I posted 3 weeks ago after having my first ever fall during a lesson. It wasn't a bad one at all- I was winded and bruised but got back on and finished the lesson, and I didn't think it had really affected me psychologically...but apparently it has
My lesson the week after was an absolute disaster. I stayed on, but that's only because I spent most of the half-hour plodding around doing very little.
In my defence, I don't think it was just the fall- it was absolutely pouring with rain, the ground was very wet, it was Tilly's first lesson of the day and she wasn't in the mood at all, and I had a different RI to normal, plus I'd just found out about 5 minutes before my lesson that my OH is being made redundant so my head wasn't in the right place at all! But I do think the fall has knocked my confidence a lot more than I expected.
Basically whenever I got to the corner of the arena where I fell, my brain would just go "nope" and I'd automatically pull on the reins, slowing Tilly from trot to walk, then expend a lot of energy getting her going again, only to do the same thing in the same corner. It didn't matter which rein I was on, I just couldn't get past the mental block. To make it worse, Tilly slipped and lost her footing a little at one point and although I stayed on, I burst into tears! The instructor was lovely about it and didn't push me but I felt like such a wally. A few weeks ago, before the fall, I was confident with what I was doing and enjoying every lesson, now I feel like I'm right back at square one.
I didn't have a lesson last week because my RI was away, but I've got one this afternoon and for the first time ever, I'm nervous.
Is there anything I can do to get over this new fear of falling or is it something that will fade with time and experience?
TIA!
My lesson the week after was an absolute disaster. I stayed on, but that's only because I spent most of the half-hour plodding around doing very little.
In my defence, I don't think it was just the fall- it was absolutely pouring with rain, the ground was very wet, it was Tilly's first lesson of the day and she wasn't in the mood at all, and I had a different RI to normal, plus I'd just found out about 5 minutes before my lesson that my OH is being made redundant so my head wasn't in the right place at all! But I do think the fall has knocked my confidence a lot more than I expected.
Basically whenever I got to the corner of the arena where I fell, my brain would just go "nope" and I'd automatically pull on the reins, slowing Tilly from trot to walk, then expend a lot of energy getting her going again, only to do the same thing in the same corner. It didn't matter which rein I was on, I just couldn't get past the mental block. To make it worse, Tilly slipped and lost her footing a little at one point and although I stayed on, I burst into tears! The instructor was lovely about it and didn't push me but I felt like such a wally. A few weeks ago, before the fall, I was confident with what I was doing and enjoying every lesson, now I feel like I'm right back at square one.
I didn't have a lesson last week because my RI was away, but I've got one this afternoon and for the first time ever, I'm nervous.
Is there anything I can do to get over this new fear of falling or is it something that will fade with time and experience?
TIA!