Confidence.

Today I was reading a section in Horse and Rider magazine to do with a reader's confidence issue, it was in the 'Q&A' (question and answers) section below is what the article said the part in bold is the question in bold and italics is the answer so here goes; 

'I was recently bucked off and tramples. I have now developed a fear of horses, although I would love to work in the equine industry, which has been a life-long dream of mine. How can I overcome my fear?' 

'A career with horses can be very rewarding, but it does carry risks and accepting the risk of injury is important as well as well as learning to stay as safe as possible. Understanding why your accident happened and why you horse bucked is important when trying to regain confidence. Bucking can be caused by a variety of things, including pain, excitement, poorly-fitting tack or a rider fault. I'd recommend enrolling on a course such as the BHS Horse Owner's Certificates, Stage Exams or an Equine Behaviour course to understand more about horse psychology and how to keep yourself safe. When confidence has been lost with horses and riding, it is important to regain it handling them before you attempt to ride again. I would advise you therefor, to find out where your nearest BHS-approved riding school is, have a chat with the staff and see whether there is an opportunity for you to do some voluntary work there. Riding schools often want sensible volunteers, and it would five you the perfect opportunity to gain your confidence with well0mannered horse and qualified staff to advise you. It is important that when you feel ready to ride, you do so within a safe environment. I would advise a BHS-approved riding school for lessons. You can then be sure that instructors are qualified and that they have experience with teaching the nervous rider, and that the facilities are suitable.'

Boy, did that take a long time to type out but it was something that got me thinking, and it made me wonder what you would all think about what they advise you to do when having a lack of confidence. I know when I fell off Arthur (the first time) we were working on jumping a course, which is something that I had done in the previous course, and for ages I over thought about what had happened, constantly blaming different things for why I had fallen off the main one being that Arthur hated me, when in actual fact it wasn't Arthur's fault all that had happened was that I lost my balance, my foot came out of my stirrup and then I fell off. When I stopped over analysing it, it was that simple to understand what had happened. But it did not change the fact that the next time I got on Arthur I didn't feel that happy at all, and still to a certain point do not like riding Arthur, but it is a mental black and something that I AM going to work on so that I can ride him with the confidence I have riding Jake who in many ways is a LOT more dangerous than riding Arthur. I found that with time after a fall and riding a horse that you trusted and knew well that your confidence slowly started to grow.

So what are you thoughts on confidence issue's do you think that is something that in time you can get over, especially when in such an extreme case as the reader felt when she wrote in to 'Horse and Rider Magazine'. I think that in time it is something that you can over come but it something that you have to have the right mental attitude to do as my mum would always say! 

I'm back off to read my magazine and watch 'Red and Black', if there is anything else in my magazine that I decide to write about I will post again later! 

Until Next Time 

A Girl With A Dream.