Would anyone be able to tell me the best time and way i could get myself back onto a horse-back... i use to ride every weekend about a year ago but now because i work on the farm i basicly get asked to ride most weekends but always say no because of my confidence to do it has gone down hill..... would someone be able to sujest a way of getting my confidence back to get on a horse as i miss riding one hell of a lot.

find a local stable with qualified instructors and safe quiet school horses, riding bombproof horses and taking it slow will help build up confidence. If you used to ride I'm sure it will come back very quickly, you probably just need hours in the saddle. Good Luck

Hiya Indira,
thankyou for the advice. I am at a stables every weekend becuase i am a part time groom. the thing im finding really hard at the moment is to try and force myself to get back onto a horse....

its also finding the time to get onto a horse as i am very busy normallly at the weekends. the thing i might do is ask my mum to book me in for a few private lessons so that will then get me back onto a horse which will be good.

I do miss riding one hell of a lot when i use to ride with my mum and my sisters at the stables i use to love showing off infront of the people that were watching. but now because of my confidence it just seems such a shame to miss out on so much fun.

The real weird thing at the moment is that the way im trying not to ride because of my confidence makes me look like im actually scared of horses which im not. so i think im going to give myself maximum 2 weeks to try and get back onto a horse and get back into the fun of it all again...

the real scary bit is i dont really like cantering so i always think its probs best not to ride because if i ride and then get scared about doin either of those things i dont know what to say.... speak to you soon
take care
James

James i have been where you are. I herniated a disk in my neck last year and had major surgery to correct it. My doctor scared the life out of me about riding. It killed me to watch my horse in the field and not think about riding.

But i beat the fear. I gave myself very small goals. One day i just said i will tack him up,I ended up just sitting on him tacked up for 5 mins. the next day i said i would go for a walk in the pen. Did that too. Each day my confidence in my ability grew until i was able to do walk trot in the pen. Knowing i was in a safe environment where there was control made me feel so much more at ease and happier with my progress.
My horse was green so i had to be sure that what i was doing was safe for me. In the end i was able to get him going a few times and eventually well enough to get him sold to someone who could ride him to his abilities.

So my best advice. Go somewhere where they know your fears. Have them give you a dead quiet horse and ride in a nice controlled environment where you can take your time to get back your confidence. I know i dont have the confidence i had as a teen now that i have kids so im more extra careful. Especially now that i have hardware in my neck to keep me together i cant risk a fall.

Hiya,
Oh right that sounds bad what happend to you. i hope everything is ok now. thats what im hoping to happen to me where i say to myself one day right im going to go tack him up and then sit on him for a while. and then a few days later get back into the walk and trot.all the horses i have got down the farm and nice and calm its just thinking of who i should get onto and who im going to feel most comfertable on. when im with the horses in the pens i feel safe. its just knowing that everything will be ok.. the thing that most worries me is that the instructors are the ones that are loud out of either the horses or the instructors. about a year ago i was riding in a little group and i was on an x polo pony as she was the only one avliable at the time... so i got on started walking her round the pen and then it came to trotting and cantering. cantering scared me that day because the horse decided to run off n get faster with me on her back. thats whats kinda made me feel like i might hurt myself if i get onto a horse. but i dont think it helped that we had about 4 motorbikes go past when cantering as she does not like sudden noises which is a shame i dont think she was born like it either i think it was how she got treated her before we bought her off a polo player. as i said in my other blog comment i am going to give myself a couple of weeks to try and get back onto horseback and try mybest at my abilities and things i know i can do and feel safe doing while on horseback. I have lots of friends at the stabls and they are always asking when im going to get back on a horse and i keep saying im not sure but now i know i should say to them that im going to try in a couple of weeks time and keep that promise. the thing i most like doing on a horse is going on a walk around the estate on horseback because thats relaxing and you dont have to worry about much as long as you keep hold of the horse and watch out for traffic etc. I can actually see myself getting back on horseback and enjoying myself like i use to all over again.. because to be honest with you or anyone i dont actually think there is anything that is proper scary about horse riding. i am hopefully going to get my confidence back before september as i am going to be doin a horsecourse and i will be riding sometimes for that so i need my confidence so i know what to expect when i go onto the course so it does not come to a big suprise to me. i think that will do from me now... speak to you soon take care James x