Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[MoonfallTheFox]

I went and picked up Spider yesterday. She was a good girl about loading and everything went fine. Glad to have her back home.

[MapleShells]

Hello! I hope no one minds if I pop in. I love horses so much, and I’d like to get back into horse riding soon...but I’ve lost a lot of confidence and I don’t know how to get it back. I’ve researched a bunch but I still can’t keep myself from panicking. Is there any way I can become confident in horseback riding again? I’m apologize if this question has already been asked before 😅

[Purrsuasive]

Hello! I hope no one minds if I pop in. I love horses so much, and I’d like to get back into horse riding soon...but I’ve lost a lot of confidence and I don’t know how to get it back. I’ve researched a bunch but I still can’t keep myself from panicking. Is there any way I can become confident in horseback riding again? I’m apologize if this question has already been asked before 😅

I haven't been to this thread until now but I saw you posted this and I just wanna reply-- I haven't been riding much either recently and I think it's normal to be nervous but I think the best thing you can do is to just hop right in. Of course, I'd suggest starting out kinda slow so that you can get used to it again and make sure you know what you're doing to avoid any possible injury. Do your best to stay calm because it's supposed to be something fun and you're doing it for you! The easiest way to get that confidence back is to practice. Best of luck ^^

[Stargazing]

Mark~ Horses are my life XD They are graceful, beautiful, and glorious creatures! I have been doing horseback riding for a while now and it is just THE BEST THING EVER! I just really want to meet some other equestrians though since my lessons are private

[MoonfallTheFox]

Hello! I hope no one minds if I pop in. I love horses so much, and I’d like to get back into horse riding soon...but I’ve lost a lot of confidence and I don’t know how to get it back. I’ve researched a bunch but I still can’t keep myself from panicking. Is there any way I can become confident in horseback riding again? I’m apologize if this question has already been asked before 😅

Take some lessons! A few rides on a lesson horse which is experienced should help build your confidence again. I know how you feel. I went out and rode my old gelding a few times and did some pretty serious work (for him, he's retired) after I fell badly off my baby to try and rebuild some confidence. It was scary to get hurt, and it hurt my feelings. Even though I've fallen a lot coming off of Spider shook me a little bit. Maybe because I'm getting a little older and less bouncy, I'm not a teenager any more, or maybe because I want so badly to bond with her as a rider on her back and not just on the ground, and because I feel like something bad will happen if we don't, since she is a dream walker who appeared in my dreams for 6 months before showing up in the real world. Things that happen with her have a lot of weight because of that. She's not just a horse I picked because I liked her she picked me out somehow and started showing up until I found her and bought her.

I know I sound mad as a hatter but it's a true story. Blew me right out of the water. I don't know if I would believe myself if you told me the story, but here I am and I lived it.

Anyway I'm rambling. Try lessons they help a lot.

[MelMellyMel]

Ah, sorry for randomly posting here, but until recently I had no clue this thread existed! Does anyone have advice for an older teen getting into horse back riding? I've always loved horses, and wanted to take lessons from a young age. I did for awhile, but the price combined with the long distance from where I lived prevented me from continuing. I hope to go back into lessons again asap, but feel really anxious since I'm basically a completely from scratch beginner in terms of skill. Will it be more difficult starting to seriously ride at an older age compared to people who began riding as younger kids?

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Ah, sorry for the wordy post and all the questions! You get the jist though.

[Stargazing]

Ah, sorry for randomly posting here, but until recently I had no clue this thread existed! Does anyone have advice for an older teen getting into horse back riding? I've always loved horses, and wanted to take lessons from a young age. I did for awhile, but the price combined with the long distance from where I lived prevented me from continuing. I hope to go back into lessons again asap, but feel really anxious since I'm basically a completely from scratch beginner in terms of skill. Will it be more difficult starting to seriously ride at an older age compared to people who began riding as younger kids?

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Ah, sorry for the wordy post and all the questions! You get the jist though.

I can tell you for a fact that it won’t be difficult riding at an older age because I did it 😂 so far, everything’s going great! You'll feel anxious when getting onto the horse but once you’re on, everything is fine!

[Brynmala]

@ MapleShells: Yes, take some lessons. talk to the riding school first and tell them that you are nervous and lack confidence - they can help you far better if they know that you may have an issue with getting on a horse again. They've doubtless dealt with many people who are similarly nervous so it won't be a big deal to them. If you do decide you are serious about riding you might consider investing in a body protector, even if it is just second hand to begin with. It will give you some confidence that if you do come off you are less likely to hurt yourself (i've been glad of mine the 4 times I've come off my horse...)

@ MelMellyMel: go for it, you might be stiffer afer riding than you were when you were a kid, but its no harder. I've ridden on and off most of my life, coming back to it after long breaks. The last time I started again was in my mid 40s, so its never too late... In actual fact you may be better for starting again now, if you can find a teacher used to teaching adults, its a very different sort of relationship than a kid has with a teacher. You can expect to have more input, ask questions and get proper explanations for why things are done, rather than just being shouted at.

[Hime]

@MapleShells: There's really no reason for you to panic about it. Unfortunately though when it come to riding and gaining confidence, it only works by actually doing it. Find a stable to take lessons at and don't get back straight onto the level you were before. It's going to take some time for your body to adjust back into riding and of course there's the mental side as well, which might take even more time(or it might not). If riding is what you want todo again, just get back into it, take it easy and slow at first to build yourself back to where you used to be and don't be too harsh on yourself.

@MelMellyMel: Hmmm, I'd say it's not really that more difficult, but the challenges are bit different when comparing younger vs. older riders. Like kids usually lack attention span, so it's harder to teach them small details where as an older person you can focus much better on the details right from the start. The general mood in kids lessons vs. teen/adult lessons is also bit different and the goals are not the same. Kids are usually less stiff and more 'moldable' than older people, so habbits you've picked up might be bit harder to get rid off. Adult bodies also don't adjust as fast as kids do either. Stiffness and balance are two things that aren't so big of deal if you've continued to do some sports while you haven't been able to ride, but lets say you'd be a adult in their 30-ties who has an office job and doesn't do any sports, they would likely have some challenges when it comes to balance and also stiffness. Kids more often have bit daredevil attitude, so they aren't that easily scared and are more readily to try out things (usually that is, there are also the really timid type), where as adults for example are little more afraid of falling off. So while as we get older things change, I don't think kid vs. late teen is that big of a jump when it comes to picking up riding. Where as kid vs. 30-40 year old is quite bit of a jump. All in all, it also depends where your goals ride in riding. Like if you just love to ride for hobby is different from aiming to compete on higher level, in which case yes starting young can help, but it's by no means necessary.
Considering you've ridden before in your life, you should be able to get the hang of it fairly quick again even if there's been a long break. Riding is little like riding a bike, once you've learnt it you won't totally forget it even if you don't do it all the time. I originally started riding when I was under 10 years old, then quit for several years and picked up riding again more seriously in my mid-teens I believe. I don't feel it was that difficult to do again back then, but if I had waited into those 30-ties then I do think it does become slightly more difficult to pick up again based on what I've seen other people experience.
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Of course just when things seem to be going quite well and we had scheduled another free jumping day for today, things don't go as planned... : P
Basically I rode Heta yesterday and she was pretty perfect (she did leg yields super nicely to both direction for example <3). But her right canter has gone who knows where and the left one was working very nicely. Considering that's what happened last time she had hock issues (but the opposite way of course, so no left and good right) I can't say I was too surprised, plus the shoing tweak we did might have part in this as well. Towards end of the ride she got kinda slugish and blah, but I passed it on her getting distracted by other horses coming to the arena as she's pretty used to me riding alone.
Today I was planning to first ride her out on the track for while, try see if I could get her canter better there and since we haven't been riding out much anyway due my schedules and random snow(Heta still has no snow pads, so riding in snow is no go currently), and after that she'd get to do some free jumping. I got her from the paddock, started brushing her and all that. Felt up her legs while trying to brush the mudd off and boom. Her right front was not normal, there was some swelling going on at the tendons... Hosed both of her legs to be sure it was swelling and not just hair fluff. Unfortunaly it wasn't fluff... It's not visibly that much more swollen, it doesn't seem to hurt(she was very eager to go when I walked her little outside) and she's not lame at walk. Iced it for 20 minutes and it did go down nice amount, but still not normal feeling. Really hoping it's just a sprain or slightly pulled ligament or something. It doesn't really seem like an actual tendon tear as those, from what I've seen and heard, really swell up a ton. Keep your fingers and toes crossed...

(Pony is not impressed about standing in the washing rack and having her leg iced...) Oh yeah, and since the stable doesn't want us to use the hose to cool legs I might have to buy my own ice wraps, which are kinda expensive, unless the stable owner is cool about me borrowing hers... I do have some cold liniment, but I think it's not quite cutting it in this case...

I was planning on getting Heta/Tý some PolarPads, since apparently our winter weather can be really unpredicatable and currently neither of my horses have snow pads on them(Heta due us having indoor access and Tý due him loosing his shoes anyway in the mudd, plus the weather which is still mostly mudd) and really hate missing riding due weather (and it's not that good for horses either). And really if the weather is going to be mostly muddy throught the winter (god, I hope not though), then snow pads aren't that good for the hooves. The problem is they are 25-27€ per pair, and since they are cut to shape of the hoof I'd need 4 pairs... XP So I might just use Tý as a guinea pig in this case, with Heta having leg issues and Tý potentially being a case that can't wear actual snow pads or else he'll keep loosing his shoes.
Tý's only problem is that he's apparently been very naughty to the farrier. Last shoing he refused to pick up feet, was leaning really bad or tried to yank his feet away and tried to squish the farrier againts to wall too (tried that couple times with me). And the shoing time before that he was mini rearing when even his front legs were handled. -_- And just when I though he was getting better with his feet getting picked up and handled. Like when I pick up his feet at the grooming pole outside, he's been lifting the hind ones really easily and lately even with the front ones he doesn't fight so much. Like last week, when he was shod on Wednesday, I picked up his feet on Thursday and he had no problems and was very good. I said this to L, and wondered can it be place/person related. So we tried again at the shoing area (stable aisle). Yup, Tý picked up hind legs pretty nice, but the front ones I could feel he was not willing to give and leaned a ton towards me as well. So now the goal is to practice picking up feet nicely inside the stable and not only outside. Seriously I swear this horse is such a pain in the butt with his special sensitive snowflake attitude. : P Also apparently as I haven't been able to ride him in almost a month due missing shoes, he has lost most of his attention span while under saddle and also he was soooooo stiff when I rode him on Monday.
Which is yet another thing L mentioned from the shoing, apparently he looked super stiff when shod as well. Might have to book him a massage, but I do find his muscles overall bit weird feeling compared to Heta's. Like they are quite hard feeling, where as Heta is more soft. And I somehow doubt it's the muscle mass that's the differance here (Tý's not much ridden and currently fat yet again, Heta's ridden more and not fat)... Me being paranoid and jumping into worst case scenarios of course started thinking PSSM/EPSM, since some of them symptoms do fit Tý (hard muscles, kinda twitchy if suddenly touched on certain areas, stiff, lacks cordination (which could be young horse thing as well), not that willing to move always)...

[ξƞçɧαƞtєđ]

Popping in to share some holiday cheer- brought to you by Buck in his reindeer halter