# Riding after a fall



## free_sprtd (Oct 18, 2007)

I don't know if this will help you but it helped me. I worked a ton in the round pen and got the heeby jeebies out of Thunder and made sure he knew I was Alpha. It also made me feel in control especially when he did things just based on my body language. I wasn't out there persay to build my confidence but it did wonders!! When they sense confidence from you, it makes them more confident. Can you work her hard yet? Or just light work? Because if you could work her more than usual before getting on, that might help? Sorry, that's all I can think of...

Except everyone else will probably tell you to ride a non spooky horse for a while until you build your confidence back. In my case I cannot do that much, but if you can take a few lessons or ride a friends horse, that definitely helps build confidence back. Good luck and just remember that you have done it before, you can do it again, you can help her control her movements, and you are the leader. YOU CAN DO IT! (waterboy hehe)


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## Hoofprints in the Sand (Nov 23, 2008)

Thanks  There isn't a round pen at the stable where I board, just a very LARGE arena (scary!! lol) but I can lounge her before I ride...I just wonder how much that would really help. I was doing it before and she would spook anyway! I am definitely riding another horse tomorrow, one of my trainer's - a horse I'm really used to and used to go running through fields with that's how safe he feels to me  Hopefully it will help get my confidence back a little...the bad thing is, I can usually get on him no problem - I can canter with him, jump, anything and no fear...but the minute I get back on Sandie I freeze up! 

Maybe I should have a couple glasses of wine before I ride to make myself loosen up!! lol


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## 1dog3cats17rodents (Dec 7, 2007)

Walk her around on the ground before you ride, and if she spooks just stand there untill she is willing to go up and sniff it. Once she can walk around without spooking you can get on. When you get on, focus on the fact that she has no excuse to spook, and if she does she is just being a brat. Walk her around, and if she spooks GET AFTER HER and use your legs to push her into the corner, and circle the end untill she behaves.


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## Walkamile (Dec 29, 2008)

free_sprtd said:


> I don't know if this will help you but it helped me. I worked a ton in the round pen and got the heeby jeebies out of Thunder and made sure he knew I was Alpha. It also made me feel in control especially when he did things just based on my body language. I wasn't out there persay to build my confidence but it did wonders!! When they sense confidence from you, it makes them more confident. Can you work her hard yet? Or just light work? Because if you could work her more than usual before getting on, that might help? Sorry, that's all I can think of...
> 
> Except everyone else will probably tell you to ride a non spooky horse for a while until you build your confidence back. In my case I cannot do that much, but if you can take a few lessons or ride a friends horse, that definitely helps build confidence back. Good luck and just remember that you have done it before, you can do it again, you can help her control her movements, and you are the leader. YOU CAN DO IT! (waterboy hehe)


 
FS really good advice and I agree from personal experience. Only other thing I will add is advice John Lyons gives, "ride where you can, not where you can't". In my case I did not have access to an arena or a round pen. What I did have was a good sized paddock, so that is what I used until my confidence came back and those darn panic nerves went.

Good luck, remember that it only took a second to get hurt, takes longer to come back (but we do) :wink:


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## Tayz (Jan 24, 2009)

Goodluck. Try and show courage. If you need a minute stand back and take a deep breath. I had to show courage 3 weeks ago when a horse kept bolting with me. I had to be ready for every bolt. I couldn't get off for and hour. When I got off I realised how much better it would have been at the start if I hadn't been nervous. It made the horse feel scared(not to mention the noisy jumper I was wearing what triggered his bolts) and noone had control..
Goodluck getting back on him..


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## xeventer17 (Jan 26, 2009)

id say do a lot of despooking work with her on the ground for a little while. like, set and obsticle course of potentially spooky things up in the arena and walk her through it on foot. if she spooks at something stand there still she calms down and then slowly encourage her towards the object until she is able to sniff it and walk past it without being afraid. once you're confident that she's okay with the obstacles, get on her and walk through it a few times. you should start to feel more confident that she's not going to spook, then you can try trotting through and cantering if possible. if the course involves tight turns, just try cantering around the outside of it. also, as 1dog3cats17rodents said. once you've hand walked her successfully through the course and you get on her, if she starts spooking at things while you're on her it is most likely not because she's truly scared, but because she's learned that pretending to be scared is a good way to get out of work. if this is the case, you really just need to get after her and force her towards whatever it is she's pretending to spook at. i know this is hard when you yourself are rather scared of her spooking, but jsut make sure you keep her head up so she can't buck, and if she rears you need to get off her and longe her like crazy because rearing is incredibly dangerous and just not okay. anyways, once you work her through one of her pretend spooks, trust me, you'll feel great and it really should start building your confidence up. hope this helps :]


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## HayburnerHeights (Jan 10, 2009)

One thing you can do is keep her mind on you! That means LOTS of transitions and circles. Her attention needs to be on you all all items. This is also the case with lunging, If shes paying attention to you she won't "find" those scarey things to spook at. When on the lunge, if she spooks, put her right back to what she was doing, like ASAP. When she behaves and doesn't spook at the item/spot, stop and let her rest (reward). It should help

Good luck!


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## BarneyBabby (Nov 18, 2008)

Hoofprints in the Sand said:


> As many of you know, Sandie got a little stir crazy a few weeks back and bolted/bucked me off. After that, whenever I would ride her she would spook at the strangest things/times in the arena. So I started to get nervous every time I would ride her, which obviously made things worse for both of us.
> 
> We were starting to make some progress though, although I was still nervous every time I would think about riding her, and then she had to have her surgery -- and was on stall rest for two weeks. She just came off stall rest, and she's being turned out again. I show up every day to just do ground work with her and then to let her run around. But I'm going to need to get on and ride her eventually again!
> 
> So does anyone have any tips for me on how to NOT be so NERVOUS on her?? It's just making her crazy and I don't know how to stop myself from flinching each time we go past a "scary corner" or gate! I want to ENJOY riding with her, not fear it! Plus bc of where her scar from the surgery is, I can't put a saddle on her for a good while, so my first rides are going to have to be bareback on her...HELP!!! :shock:


 
I didnt read anyone elses advice to help so if I am repeating what someone else has said, for give me.

I think it all in your head that she spooks more. She might be spooking at the same thing as before but you were always calm about it so there for she was calm as well. Now, when she spooks you get frighten because you are afraid of falling again and she feels that.


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## Hoofprints in the Sand (Nov 23, 2008)

BarneyBabby said:


> I didnt read anyone elses advice to help so if I am repeating what someone else has said, for give me.
> 
> I think it all in your head that she spooks more. She might be spooking at the same thing as before but you were always calm about it so there for she was calm as well. Now, when she spooks you get frighten because you are afraid of falling again and she feels that.


You're probably right -- I just don't know how to stop myself from THINKING she will spook! :-|


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## Kim (Jan 23, 2009)

I think everyone here has pretty much said great stuff!! So I can't really add anything extra, but keep at it and take your time to rebuild your trust in your horse. Don't let anyone push you into doing something you don't want to.

I really really hope everything works out, and your back to your old confident self soon !! good luck with it all!


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## Walkamile (Dec 29, 2008)

Hoofprints in the Sand said:


> You're probably right -- I just don't know how to stop myself from THINKING she will spook! :-|


Okay this is going to sound really "out there" but it works.

This is a technique that is used by many athletes including high level riders. Visualization. What you will do is envision your next ride on her.
In great detail "see" each and every step, from the tacking up to the dismount and everything in between. If you have found that you tense up as soon as you mount, you will envision this and breath deeply and rythmatically and feel yourself relax. See the entire ride, also when you get tense and what you will do to overcome that, breathing, disengaging if she moves out too fast or begins to spook at whatever, ect... Also feel the control and the joy. 

What you are doing is training your subconscious to respond and react without emotional panic. It will become an automatic response (like you use to have until you got hurt).

Through out the exercise, you will concentrate on your breathing, staying calm and in control, because you do know what to do, it's the fear that has blocked you.

After my accident with Walka, I did this before every session. I came to realize that the fear I felt, though perfectly normal after an accident, would eventually stop me from what I love if I didn't acknowledge and deal with it. 

Hope this helps you , it did me. Take your time, small sure steps are better than unsteady leaps at this time. :wink:


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## Equuestriaan (Nov 5, 2008)

I went to an interesting demonstration recently about spooking horses and I'd like to tell you some things the guy said. I found it very useful in my own riding and it might help you, too.

There are some riders who refuse to get off when their horse spooks, because they think the horse will learn that if they spook, their rider will get off. If your horse spooks at something, it's because he's been startled, not because he's trying to get you to get off. In your horse's mind, he sees that scary corner as a threat to both of you. If you circle him and kick him and force him into that corner (as I believe somebody above suggested), he's only going to get himself into more of a panic.

Think of what a foal and its mother in the wild. The mother trots across the stream, but the foal plants its feet and is scared to go in. The foal isn't being stubborn; he has no reason to refuse to cross the stream other than fear. The mother comes back across. Does she get the foal to cross by coming up behind it and biting it or kicking it until it crosses? No, she will nuzzle her foal and step in beside him and encourage him the whole way across.

When your horse spooks at something, rub his neck and tell him it's okay. Close your legs and encourage him with your voice. Don't tense up. If you need to, get off and lead him from the ground.

Of course, you won't always be able to hop off... for example, in a show, you can't really get off in the middle of a class and lead him past a scary jump. But when you're just schooling, if you are calm and encouraging, and you are not forceful and tense, he will learn to trust you.


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## xeventer17 (Jan 26, 2009)

Equuestriaan said:


> If you circle him and kick him and force him into that corner (as I believe somebody above suggested), he's only going to get himself into more of a panic.


I'm pretty sure you're talking about my post, and I'm sorry if what I said came across the wrong way. When I said "get after and force her towards whatever she's spooking at" I didn't mean circle and kick and such. I meant by using whatever means necessary, which most likely includes quiet encouragement. By no means do I think you should be rough with a scared horse no matter what they're spooking at. That's just about the worst thing you could possible do.


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## Equuestriaan (Nov 5, 2008)

Oh okay, I just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to go out and kick and scream at her horse. lol


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## Hoofprints in the Sand (Nov 23, 2008)

thanks everyone...no, I would never get angry or kick/force her into a corner that's scaring her. normally what i do is say "shhhhh" in a quiet soothing tone, while patting her neck, it normally calms her down. but my problem is that right now, i am EXPECTING her to spook at the corner, so then she does of course! but it's ME expecting her to that I think is causing her to do it now. So I'm trying to figure out how to overcome my own mindset that she's going to -- it's really become a self fulfilling prophecy for me! :-(


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## Lizz (Jan 21, 2009)

Wow great thread guys I just really learned a thing or 2 and I enjoyed reading it also
Lizz


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## HayburnerHeights (Jan 10, 2009)

Hoofprints in the Sand said:


> thanks everyone...no, I would never get angry or kick/force her into a corner that's scaring her. normally what i do is say "shhhhh" in a quiet soothing tone, while patting her neck, it normally calms her down. but my problem is that right now, i am EXPECTING her to spook at the corner, so then she does of course! but it's ME expecting her to that I think is causing her to do it now. So I'm trying to figure out how to overcome my own mindset that she's going to -- it's really become a self fulfilling prophecy for me! :-(


I know exactly what you are going through, I am STILL there after a really bad dump 2 yrs ago. My mind plays games with me. I doesn't help that I have 2 very young horses to get riding. My ring is right next to a hedge row and my neighbors dogs love to come scrounging through it and then barking at us when we are in the ring. It even startles my 12 yr old trail mare!


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## Hoofprints in the Sand (Nov 23, 2008)

HayburnerHeights said:


> I know exactly what you are going through, I am STILL there after a really bad dump 2 yrs ago. My mind plays games with me. I doesn't help that I have 2 very young horses to get riding. My ring is right next to a hedge row and my neighbors dogs love to come scrounging through it and then barking at us when we are in the ring. It even startles my 12 yr old trail mare!


Yeah that would startle the most bomb proof of horses!! 

My trainer rode Sandie today (first time she's been ridden since before her 14-day stall rest!), and he had to ride her bareback bc of where the scar is, right where the girth goes...but he was fine and she was not acting up or anything, it was great to see it! She did kinda shy a little by the "scary corner" but he had her under control and she didn't bolt or anything. I think I just need to see more of that and then I will be less nervous when I get on her!


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## Britt (Apr 15, 2008)

Dunno if this will help you any, but my mare fell off the side of a ditch/banl with/on me last January and I could ride her for about two weeks because I was so sore and hurt and she hurt her leg for a few weeks in our fall... When I got back on her, I was so nervous and so was she... every step we took felt like she was extremely hesitant as though we were going to fall again and I couldn't hardly convince her to go faster than a very slow and careful walk... After a few weeks of our hesitance, I got tired of it and took her out in the pasture saddled and bridled and got on her. I was so tired of being nervous that I made her gallop across the pasture about twenty times half the time without me holding on until she would go for me at the slightest nudge and neither of us were nervous about it anymore... I think it had to do with her figuring out that we weren't going to fall again, because that was the first time we'd ever fallen... and me having to put my trust in my mare unwaveringly and just trust her to take care of me. 

I'm glad I did that, too, because we're closer than ever now and I'd trust my girl with my life if I had to. (and yeah, I know I'm a bit of an idiot for doing that, but it was very fun and it worked for me and my girl!) Lol.


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