.
GO wash your mouth out, no such condition exists.:shock:

I confess, I have done NOTHING today, well apart from pony chores, making firewood and feeding people....NOTHING!

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#7 ·
I'm getting sick and tired of being alone with my horse all the time, I can't find people to ride with, and feel like I am going to get no where I want to be always by myself with no one to help if needed. So much so that as much as I love having him, and spending time with him, and owning a horse, I nearly threw in the towel. There is only so many failures one person can take, can't get into lessons atm as the only ones I found won't start till April at the earliest. No groups Ive found in the area, none on FB, none on CL.. zilch
 
#12 ·
Oh my, the purchasing of hat before speaking with financial advisory made me chuckle. I am meeting with my accountant soon for tax filing, just waiting for my silly investment tax information to come in... In the mean time I've over calculated what I probably owe so I treated myself to a mohair cinch with a roller buckle to make the difficult saddling easier. Also, I will probably use a mounting block to put the saddle on next time I ride. I enjoy my saddle once it's on the horse's back, but the struggle to get it there is real!
 
#16 ·
Also, I will probably use a mounting block to put the saddle on next time I ride. I enjoy my saddle once it's on the horse's back, but the struggle to get it there is real!
I've used my mounting block to saddle my horse before. I'm short, he's tall and I have next to no arm muscle. If I ride regularly it's like the saddle gets lighter because I'm used to lifting it way up there. It's been over 2 months since I've ridden due to muddy conditions and I am dreading lifting that saddle all the way up there and will likely use the mounting block again. Does it make me a bad horsewoman that I would kill to find a sythetic/cordura type saddle that fits my horse just so I can have an easy time saddling?
 
#13 ·
Ever since the first day I got on a horse until now, over a decade later, I've had mounting/dismounting anxiety. I have no idea why.. I've never even ridden a horse that gave me a bad experience with it, but for some reason it takes me forever, mentally, to make myself get on the horse, and to get off at the end. I have zero problem in the saddle once I'm on, it's just getting on and getting off. It's honestly embarrassing, and it's one of the reasons I prefer riding when the barn is empty, because I hate the feeling of people watching me be weird.
 
#14 ·
Perhaps it feels weird to you because you feel anxious, maybe it doesn't look abnormal to another person? I do understand your dismounting axniety. I personally don't like heights, so getting out of the saddle isn't my favorite thing in the world, and I try not to slide down the side of the saddle to avoid hitting the ground hard, but sometimes it's unavoidable.
 
#17 ·
I have fixed the old plaster walls in the living. For four days now they have needed sanding so I can do the staining and painting to finish this **** project.

I hate the sanding. It is messy and the dust flies ever where. I have to hang tarps/plastic over all the door openings and literally have my husband tape me in.

Four days I have put it off. And today will make five! I'm going riding instead.
 
#24 ·
I too have major mounting anxiety. I've had a few bad experiences, mostly related to a poor-fitting saddle slipping when I put my foot in the stirrup. I always, ALWAYS worry it will do that.

Right now I'm worrying that my anxiety will keep me out of the saddle (I do suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, which I take medicine for and also do therapy). One of the reasons I've gotten into driving over the last year, and hoping to really get into the meat of learning to drive this year.
 
#25 ·
Slipping saddles is a huge anxiety issue for me. I must check my cinch 5 times before mounting. I also have to have a mounting block. I can get up from the ground if I really have to. But I find having the mounting block helps so much. But my horse has to be standing just right for me to get on.

I hate riding out in a group and having to mount in front of people. I rode with woman who was constantly complaining and telling me to just get the heck up there. I couldn't explain to her, I just had to check.

I had a fall getting up when I was about 9. I was riding in an old leather saddle and I went to get up and my stirrup leather snapped as I was getting up and and I went flying back. Hit my head, knocked the wind out of me, and the stirrup gave me a nasty black eye, because it of course landed on my face somehow.

A few weeks after that my sister had saddled Ty for me, since at that age I was to little to get the heavy saddle up there or tighten my cinch. Since she had never done it before, she assumed tightening the cinch once was enough. Ty liked to puff up.

Went to get on and the saddle slipped, I hit my nose on the horn because I'm special that way, gave myself a bloody nose, and was all twisted up. Thank god Ty stood like a rock and just silently judged me.

After that I became very nervous about my cinch and stirrups. After I'm up, I fix my stirrups and start moving I'm fine. But my hands actually shake and my stomach is in knots as I mount up and when I first sit.
 
#27 ·
i DEFINATELY buy wayyyy too much horse stuff..and i dont even have a horse!

i also have a saddle pad addiction which was mentioned above as well..

my biggest thing is that i have a lot of anxiety when i ride. im just a very anxious person and often have anxiety attacks. now that im starting to ride a little more often, it has gotten better. but my trainer really needs to force me and talk me into things i have done and she knows i am capable of doing. i just easily tense up and go into my kind of nervous position (lean forward a bit and play with my reins) this has gotten a million times better, but i still need to work on it at times. once im in the saddle and continue doing things im a lot better though..its the waiting, standing around while another lesson finishes up or even just the walking and waiting for my trainer to tell me its time to trot that really gets to me. recently, i also had a group lesson and i couldnt stand it when i would jump my few jumps, then stand in the middle and wait for the others to jump. i just cant stand the waiting and doing nothing.. i get too antsy i guess you could say haha.
another thing that goes along with the anxiety thing, everything needs to be "perfect" in my mind. my girth needs to be on certain holes, i can not wear a specific pair of breeches, i have a shirt i can not wear, if i wear this one pair of purple socks theres only one shirt i can wear with it, numbers mean a lot, i can only pick up my canter at certain places in the indoor, and my stirrups need to be even and at certain holes - this really got me because since the left one stretches, my trainer finally convinced me to go up a hole, lets just say i thought i was going to die and didnt think i could ride with them like that. the whole night and morning/afternoon before my lesson is also planned out each time i ride in a very specific way. when i just ride myself and hack other peoples horses, this issue isnt as bad as it is for when i lesson.

just a comment on the saddle slidding and tightening your girth thing.. my friend REFUSES to tighten her girth. she will put it on and leave it how it is. one time i checked it for her before she got on (before i knew about this) and could fit both of my fists between her pony and girth with room to spare! i have already seen her get off during rides with the saddle all the way to the side, she will adjust it and maybe tighten it a hole. at the one show this summer, she slid right off the side of her pony during schooling, the saddle ended up under his belly!
 
#29 ·
Lawsy, I have a worse confession...I forgot to call my mother on her birthday yesterday. It doesn't matter that her party was today and we drove almost 100 miles each way to be there, I'm still in the dog house for not calling on the day. For gosh sakes, she's 86 years old now and you would think she'd like to forget her birthdays.
 
#33 ·
I will confess - I've only gone riding twice since the first of the year. Like gingerscout, I don't have anyone to ride with except my son on his 4-wheeler. It would be nice to have someone else on a horse for a change.

I could claim that I haven't ridden because I've been working on the fence, planning the barn, etc., but the truth is, the last few times we've gone out, I haven't really enjoyed it. She's bucked a bit, and until I can figure out why, I'm a little gun shy - especially if I'm out alone. And with my son's health, there are a lot of instances when he's not up to going out when I want to ride.

Oh - and there's also that jarring trot of hers as she tries to keep up with her trail buddy: my son and/or the 4-wheeler.
 
#35 ·
I will confess - I've only gone riding twice since the first of the year. Like gingerscout, I don't have anyone to ride with except my son on his 4-wheeler. It would be nice to have someone else on a horse for a change.

I could claim that I haven't ridden because I've been working on the fence, planning the barn, etc., but the truth is, the last few times we've gone out, I haven't really enjoyed it. She's bucked a bit, and until I can figure out why, I'm a little gun shy - especially if I'm out alone. And with my son's health, there are a lot of instances when he's not up to going out when I want to ride.

Oh - and there's also that jarring trot of hers as she tries to keep up with her trail buddy: my son and/or the 4-wheeler.
Well hubby has decided he's too old to ride anymore so I'm on my own for the most part too. As rural as we are I won't ride on the road around here because there's too many blind dips and curves and what traffic we get flies considering the lay of the land. So, I ride in the pasture for the most part these days and that kinda bores me but it shouldn't and used to it wouldn't.
 
#38 ·
i have dismounting anxiety. When my mare bolts, its when im trying to make an exit -_-. so i perfected they flying dismount. i actually have a pic of it someone took! its fantastic XD! seriously though i hyperventilate and almost cry if my fiance wont hold the horse for me when i dismount now. i have landed in cactus, pulled something in my knee (and could not walk for a week), and been dragged though rocks because of stupid mares and dismounting.

EDIT: ok pic has disappeared from friends photo bucket. i am tracking it down as we speak lol!
 
#40 ·
When it comes to my horse, I want to buy the best of everything, and I barely think twice when I hit the checkout button online. She rides in a $230 Passier bridle, and a $150 Thinline pad, and $140 Valena boots. The soles of my work shoes have been wearing down for months and have finally gotten to the point where they have big holes and cracks in them.

Tonight after work, I spent 30 min walking around a store in my busted shoes debating whether or not I wanted to spend $34.99 on a new pair of shoes for myself. Right before I was getting ready to leave, I found the clearance rack and TWO pair of shoes for the same cost as the one. It was a total win for me. :)
 
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