goldenhorse: You can't be scared your whole life.
Damn right I can, makes me a cheap date, I don't have to go on a roller coaster to get my adrenalin pumping, I can do that crossing the street in the city!
I don't see what in my post though says being scared, I call it being sensible, arms and legs break, skin bruises and tears, but it tends to heal up reasonably well. Brains though, don't do so well through trauma, and I prefer to preserve what grey matter I still have, age is nibbling away at the edges, but I'm not planning on becoming a total vegetable anytime soon.
If I was THAT scared I wouldn't ride, I wouldn't jump, hell I wouldn't even go into a field of horses, but I do all those things, but the fact I am nervous means that I take sensible precautions.
Small example, I think it's sensible to wear gloves when leading horses, I often don't bother though with the riding horses, but always do with youngsters, or when loading or anytime I think I may have to hang on in there. Guess what, I've been leading mares and foals about all summer, even in the heat wearing leather work gloves. The one day I didn't have them, and couldn't be bothered to walk back and get them, the pair I was leading spooked badly and I had rope burns, should of listened to my sensible side.
As a parent I took decisions for my kids, that said yes you can ride a bike, a horse, you can ski, shoot, fell trees, in fact most anything you want to try you can, but you will wear the proper gear!