frightened, how can i help??

[lamprellsarah]

this lady is very scared of her horse (Fredie) she won't ride him she had a bad fall from him, as he is very very nervous of everything i said i would give her lessons on mine and then on Fredie and in the mean time i am riding him but i can only do it once a week, because i can not get up there.

he's not nasty, he's 6 and not been handled very well gets away with a lot, on the ground and off.

today was the first time to see him, he learnt straight away, there would be no messing on the ground and he fully respects it and is fantastic, they said they had never seen he be so well behaved!!
but riding he was good better than they had seen him as i am a very confident rider, but still baby him, he learnt quickly and we made progress he went in front regularly, and he had less panic attacks, he also had his first canter and gallop!!

but i feel me riding him out once a week is not enough, and my other friend ride him 2 times a week but can't do a lot at all as he is absoutley awful on his own a real handful, and she is worried about getting someone to loan him,

how can i help?? what else will get his confidence?? it's his owner thats made him like ti she's a ball of nerves yet veyr sttached to him!! when i take him out on his own he won't even move!! and once he gets so far he tries everything to pull you home!! he used to pull carts but he won't do that now!!
help!!! any ideas???

[Rakeli]

If she's very attached to him but can't really ride him, why don't you suggest that she does Parelli Natural Horse-man-ship with him? It's basically a way of training that imitates the way horses behave in the wild, and increases the bond felt between horse and rider. All of the training starts on the ground, so there's no worries about riding, and you don't have to ride until you feel confident about it.

Check out www.parelli.biz (it's a very good website) because I think that this would really help them both, and give her more confidence that she can ride her own horse and give him more confidence in his owner.

Hope this helps.

[Piaffe]

The owner should have lessons on a regular basis and spend plenty of time with him - getting to know him.

I am assuming she hasn't had him very long - you and your friend could help by encouraging her to do little things each day, by herself, with her horse. She needs to get back on him with confident and capable people around her - let her know there is no rush to hack out, jump, canter or gallop - just sticking to walking and trotting in the school, grooming, mucking out with the horse nearby etc etc.

Once she gets to know him from the ground, and he gets to know her, I am sure her confidence will improve. Plenty of support from her friends will also help. At the end of the day, its her horse and the reason she bought him was for herself, not everybody else - continue to help by riding him out occasionally, but most of all try to encourage her to do as much as she can without feeling scared or nervous.