[QUOTE=sketcher;6979636]
The above 100% although I will say that when I was younger I could ride any horse away from the barn - horses that their owners were afraid to take out of the ring sometimes either because, well, they never rode out of the ring or they were just scared of their own horse or had tried it with bad result. And because of the above-mentioned abundance of confidence I could generally hop on anything and take it for a trail ride with the above-mentioned attitude.
Once in a while one of them was a bit spooky but we could get the job done and after a few rides the spookiness would generally be better. Very, very rarely was there a horse that was just not cut out for it and it was not worth even trying because while you could go out on a trial ride it was far from relaxing or enjoyable and just never took the edge off them but this was very rare.
Once I took several years off from riding and gained a bit of weight, my overabundance of self confidence is - lets just say - no longer overabundant, and am sure that I would not just hop on any old strange horse and amble away without a care in the world like I used to.
It make me realize though how much of this type of issue is most often in the riders head, not the horse’s.
Sometimes it helps to get one of those fearless kids and let them trail ride your horse for a while. One who will hop on and just naturally assume they will not have a care in the world. Usually those kids are not in need of spurs or a crop, with the right kid the horse just feels it’s ok…[/QUOTE]
I loved this post.
Where are those fearless kids? I think there are fewer and fewer with the absence of Westerns on TV, and the suburbanization and urbanization of society so fewer girls are exposed to horses. I wish I knew a fearless horsecrazy kid. I wish I were a fearless horsecrazy kid. Aw those were the days…
