How To Calm My Nerves During Horseback???

As I told you, I fell off the horse at horseback riding last Sunday.Now, I have a lesson again today.They will pair me up with a better horse this time, but I'm still nervous!Any stories of horseback riding, or any tips on staying confident and calm would be great!!!

Oh, and I have one more question.

Horseback riding lessons are outside, and it is freezing cold.
How can I keep myself warm, when I can't wear snow pants.It was so cold last time, I got sick the next day.

i remember my first fall. i was 9. I think it was more of a shock than pain. over my lifetime of riding, i have fallen 24 times( yep, i keep count) but my mom told me that the more you fall, the more you learn from your mistakes( this doesnt mean that if you fall, you will be a better rider immediatley, hehe)
anyway, i was scared the first time, but as the years came by i learned more. when you fall(unless you are badly hurt) the best thing to do is to get up on the horse again. EVERY rider has fallen or will fall sometime in their life. its just part of the sport.

An advice i can give you is to be sure to have your heels down while riding. this helps you keep balance. and again, falling is a part of riding.there is nothing to worry about.

Have fun!



(ps, try to wear tights under the riding pants. there are also some stores that sell winter riding pants, which are a little thicker than the normal ones. )

to anser ur first question, i had the same problem, but i never fell off again, i just didnt even thnk about it and i jst relaxed. It will be ok. for the second question, just bundle up with a sweatshirt and coat. That should warm u up. Even wear a scarf or a turtleneck. GOOD LUCK!!!

I dont think you will fall off again dont think about it just think about today leave last weeks fall in the past. you well do fine. and dress warm.good luck.

Hey, I use to have that same problem.
But I got over it.

You just have to trust you horse. You also have to see through his/her eyes.
Think about how many people ride that horse a day...You know, horses can tell when your nervous, and take the advantage. How?
Well, they do this .. think of it this way:
Your nervous, the horse is tired.
When you are nervous, you truely don't have that much controll of the horse, so the horse is thinking, "hey, this kid is not in that much controll, maybe ill take over and do what I want."
You just have to have trust in your horse. Get on his/her good side :P

and to ur second question:
Been there, done that, If you wanna wear gloves, make sure that they have grip on the palm side of the glove, better with the reins.
just dont wear a big coat, but, put on layers,
2shirts,
long sleave shirt..
coat.
jacket.
somethign like that. and also, that way if you get a bit hot, but still kinda cool, you can just take off each layer.one by one.
Your welcome.

HAVE FUN!
鈾?Kim.

Just think about looking forward don't think your on a big tall horse. If you get a motorcycle jacket its a grate wind breaker, keeps you very warm. If the horse isn't scared of a ski mask you could wear that too.

Just enjoy the moment , just try to push the thought of falling in the back of your mind . Keep telling yourself that you are doing fine , and that you have people with you just in case there is a sticky situation . I fell off once , but you just have to get back on the horse , and live your life as you want it !

As for the cold thing , maybe you can put some chaps if you have them on so you just don't have jeans or something ? Thats what i do , it works quite well ! :]]

Hope i helped,
morganluverX10

I'd invest in some underarmour (like football players use) if you can, it's slim so it fits under english riding jodphurs(breeches) and it won't restrict your movement and it will keep you nice and toasty warm. Now-a-days you can find it almost anywhere, i got mine at super walmart for a really great price. You can also buy insulated riding pants that have fleece on the inside and they're sooo comfy and warm! i sometimes when its really cold wear a bandana or a hat even uner my helmet and to make sure your feet are warm you can wear more than one pair of socks. Wear gloves and a winter coat or layer with sweatshirts.As for your nerves, I'm going to let you in on a riding secret. Everyone falls sometime. I don't care who they are or if they're an olymipc/grand prix rider at some point they'll fall. You just took one for the teama bit early in your career. Don't get discouraged and don't stop riding. It's okay to be nervous after something like a fall happens, its a scary thing. But the most important thing to do if just try to remember what you did wrong and fix it. If you fell last time cause you let your heels slide up, then this time focus on heels down heels down heels down and you'll forget about being nervous in the first place. When i get on a horse i've never riden before or a problem horse the fisr thing i do (this is silly) is i start singing a tim mcgraw song (123 like a bird i sing) and it helps me relax and get use to the horse. As time goes on you will find a little quirk that's going to help you relax and calm down and be comfortable in the saddle and a time will come that you won't ever want to get off your horse!

A good exercise is to take a deep breath and let out a long, ragged breath. Imagine all your fears and anxiety leaving with the exhaled breath. This worked for me when I got nervous on horses.

As far as riding in the cold - thermal underwear is your friend. Gloves are always great and if you cannot wear more on the lower half, layer up on the upper half - this will help as you will not be spending so much time trying to warm your entire body, but just your lower half. Layering is better than just putting something bulky on. Layers help trap the heat. Layers are also better because you can remove them as you get warm and put them back on as you cool off again. This is better than sweating - sweating and wearing damp clothes will be more likely to make you sick.

when i used lesson horses, to calm my nerves i would get to the barn early and spend time with the horse. it helped a lot! bring a carrot or two and pet the horse as you groom him and tack him up.

as for your cold weather question, get a good pair of long underwear and thick breeches. i always wear a nice, thick pair of riding gloves and two pairs of high rise socks under my knee high boots.

i have fallen of around 7 or 8 times in the past year, i guess you could call me a crazy rider lol ;), and two of the times resulted in extreme injury. i never really got scared to get back on, but i will tell you what my trainer says to the young kids at the barn who take their first fall: count to ten and take a deep breath after every number you say. then, stick your foot in the stirrup and count to 5, using the same breathing system. next, swing yourself up and over, get your right foot in the stirrup, and take one deep breath. (while halted) and finally, and most importantly, FAKE CONFIDENCE! do this through out the whole ride! no matter how deathly scared you feel, FAKE IT! otherwise, your horse will sense your fear and try to take advantage of you. trust me, this works. i use it every time i fall off, which keeps me from being scared.
I really hope this helps!

Don't get back on a horse until YOUR ready, if you get that feeling in your gut that something bad is about to happen give yourself permission to get of.

well, it depends on what your definition of freezing cold is! haha...here, freezing cold means anything basically below -20 degrees celcius (I'm in Ontario, Canada) haha. For the most part, we ride inside during the fall/winter/spring just because of the temperatures and the footing outside. For really really cold temperatures, I will generally wear my breeches underneath jeans with half chaps. I also have the Ariat Arctic Lace paddock boots with enough room to wear from anywhere from 1-4 pairs of socks (layers will keep you the warmest). As for shirts, in the cold weather, I will generally wear a t-shirt, light long sleeved shirt, followed by a heavy sweatshirt, my down-filled vest (which is VERY warm) and my winter coat...and I usually end up peeling layers off because I end up working so hard. I also wear a pair of SSG gloves with Thinsulate to keep my hands warm (I also end up peeling these off eventually because my hands get so warm).

Some tips on staying confident in the saddle:
-breathe....can't stress this enough....as soon as you breathe, you relax and it will transfer to your horse and relax your horse
-think about simple things like rhythm....in posting trot simply count to yourself "1..2..1...2...1...2..." etc. It will keep your mind off of things that your horse may just be silly with
-think about your position....thumbs ontop? back straight? shoulders back? leg on? heel down? etc.

Falling off happens to the best of us - don't worry about it too much and you'll do fine. Think about anything EXCEPT falling off and you should be fine :D

If it makes you feel any better, I have fallen of MANY MANY times over the many years that I have been riding...in fact, I remember a good 4 years ago, in 2 days, I fell off the same mare 4 times! Twice in my lesson and twice at a show the next day. Nothing to feel bad about or get nervous about (but then again, that mare dumped A LOT of riders and even broke my friends nose once haha). I swear I fell off of that mare ssoo many times that I started to get good at it and was eventually able to land on my feet (almost like a half fall half hop off type deal).

k first question, Just keep thinking that even the greatest riders fall off once in a while, and your not a ture horseback rider untill you fall off.When you first get up, and start to feel nervous, just take some deep breaths to calm yourself
second quetion, which part of your body is cold? your upper body or lower body? if its your upper body, were layers and layers of think sweaters and long sleave shirts, as well as a big coat, and dubble pad your mitts. If its your lower body, try wereing legging under your jenes(sp?)

I am a germaphobe so I know that you CANNOT get sick from being cold, you get sick from bacteria!
Anyway there are full-seat breaches that you can buy or you can wear long underwear under your breeches to keep warm. Wear a hat and earmuffs under your helmet and jackets and coats (layer up)