Petrified of trail riding/hacking.

I used to be afraid too, you're not alone. I wa riding a hirse on the trails and when we were almost home he took off and I fell off, didnt break anything but I had a concussion. It took awhile or me to be brave enough to get back on the trails. I was at summer camp once and they said we were going on a trail ride. I did not want to go. I almost asked for a different horse because the one I was ridding was a little skittish. We went out and I was doing fine starting to settle in a bit and a deer jumped in front of my horse. She jumped a little, but not too bad. It still scared me though. I almost asked again to swig horses or lead her back. I'm glad I didn't though. Sometimes facing your fears helps you get over them. I competed in an endurance ride this fall and it takes a lot of miles on the trails to get a horse conditioned. We were riding at one state park on a 20 mile loop. We came to this place where the grond seemed to drop off then go straight back up. I was terrified of it, bur I knew the horse had lots of experience and would follow the others and I woul be fine. Thy horse helped me get owe so many fears. On the actual ride there was a huge downhill that you finished on. I could see it from camp and it scared me. I closed my eyes going down, you just have o put a little faith in your horse. Every step is a big one. Even if you just take a few steps out of your arena, indoor or out, stand there and then go back in you faced your fear. Trust your horse. Try contacting the old owner, tell them about your accident and then ask how good Duffy really was on trails. Theyll probably be honest given the circumstances. You can do it!
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Nice to know I'm not alone!!

The previous owner didn't ride her, sorry should have explained better.. she wanted her for a carriage horse, however she wouldn't accept it.. so she only has what the owner before her told her.. and I don't trust a buyers word till its proven unfortunately, so we will get there.. may take time and lots of deep breaths, but we'll get there, and I'll let you all know how it goes!

You could see if someone would be willing to pony your horse on the trails, and maybe even take him out for you. Once you feel ready, go out in a small group and let someone pony YOU. If you feel ready at any time to go "solo", you can always unclip!

When I first introduced my horse to trail riding, I had him ponied out without a rider, then the first time I rode him out, I rode with his BFF. He did super!

Good luck!

I start all my babies that way. They get their first taste of trails when they are 3-4 months old and at their mares side. I don't usually worry about ponying them unless I'm in an area of other horses.

As yearlings, I bring them along on slightly longer rides, Nothing really tough or long, They fall in line and follow us across ledges, creeks and fallen logs.

As 2 year olds, I will often put an empty saddle on them and let them learn about flopping stirups and cinches.

By time I start riding them as 4 years. They know how to pick up their feet, cross logs and water and follow in a line.

You can see a couple of yearlings following us on this ride.

That is SO cute.

Jealous of your trails!

LOL, Duffy, I'm your exact opposite. I'm so claustrophobic that riding in an indoor seriously freaks me out. I never knew it until I moved to OK, in CA & AZ we rode either in outdoor or max a covered arena, and you could still see everything around. The first time I rode in an indoor warm up at a show I FLIPPED! It's been 7 years and I've pretty much quit showing under saddle, I hate riding indoors so much. Take me out on a 25 miler or in a nice big outdoor, I'm fine. Oh, I'm sure the fact that my practice arena in my back yard was twice the size of these indoor warm ups has a lot to do with it, but still, it was a shock to find out how badly riding indoors in a tiny arena un-nerves me.

Only thing I can suggest is to get in a group of 5 or 6 riders and put Duffy right nose to tail with a real patient horse who won't be upset if you ride right there for security. Go for a very short ride, say around the outdoor arena once, just to start and then sit down and think about the positives of the ride. Then do it again either later that day or in a day or 2, and keep on doing it until it's not so scary to be in an outdoor ring. Then ride around the oustide of the ring, so on and so on, until you've expanded your area and time and aren't coming unglued by the outdoors. There's really nothing like the feeling of riding across the desert in the moonlight on a warm summer night! But folks who are timid about trail riding will never experience that. It's worth trying to work on.

Fear of trail riding.

Fear of indoor arenas.

Fear of this. Fear of that.

These fears are so hard for me to understand.

I am not fearless. But I just don't let it rule me.

If there is one thing I got out of military service is being able to work through fears and perform despite them.

I can top that. Try spending several days in a 40 ft sailboat with no land in sight in any direction. Very few landlubbers can handle that kind of isolation.

This kind of comes off as bragging.

This sounds like such a deep seated fear, that I would suggest working on yourself before you start training your horse for trails.-
Is there maybe a pay by the hour barn near you where they lead trails with a guide? These places are suitable for beginners, and you could focus on just relaxing and trying to enjoy the experience, without having to be too concerned about the horse acting up. Then when you are confidant doing those rides, you can begin to try short rides with your own horse.