Overcoming FEAR

I heard that acknowledging your fear helps to make it go away, so here I am getting it out there. I haven't yet been severly hurt ie broken bones, nothing ruptured, by a horse but I have been bitten, stepped on, knocked down, kicked and fallen off. Enough to never completely trust a horse. I trust Vida more than I have any other horse I have owned, but the fear is always lurking there in the back of my mind. The older I get the more I think about the damage that can be done. Maybe its my 50th birthday looming in a few months, but I have become more fearful of getting hurt. Is there anyone else out there who has the occasional twinge of fear and if so how do you deal with it?

That's normal to be a bit afraid, I mean it is a dangerous sport & you really have to be careful. ;)
But if you're a good rider & you are safe around them, you shouldn't have that many problems. :) & plus if you act scared then they will sense that so it's good to not show your fear.
Hm, I'm sorry you feel that way, but don't worry; just keep doing what you're doing, have fun!! I don't think your age has anything to do with it; tons of people your age & older ride!!
But yeah, I know what you mean, some horses are hard to trust.
I'm like that sometimes around a new horse...like, idk what it's going to do since I'm not familiar with it. But 'ya gotta be positive about it, so yeah.
But having fear is okay & normal. :)

It hasn't stopped me from galloping across the hay meadow :) I know I shouldn't do it but Vida and I both love it. There is still that little fear monster though.

I know exactly how you feel and I'm only 27!!

I used to be able to get on anything with no cares what so ever, after my last mare, who was a slight nutter at times, I have had an enforced break due to having a baby and now I have 3 weeks before I'm allowed to ride again and although I'm itching to get on Faith (previous mares baby) I am also scared stiff of falling off. I think it's a case of I know I don't bounce as well as I used to :) I never used to be scared, I'd just dust myself off and hop back on (if I was physically able to!!)

It's great that you have that trust with your girl, it certainly makes a difference.

I no exaclty what you mean. I like frog use to ride anything I could find then this year I got a new mare who threw me twice quite badly the first two times I get on this coupled with the fact I had anxiety attacks wasnt incouraging me to throw my leg back on her. But I just thought I can get hurt at anything I do driving a car or crossing the road and I love ridding so yes im going to get hurt but it makes me feel great

I thought I had a fear of a lot of thing's about ridding, falling, jumping, cantering (to this day I will not canter on horse I don't know) but after having kids, I say I fear them the most, my son's a rare s.i.d.s survivior, that scares me the most, some fears you just have to work about by your self , but that's under standable

Yeah, i'm getting more scared of falling off now. I used to fall off alot when my horse freaked out at everything and I would just get back on and get one with it, it was mostly jumping.

I fell off the yesterday because my saddle slipped round a little bit and he went off bucking, I lasted a while and it was a pretty painless fall but when I got on I couldn't hardly face going over some barrels. :(

I started to learn to ride when I was ten. I had gotten good at my little pony, and the instructor decided to put me up on a larger fellow. He was led over, I stroked him on his face, and he took my pinky finger in his teeth. And wouldn't let go. I was then really scared of him, but had to ride him. To make things worse, I was really new at it, and didn't realize if I leaned forward he'd go faster. He broke into a gallop around the ring. And the instructor, instead of telling me calmly how to stop him, was yelling at me. It was three decades before I got on a horse again! I rode a pony on a trip, and he was crazy. They called him Poco Loco, but by then I was forty years old and had a lot more confidence. He tended to break into a gallop for no reason (except that he wanted to go home!) and I just laughed. Then, to really cap the experience, he bucked as I was getting off and I fell down. But I was still laughing!

My fear went further away when I met a new friend. She has a horse who likes to follow people around and nuzzle at them. He's a really gentle, funny guy, and I told her if I could have a horse like him I'd never be afraid!

Anyway, I don't know how to help, because I don't have a horse, and very little experience with them. But I sure do understand that background case of nerves, and wish you well in conquering it. :)

Hey,
Like someone else said before, you can get injured doing absolutley anything, but yes I know its easier saying that then it is overcoming your fears.

I know its hard, but I think that the easiest way of overcoming somehting like that is, one self talk! Like you said your safe round horses and everything, so there isnt any reason there but freak accidents happen, so if you ever feel unconfident, you gotta talk to your self no matter how silly you look. Its reasurring yourself and your horse.

It doesnt always work, but try making your focus go on to something else if you fear something, or just think about how much fun you have with the horses.

Hope I helped

Thanks everyone, its nice to know I'm not alone. Its hard sometimes talking about it to other horsey people, you don't want them to think you are a woosy.