scared to death!

[servent63]

Hi, I have only been riding since November of 03, and I have been taking lessons, and doing ok, my confidence level was getting very good, I had a couple of "spill":rolleyes: , but I got over them.

Well, I purchased my "first" horse, and 16.3 hand quarterhorse appendex, and things were going good, I had no fear at all, and then we were out in the field and I asked him to trot, and he trotted, and then cantered(without being asked), so I put all the things I have learned into practice to no avail, so at about 25-30 miles per hour I bailed, was knocked out and really hurt by elbow and a mild concussion(no helmet, and don't worry I learned my lesson:( )

So, I have now found a wonderful even temperment 15 year old morgan who is so gentle, but I am scared something bad is going to happen! How long will I have these feelings and when will I get my confidence up to the level it was before the accident.

[KarinUS]

I am worried about you too. The horse may have not necessarily been your problem. Once things go bad with a horse you need to stay in control or they can spiral fast.

For example you could ask for a trot, he trots, he falls into a canter, you panic, he feels you panic and panics too, he runs faster, you get hurt, etc.

Please don't ride outside an enclosed area until you feel you will stay in control of the situation.
Congratulations on your new horse.
Just be sure you take precautions because no horse is 100% safe. They all can spook, act up, panic, etc under the right (well actually wrong) circumstances.
You bought a 'safer' horse. The next step will be for you to become a 'safer' rider. Wear a helmet. Stay in the arena for a little while. Limit your risk. Take lessons to learn how to deal with a bolting horse, etc.
Spend some time getting to know each other so you can learn totrust each other.

As far as the fear factor goes, start taking responsibility for what happened. You say he cantered without being asked and that's what caused the accident. It might be better if you started thinking about what you did that caused the accident (I hope this doesn't sound wrong. Please stick with me for a second. I promise I have a point).
Maybe you leaned forward and it gave the horse the cue to canter. Maybe your legs are still a bit unstable and he got bumped a bit and went into next gear.
Think about what you should have done once he took off.
What does thinking about what you did to let the situation develop rather than just blaming the horse do?
It puts you in control .
Not only will it give you a plan for next time, it will also make you feel more secure because you can change your own actions. You are in control.

Hope this didn't come out wrong and hopefully has some helpful ideas...

[T-bred]

I agree, with limited riding experience you probably should not have been riding in anything other then an arena,and you should NEVER go without a helmet no matter how experienced you are. Congratulation on your new horse!!!!

Anna

[servent63]

Dear Karin,
No I don't take your email harsh at all! Thank you for your advice.
Funny you should say that because after I came to and shook the cobbwebbs out, the first thing I said was "ok, what did I do wrong?" I was with my instructor out in that field, and she said it LOOKED at a running gallop, that I was doing everything right, but he got behind that bit and see ya!
Well yesterday I learned that the woman who bought him from me had a student on him in the arena, and he did the SAME thing, and she was a advanced riding student, no beginner here!
Anyway, was this trainer friend who took him said is he was trained english and dressage, and apperently they squeze with their butt to make the horse stop, and I ride western, so he couln't feel the squeze cause I didn't. Another thing she noticed is that if you get off balance just a little, he takes off.
So the fact that I think it's me and not the horse is why I'm so scared, because I think I'm doing everything right, and I'm worried something is going to happen. I really want things to work out with Bo and I because he is a very trusting horse.

My plan of action is, to do some ground work, in the arena, and just get to know each other. I am doing some Pat Perelli natural horsemanship and taking lessons in that. Then I will ride inside at a walk because he is overweight and needs to be reconditioned.
The way I see it between him needing to go slow because he is a little out of shape, and me needing to go slow to build my confidence, I think we can learn from each other!

[Wally]

You were unfortunate in the fact you got a sensetive guy. You need a horse who doesn't take your lack of balance or commands made sub conciouisly too seriously.

Yes it may well have been you that told the horse to go without knowing, but we have horses who will do that...but we don't let novice riders ride them out of the school.

To learn you need to get on a sensetive chap sooner or later to learn what effect losses of balance and uncontrolled legs have.....but not yet, get your confidence back.

You seem to have found a better parnter in this Morgan, he can teach you.

Just a word, NEVER bail out, if you can stay on at gallop, stay there, the horse will look after himself 99 times out of 100, if you stick up you'll be find, don't panic (or try not to) it certain you'll get hurt if you bail, you stand a better chance if you stick with him and tell him sweet nothings in his ear, after all how far can a quarter horse go FAST?, not much further than a quater of a mile I suspect!:D :D ;)

Let ,me give you some sort of perspective. We have 20 horses, some need to be treated with respect and have a balanced, experienced, sober rider. the majority I'd ride with one arm behind my back blind drunk and they'd look afer me. You won't get the same experience with two horses. Look on the bright side.

[KarinUS]

servent,

I think that sounds like an excellent plan!

[Ruffiane]

What I've been taught to do when a horse is going faster than you want him to, or when he's just taken off at a gallop, is keep them moving in a circle. When he's pulling hard and off at a gallop, turn his head in one direction so he keeps going in tighter and tighter circles and eventually he'll stop.

The horse I ride most of the time just loves to go and go, but it's not always what I want (or what my instructor wants), so I keep her in a circle at one end of the ring for two reasons: it slows her down, but she's also responding and doing what *I* want her to do, not what she wants to do. My trainer told me, "Keep her busy doing what you want and ride in a circle."

I've found this a good strategy for a lot of quirks this horse has. She pulls her head a lot, mostly at a trot, but sometimes at a canter and always at a walk unless I let the reins ALL the way out. when she does that at another gait, I try to keep her focused on other things such as steering her and urging her to either keep going at the same pace or speed up a little bit. she likes to work and work hard. I think maybe she gets bored and it's fun to try to unseat me - which almost never happens.