Don't know if I want to keep riding

[DawgLady]

I was so lucky to find my senior gelding a perfect step down job. I am SO thankful to my trainer for finding these people! I’m happy for him and his new rider. They’re nearby so I can go watch and visit at any time.

I thought I’d be very excited about looking for a new horse, but I’m not. Part of me says “give yourself time,” but there’s another part of me that says, “I love horses! Keep going! Finding the right horse will make it fun again.” So I’m totally conflicted.

Anyone been in this mental space before?

[SugarCubes]

Yes! Similar situation to yours, I had leased out my senior gelding to the perfect short stirrup kiddo and once his lease was up he was going to come home to retire. I bought a young, green warmblood and for the first year I had her I questioned what the hell I was thinking. I missed the horse I knew inside and out. I let my trainer do a majority of the riding the first year because I just wasn’t super excited about riding her. But then, things started to change the more I got to know and trust her. I’ve had her almost two years now, and the second year with her has been amazing. I have her and my retired gelding at home now, and prefer riding her over him!

It was hard though, and I completely can understand how you’re feeling and think it’s totally normal to have some doubts. How long did you have your senior gelding? Give yourself all the time you need, sit on as many horses as you can until you really click with one. And then don’t expect that things will be amazing off the bat, it may take you several months or a year to feel the same trust and partnership that you had with your old horse. Be patient with yourself!

[Calvincrowe]

Absolutely! When I had to retire my faithful, easy, reliable horse who took me from low hunters to low jumpers and made it fun, I was crushed. We knew each other and I couldn’t fathom the time and effort it would take to find that again with a new horse. I did take a few months off before starting to look again. I poked around on the internet, looking at sales sites, and asked my trainer to do so as well. I found a cute new jumper that fit pretty well, but my goals changed and she proved to not be the horse for me…so we started over again. UGH! Again took a few months off, but occasionally rode a few school horses and had fun doing tiny jumps and joining different lesson groups. Then my trainer presented me with a new horse— a super hunter stepping down from the 3’6" with a bit of maintenance needed.

My first ride was awful! New horse wanted to be ridden a whole different way than my jumpers had been. The transition has been fraught with mistakes on my part and lots of equine eyerolling. Thank god new horse is kind, kind, kind, forgiving and rock steady when I get it mostly right.

This is a long post to say-- been there, done that. If you truly still like riding, take a few months off, ride some schoolies, step down and have a bit of fun, look for a new one slowly.

[DawgLady]

Thank you SO much for your answer! Yes, it’s an identical situation.

I was actually planning on the trainer doing the majority of rides for the first year (because I can only afford a nice horse if it’s a greenie). I guess that means that year one, it’s okay that I’m not out there ALL the time like I was with my gelding. Thanks for reminding me of that.

I have a little case of FOMO going on, too. I see these beautiful horses’ ads pop up and think “c’mon, jump on this one! It’s special!” But then I still feel kind of apathetic about it. Maybe I just haven’t seen The One yet.

[SugarCubes]

@DawgLady

Thank you SO much for your answer! Yes, it’s an identical situation.

I was actually planning on the trainer doing the majority of rides for the first year (because I can only afford a nice horse if it’s a greenie). I guess that means that year one, it’s okay that I’m not out there ALL the time like I was with my gelding. Thanks for reminding me of that.

I have a little case of FOMO going on, too. I see these beautiful horses’ ads pop up and think “c’mon, jump on this one! It’s special!” But then I still feel kind of apathetic about it. Maybe I just haven’t seen The One yet.

Absolutely! It was actually pretty fun to watch my trainer develop a talented baby horse (but there were some moments I was also very glad I wasn’t in the saddle ) and it was also a humbling experience to ride her when she was still pretty green, but she’s made me a better rider for it!

Wishing you the best of luck on this journey! As hard as it is to move on from the Saintly Unicorn, just remember there’s another unicorn out there ready to capture your heart…whether a week from now or a year from now! And you’ll HAVE to update us when you find him/her

[Postandrails]

I’ve only ever had one horse that I fell completely in love with immediately. The rest were all horses I liked which led to relationships that developed as we got to know each other.