# Im terrified of Trail Rides



## Dontworrybeappy (Jul 21, 2014)

Yes, it sounds funny but every time I've gone on a trail ride something has gone wrong
horses rolling, bolting, deer jumping out of no where, horrible spooks, trips down hills, I seem to be unlucky
I get so nervous to go on trail rides, I have no confidence for them. I have no other bad confidence problems anywhere else in riding, jumped, barrel raced, done it all.
But I am a nervous wreck for trail rides. I try to hide it so my horse doesn't sense it I just don't know how to get my confidence back. Hills are my nemesis. My horse isn't a bad spooker usually but spooks (cutting horse spook  at least one time every trail ride. I know it probably because of me. He likes to stay in the ring but I know he needs a change of scenery 
Any ideas on how to get my confidence back?
thanks!


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Keep doing it. Stop looking for the boogey man, wait until he shows up then laugh & continue on your way.
Don't over ride your horse. If he has to make some decisions, where to put feet etc , he'll get better.

Many people find security in walls & fences so you're not unusual.


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## WildAtHeart (Jul 17, 2013)

Start small and work your way up. Do your normal ride in the ring and then go for a slow cool down walk outside...not far, just around. Next time go a little farther, then farther, then trot a little, then do the whole ride outside...ect 

Don't overthink it either. As you ride out of the ring don't think about what could go wrong, just ride, focus on the horse, your cues, sing a song in your head. The less we overthink, the more our horses listen


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

You are right that "you are the problem". Not meant in a bad way at all but simply your anxiety is creating more and more.

Is there another seasoned trail horse you can ride a time or two to gain confidence? Then get back on your own horse and just go. Ride with a friend, stay close to home. Try not to think about it, sing a song or something-distract yourself!

"Hiding it" just doesn't work.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Go out after your arena work, as a reward. Sing a song as you go. Singing keeps you from holding your breath, clamping your jaw, and all those other symptoms of tension.


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

Start by finding a riding partner to go out with you that has a great trail horse and knows your apprehensions and doesn't stretch your limits.


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## Textan49 (Feb 13, 2015)

Left Hand Percherons said:


> Start by finding a riding partner to go out with you that has a great trail horse and knows your apprehensions and doesn't stretch your limits.


 One understanding riding partner with a steady trail horse is better than going out in a larger group. Keep it simple and short until you get your confidence. I am not going to say that the correct mindset will eliminate all possibility of something happening but it DOES help. If you do find yourself thinking about things that happened on previous rides turn it around and think how well you or your horse handled it and put it out of your head. I had a student fall off her horse once and respond with a smile as she climbed back up "I tried to land on my feet and I DID IT" Think positive.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Hey you aren't alone!! Hills send me into an anxiety attack because I've had a horse bolt down one and I thought I was going to die.

Thankfully for me, trails are my horse's favourite thing and when I'm feeling less than confident, he remains calm which helps me to get through my fear.

The best thing to do is keep it short, keep it fun, and keep it interesting.

Keep it short speaks for itself, but don't make your first trail of the year 2 hours long. Start with 30 minutes, for example

Keep it fun... sometimes you just have to stop and smell the pine trees. Don't look for spooky things, feel the wind in your hair and listen to the rustling leaves as your horse crunches them beneath his hooves. Watch how the sun highlights your horse's ear hair... anything to keep your mind off of worries. Just don't zone out, of course! Safety first.

And third, keep it interesting. Sometimes you should ask for something on a trail ride. Maybe a bigger walk, maybe some trot, maybe you find a clearing and decide to do a circle. Don't lose the attention of your horse!

In time it'll get better  Start small, build up!


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

" A coward dies many times his death, but the valiant only tastes of death but once".


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Skyseternalangel said:


> The best thing to do is keep it short, keep it fun, and keep it interesting.


:iagree:

Treat this the same way you would if it was the _horse_ that was nervous. You wouldn't expect the horse to _just get over it_, so not fair to expect that of yourself either!

Start out staying in your comfort zone.. maybe that means working in the arena, then going out to walk the farm for 5 minutes. When you can do that and not have anxiety, do it for 8 minutes. Or walk in the paddock 4 minutes and then walk down the driveway the last minute. Just small baby steps that slowly build on themselves with good experiences.

And I second greentree's suggestion of singing. Nursery rhymes (think twinkle twinkle little star or row row row your boat) or any other brainless song that you don't need to think about.

Another thing to practice, as counter-intuitive as it seems, is emergency dismount/falling. Most people worry about falling off and having their horse run off more than they worry about falling and being hurt. Teach your horse to stick around after you have come out of the saddle. You may feel like an idiot while you are doing it, but it will give you confidence when you get out on trail.


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## tim62988 (Aug 30, 2012)

can you borrow someone else's horse to build your trail confidence?

that may be a good start to rebuild your confidence so then you can convey that off to your horse as well when you are ready to take him back out with you


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## Reiningcatsanddogs (Oct 9, 2014)

I just got back from a trail ride this morning where we worked hills, wasn't really the plan but Oliver sometimes decides hills exist for running just to keep me on my toes. I live in the Texas Hill Country, so as the name implies nearly every trail has hills (and lots of rocks). 

What we did was start with easy gentle slopes (a paved low traffic road), up and down, staying at a walk. Timing is critical, the second you feel him tense up to run, rate him back before he really gets the first step in. 

We worked up to gentle slopes with big rocks, little rocks, then more gradual hills until we were doing some fairly steep rocky ones. That is where your balance is really, really important so don't forget to help your horse out on that. 

If it takes ten times on the easy one until the horse is doing it right, then it takes ten times before you move on to the next one. If it takes _you_ twenty times to commit what you need to do to rudimentary muscle memory, get a feel for the horse and build your confidence, then it takes twenty times. Don't move on until you are ready. 

That's what I love about trails; "It's like a box of chocolates, you never know what kind you are going to get." and try, try again. 

Take your time, build your confidence (and your horse's) slowly and it will become less scary.


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## crazeepony (Dec 8, 2013)

Oh yes singing works great. I like Irish ballads. I was in this situation so I stopped trail riding. I worked on MY riding, balance, confidence, and confidence in my own ability to handle challenges. The horse is looking for YOUR leadership and if it isn't there, they don't want to be your partner. I went back to where I felt safe so when he spooked or did anything weird, I didn't feel rattled. I remember the day when a jump blew over in the arena right as I rode past. It was very windy and my horse bolted but I stopped him and I wasn't scared. I knew then I was ready for the next challenge. It is okay to take your time. Getting hurt is no fun but much of getting hurt is being too cocky when you aren't really prepared. Listen to your own instinct. There is a time to be bold and a time to go slow.


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## phoenix (Jun 7, 2010)

I had the worst anxiety about trail riding, some bad experiences had made it very un-enjoyable for me. That was about 3 years ago. I found one lovely person who would go with me, listened when I told her what I was having issues with and was nice enough to keep our trails either short and slow or long and slow, depending on how I was feeling/how the horse was acting. 

My horse was spooky, bucked and was super anxious too. We built our confidence together, slowly and surely. We'd do short trails, follow the other horse. Now my horse leads and is so much better, his confidence growing helped my confidence. When we have a good ride I think of how positive it was, then when I go out again if I'm feeling a bit anxious I just tell myself 'we can do this, we've done it before.'

Singing or talking helps. If you go out with someone else keep the conversation flowing, talk about anything and everything. Tell your riding partner all the good things about your horse, you'll have so much to say you won't have time to worry about what might happen. Remember horses live in he now... So your horse won't remember the bad pride you had last week, so he might spook, all horses spook. If he does, calm him down and carry on like nothing happened, take some deep breaths and carry on talking. 

Good luck!


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## womack29 (Oct 30, 2011)

I had a major anxiety attack a year ago on a trail ride and I have been trail riding for years. I read the book riding fear free by Laura Daley it helped me. Your horse knows when you are nervous. I can say I have an awesome trail horse but I have had some times due to anxiety that made her not so awesome. Take baby steps and you will get there


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

Its amazing to me how much a horse can read us.

I ride a green horse.

The last 2 weeks I have been riding him on all sorts of trails with loads of potential spooks.

Because I have learned how much a horse does read our feelings I have learned to control my fear, laugh lots, and ride with confidence. 

My horse did look at things he thought might be spooky but he never did spook. Every time an ear turned towards something I got his attention on me again. We went across loud and scary bridges, deer jumping out of brushs,rough spots, brush covered trails, black stumps and rocks, wolf hair etc. He did incredibly well.

I credit that towards riding with confidence. Cheri has a thread on here about training a fearless trail horse. Because of that thread I totally changed my riding habits and have seen the horses make great strides due to her advice.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Nothing like a broke calm horse to make trail riding fun and relaxing!
Thus, make sure you have basics on a horse, before riding them out. Never let them learn lunge up a hill, and make them walk down .
It does not take a good horse long, to negotiate steep trails, both up an down, with the rider giving him a slack rein
if you do ride with others, be fussy as to who you ride with. Horses feed off each other, and if you ride with horses that prance and dance, get on the muscle , your horse will follow suit
No loping on a trail, UNLESS, everyone in that group is comfortable in doing so
i really enjoy riding in the mountains esp.


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## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

I agree sooooo much with everything ChitChat just said. 

The hardest part is this: You guys are walking along a trail and you see those ears start to move around. You KNOW something is coming. You just know your horse is going to want to bolt, spin, whatever it is that get's you. *Then you give a little nudge and say to yourself and your horse, "it's nothing."* And just like that...it really is nothing. The focus is back on you and crisis adverted.

Getting to that point and actually DOING this is the hardest part IMO. But once you go through that- just one time, you are golden. For me also, Cheri's thread on how to train a fearless trail horse has helped me leaps and bounds.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

Textan49 said:


> One understanding riding partner with a steady trail horse is better than going out in a larger group. Keep it simple and short until you get your confidence.


 Amen to this. 

Also...Don't ride with idiots or idiots riding idiots.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

OP my fear of trail riding, and hills, is slowly diminishing!!!

You just have to get out there and face your fears!!! It'll happen! It really will!


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## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

The way I got over fear is to go on a very long ride (30 km over 6 hours) with a reputable trail riding company. Their horses are as close to bomb proof as possible and know their jobs. Interestingly, the same method got me over my fear of canter.

Now I have a different problem: I'm scared of the arena :/ 
I'll happily canter on trails, up and down hills, through low-hanging branches, through water, but I'm still scared of cantering, or even trotting the same horses in the arena, especially when there are other horses present. Brain is a weird, weird thing.


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## hollysjubilee (Nov 2, 2012)

*"Every time an ear turned towards something I got his attention on me again."*
 --ChitChatChet

The most important thing . . . to KNOW that you know how to get your horse's attention on YOU and not on the scary things or nutty riders/horses that may be with you. You can work on this in a small area with distractions on the outside of an arena if you are unsure about how to do it on trail, and when you know you can keep the horse's attention on you and get him to respond to YOU, then ride him out on easy, short distances from the barn . . . then further and further . . . 
Have a plan in place for what you will do if:
Dogs charge
Deer jump up on the trail
Pheasants fly up from the ground
Grocery bags blow across the trail
Motorcycles come from the front or behind
What will you do when you come to water
etc.

If you know how to keep your horse's attention and know how to get him to face the scary things, then you can have confidence to take him anywhere. It's possible. 

One thing that might help that I did with all my students, young or older:
I would walk along with the horse and rider and would trot out in front, run out in front, stop, turn, etc., and it was the rider's responsibility to do what I did, but not pass me. It taught the rider to be focused, and when we're focused, then our horses will be focused. (so never focus on the scary thing!!! lol) Keep your focus on keeping your horse's attention and getting him to respond to you, not on his environment.


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## teakwood (Aug 20, 2014)

I'm kind of going thru something similar. I have two horses to ride. My 22 year old pretty much steady eddy and a 10 year old. Both Arabs. The 10 year old I got last fall. She bucked me off once but that was a saddle issue. Ever since I got a saddle that fits her, she has never offered to buck. But that's STILL in my head. I don't totally trust her. The funny thing is is that she's LESS reactive than my 22 year old!! But I'm afraid to ride her on weekends when EVERYONE is out. I'll ride her on weekdays and I'm getting better on her and going out of my comfort zone a bit more each time I ride her. My husband is a good, confident rider so I have him ride her also. So this weekend, he's going to ride her. The thing is.. is that I know they know when a less confident rider is on them! But I'm hoping with him riding her more when stuff is going on, she'll just get more exposure and she'll deal with things a bit better in time. And I will need to step it up in time but I"m not ready yet. GEEZE.. it makes no sense in my head because the 10 year old is more confident in wooded trails (unless someone is hiding in the bushes!) and the 22 year old is more leary but the older one has never bucked in her life and is totally fine passing other horses on the trail. I used to be a fearless endurance rider and now I have fear. All I can say is.... slow and easy steps. It does help to ride a steady eddy horse to gain some confidence but for me anyway, it doesn't transfer over that easy to one that you're not so confident on. I WISH it was that way!


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