Hello, I've been riding for a while and two years ago bought my first ever horse of my very own. I am 54 and Leam, my Connemara is 20. He's a schoolmaster and I am learning. I used to ride at a riding school alongside my daughter when she was 8 years old and now she's 21 and working in a wonderful Event Yard and currently between owning horses having jus sold her lovely Timmy and looking for a new challenge. We both love riding and it bonds us massively. I am looking for like-minded people to chat about horsey things. I just put into the search engine 'I can't seem to get any better at riding' and found you guys! Looking forward to getting to know you and boosting my confidence and enjoying riding again.
A little introduction
- Thread starter Diana Pattenden
- Start date
It doesn't look like I'm a 'new rider' here. This was my first ever fun ride and I wasn't intending on anything other than trotting round and watching the others go for it. As it happened it was the best ride of my life so far. Since then my confidence has plummeted. I have a lesson today that I am dreading and I don't seem to be able to execute the instructions and am stuck in a rut of rubbish technique.
If you are brave enough to go on a fun ride like that then your confidence will come back. i have a veteran who i bought when he was 19, he was a school master in theory but not in practice. He gets highly excited on fun rides, we try to do it solo if we can.
I did a lot of training with a Natural Horsemanship person, at first i found it totally baffling, I lacked coordination and timing but when i finally clicked and understood it I was able to tease him by pointing out when he was a bit late in reacting etc. When i went to look at trainers, there were some i ruled out as no way could i work with them, would have been too demoralised or put down by them.
If you dread lessons, maybe think about whether you and the instructor are right for each other? Beautiful horse, just have FUN.
Hello and welcome to NR, youāre braver than me doing a fun ride! But then my confidence has been up and down like a yoyo. Do you what caused your loss of confidence or is it just the lessons that worry you? There are lots of very experienced people on here who Iām sure can offer up some sound advice or just those of us who are happy to be a sounding board if you need it.
Wonderful photo by the way, thank you for sharing.
Wonderful photo by the way, thank you for sharing.
Hello and welcome 
I love connies I talk a good job when it comes to confidence, but then bottle out in real life, so probably not the best person to advise you. However, I'll look forward to reading more - and hopefully you'll get some good advice. And yeah, I think you were brave doing that fun ride! It looked very fast paced. I did a charity ride once - it scared the pants off me, but actually did me good because everything I did afterwards seemed nothing compared.
I love connies I talk a good job when it comes to confidence, but then bottle out in real life, so probably not the best person to advise you. However, I'll look forward to reading more - and hopefully you'll get some good advice. And yeah, I think you were brave doing that fun ride! It looked very fast paced. I did a charity ride once - it scared the pants off me, but actually did me good because everything I did afterwards seemed nothing compared.
Hello and welcome! I think my technique is probably shocking now - I've been riding over 30 years, owned my own for 27, and if anything, I'm worse now than when I started, but my chubby cob doesn't seem to care. Concentrate on the bits you enjoy, and if that means just hacking out and having fun, then so be it. If your horse is happy and forward, you can't be doing too badly. I used to love lessons, but now I just enjoy pootling round the forest. Agree too, that maybe you and your instructor are perhaps not gelling. Lovely horse by the way!
If that's your Connie you're on, lucky you, what a gorgeous pony. I had an Irish connie X until a couple of years ago, he was my best and only pony.
Lots of people on here wrestle with their confidence even though they are what I would consider to be good and experienced riders. There is a lot about riding that is scary! Do keep talking to us, we'll always help where we can.
Lots of people on here wrestle with their confidence even though they are what I would consider to be good and experienced riders. There is a lot about riding that is scary! Do keep talking to us, we'll always help where we can.
Hello and welcome I love Leam, no way he looks 20. What a fab photo too.
Confidence is a very strange thing. Sometimes it pays not to overthink things (like technique) and just enjoy doing the little things. I'm 58 and got my first ever horse 11 years ago. I've only recently started enjoying lessons and feeling like I am making progress lol. I think my instructor has given up trying to make me bend my body into shapes it no longer finds achievable and we just make do with what I can manage
I love Leam, no way he looks 20. What a fab photo too.Confidence is a very strange thing. Sometimes it pays not to overthink things (like technique) and just enjoy doing the little things. I'm 58 and got my first ever horse 11 years ago. I've only recently started enjoying lessons and feeling like I am making progress lol. I think my instructor has given up trying to make me bend my body into shapes it no longer finds achievable and we just make do with what I can manage
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