I am having some issues and I dont know what to do. I love my Joe but I cannot get the fear out of my head. I sacked him out again today and I just had to get on him. It does not help that Brooke rode him a couple months ago and no one else. This was the second time i have crawled on his back since I hit the hard ground. He is such a good boy and so easy, but dang it, I cannot get this damn fear out of my head! It was different breaking Gabe because I had friends to help. I had Shelly to get on Gabe and ride the bucking out and fight with him. I dont have that here. Not on a consistent basis. Yeah, Brooke rode him a few times, but that was not enough! Shelly was always at the barn and always around me to help me get through those rough spots. I dont have anyone like that now and I really cannot get this fear out of my head.
I have Dodie to help down in Jasper. She offered to ride him for me and help me out but there is a fee and money is so tight that I may not even be able to run any big races. Right now, I want to give up running just to be able to ride Joe. BUT my "jobs" depend on me to go to these big shows and promote the products! AND Gabe is finally in the shape that he needs to be in to make good runs! We are beginning to fix out little issues and perfect our runs! But Joe has soooo much ability and is such a NICE horse. After I walked him a round a little today in the round pen, he did spook and it did scare me. BUT I stayed on and walked him over to the horse eating monster then we did a couple more little things and I got off before he could spook again. I am spooked. Me being scared is NOT helping the situation! I am so freaked out about that hard cold ground that I am in turn feeding my negative energy to him. :( I have been sitting here crying about it for a couple hours. I was crying about it as I rode Gabe around as well. I just dont know what to do.
1 comment:
Rach-
Remember what I told you a long time ago. A good horse is a good horse. But a great one... a great one will challenge you on every level as a rider. It takes, fight, heart, and courage to complete the package and without one there is no whole... Remember how many times Gabe and I were in an all out WAR, and how many times I made you ride through the rough patches... And now look what you have. A fantastic horse. Joe could be your next one. It all goes back to what I told you at Diamond tragedy... You have to believe in your ability as a rider to handle what comes your way, but the best thing about a good rider is that they know when to STEP OFF or FALL SOFT! That being said, it is natural to have a healthy fear of the fall and give that more respect as you get older. No longer will we do crazy shit like running hell for leather down the medians of "aggie motor speedway". But you have acquired a natural rhythm with a horse over the years, as every rider will. You just need to retrain yourself to ride different horses differently. Remember that I always rode Gabe different than I rode Jay Dee. Gabe was broke but needed seasoning and handle. Jay Dee was NOT broke. You couldn't ride the 2 horses the same. when you get on one that is not broke no matter the age you have to approach the horse differently. Now.. the way to break yourself to break your horse in is to return to the comfortable old shoe... What did I do with Jay when I was trying to season him... I used him to pony GABE.. Let the new horse use the broke horse to bring calm confidence to both himself and you. Let Gabe be a calming influence.Start with the round pen then move out. Use the longe line.. have Jeff standing there til the horse will walk, trot and lope with you on him on a longe line in the round pen without a quiver, then move the longing outside, then back to the round pen with no longe line and jeff in the middle, then jeff out, then you/horse with jeff out, then just you. Retrain yourself to ride an unbroke horse. This help to set you at ease.
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