Hi!
I'm not sure where to start but ill start at the very beginning.
I am 21 years old and have been riding since I was 4. Ive gone back and fourth with disciplines (English-western-hunter-jumping-reining-back to jumping) but id mostly just like to do recreational riding since I don't find shows that exciting anymore. Anyways, I had a horse a few years ago who was fairly green and very spooky (and apparently still spooky to this day). I was doing very well with him for the longest time and we were working on hunter jumping with him which he excelled at. about 2 years into our training together (mind you he always spooked randomly but never bothered me much), he had a really bad spook and took off bucking and rearing and I ended up falling off and breaking my wrist, 4 ribs and my collar bone due to him stepping on me while having his freak out. I am thankful it wasn't worse than that due to him being a 16.2hh draft cross. After I recovered, I continued to ride him but gradually got more and more wary of his spooks to the point where I could no longer ride him without feeling terrified. I sold him eventually and have had a few horses since then, but due to university, personal issues, and a feeling of insecurity with my riding, all have ended up being duds. Not that there was anything wrong with them per say, just wasn't a good match because even if it was an accidental spook, it would terrify me.
Ive always taken lessons from experienced coaches and theres not too much I can do due to it being less of a horse problem and more of a me problem. I've recently been looking into getting another horse due to my mental health being better which has bettered my confidence a bit, even though I do suffer a bit from confidence issues still.
To the point of this post, I basically am asking for advice on 2 things.
1) How do I train a horse to be good on trails?
- when I say this, I know I have to look at horses with a good basis on trails first, and it all has to do with their demeanour. I'm more so asking how do I get a horse to its top potential on trails? do I just plunge in and deal with the issues when they come to hand? what do I do when they decide to spook at something?
2) How do I help regain my confidence back?
-again, I know this kind of stuff takes time, but its been about 4 years and I've ridden a fair amount of good horses but even 1 silly spook sets me right back to the start.
any advice is appreciated!
I'm not sure where to start but ill start at the very beginning.
I am 21 years old and have been riding since I was 4. Ive gone back and fourth with disciplines (English-western-hunter-jumping-reining-back to jumping) but id mostly just like to do recreational riding since I don't find shows that exciting anymore. Anyways, I had a horse a few years ago who was fairly green and very spooky (and apparently still spooky to this day). I was doing very well with him for the longest time and we were working on hunter jumping with him which he excelled at. about 2 years into our training together (mind you he always spooked randomly but never bothered me much), he had a really bad spook and took off bucking and rearing and I ended up falling off and breaking my wrist, 4 ribs and my collar bone due to him stepping on me while having his freak out. I am thankful it wasn't worse than that due to him being a 16.2hh draft cross. After I recovered, I continued to ride him but gradually got more and more wary of his spooks to the point where I could no longer ride him without feeling terrified. I sold him eventually and have had a few horses since then, but due to university, personal issues, and a feeling of insecurity with my riding, all have ended up being duds. Not that there was anything wrong with them per say, just wasn't a good match because even if it was an accidental spook, it would terrify me.
Ive always taken lessons from experienced coaches and theres not too much I can do due to it being less of a horse problem and more of a me problem. I've recently been looking into getting another horse due to my mental health being better which has bettered my confidence a bit, even though I do suffer a bit from confidence issues still.
To the point of this post, I basically am asking for advice on 2 things.
1) How do I train a horse to be good on trails?
- when I say this, I know I have to look at horses with a good basis on trails first, and it all has to do with their demeanour. I'm more so asking how do I get a horse to its top potential on trails? do I just plunge in and deal with the issues when they come to hand? what do I do when they decide to spook at something?
2) How do I help regain my confidence back?
-again, I know this kind of stuff takes time, but its been about 4 years and I've ridden a fair amount of good horses but even 1 silly spook sets me right back to the start.
any advice is appreciated!