At 02:49:01 on 09.12.11, KklovesJunior wrote:
Hi, I just wanted to post this so other riders can look at it and see that they are not the only ones who lost their nerve and how you got it back.I lost mine when a mare kicked me. I got it back in lessons, and a new horse. Then when i fell of my lesson horse i completely lost all motivation to ride. I earned it back through being forced by my instructor to ride (thank heavens)and i realized that if i wanted to keep riding i would have to force myself. When with my own horse (and the mare that kicked me... in the back of the head...) i learned to trust both of them and realized i had completely regained my nerve when i got the urge to ride the untrained (now trained) mare! If you don't give up your nerve will come back! It happens to everyone at least once! (the picture is 2 summers ago, when we trained her! this is the mare!and yes she WAS fat. gotta love her now!)

At 07:09:00 on 09.12.11, xXSuperSonicGinaXx wrote:
I lost my nerve with jumping :/ I cant really say one specific thing that did it but it was lots of little things that eventually ate away all of my self confidence. I am terrified of jumping, even tiny little 2ft jumps :/ The highest I've even jumped is 2ft 9 and that was on accident, horse jumped up over the high side of the poles. I would love to be able to jump confidently but I don't think I ever will. The strange thing is that with jumping I'm terrified but everything else I'm fine, I rode bareback for the first time last saturday and cantered on my first go so I'm not terrified of everything, its just jumping. Here's one of the last jumps I ever did before I got my loan. Despite its size going over this I was terrified!

At 22:57:40 on 09.12.11, KklovesJunior wrote:
I know! I fell off once jumping and i had always been nervous jumping and that ruined it for me, i would love to jump too but i dont think i will either... other than that I'm practacly fearless! lol

At 00:20:39 on 10.12.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
I lost my confidence completely when grenville threw me and trampled me when i first bought him at 14, well i lost it for a week lol as soon as i could get a new hat (mine was smashed) and it would fit over my swollen eye from where gren landed i was back on board, i feel so lucky i got straight back on as soon as i could and didn't have to sell him and go back to basics i just gave myself a good talking to although i was still apprehensive about riding him for a good month or so but now 3 and a half years on, me and grenville could take on the world ;)... Maybe lol

At 00:21:30 on 10.12.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
just thought i would give you all an idea how big he is cos you can really tell on this photo lol i am 6ft... :P he is HUGE!

At 14:54:03 on 11.12.11, Pattysgirl wrote:
After a number of horrible falls off different horses i totally lost all confidence and was terrified to even ride my own horses until about a month ago i hopped on my young tb who hadnt been ridden in about a year and he was perfect and now we're going to our first show together next month im also taking my little pally to his first show, im now more confident and will go out and ride by myself and have gained enough confidence to take my two horses out to a show. :)

At 18:52:15 on 11.12.11, momonigiri wrote:
Although I haven't ridden horses for about 10 years now, when I was in high school, I took an Equestrian class instead of Physical Education. While I loved the grooming, feeding, bonding aspect of horses, I am a petit girl, and lacked confidence in my physical abilities. So, my instructor thought that the best way to conquer my fears was to put me on a huge horse... much too much of a horse for a beginner like me. I ended up falling, and having the wind knocked out of me, and ever since then, I have had my confidence shattered. My possible solution: start on a horse/pony that "fits" me and my limitations better. :)

At 22:45:35 on 16.12.11, benjy blue wrote:
i have never fallen of my horse but after he got a kick off the grass turning into winter grass he went mad i wwas jumping a bank and then went into a river in the river he started bucking like mad then bollted home bucking every 5 or 6 strides i love him to bits but i cant find the confidence to ride him for at leasst 2 and 1/2 monthes now. help!

At 04:00:32 on 23.12.11, SnowRose wrote:
Every time I watch myself in a video of me jumping, I lose my confidence in my riding and I really don't like looking at it anymore! I've only been jumping for about a year but my heel, leg, and hands (and sometimes my whole overall position) disgust me sometimes! When that happens, the next time I have a lesson, I try to focus on that. My riding confidence is pretty low because I also take lessons with a friend, and her position is way better then me! My last best friend's position is incredible too! I feel like sometimes I should just give up because I'm not good and I feel like I'm not improving :(

At 04:04:45 on 30.12.11, nut_lover wrote:
i have never completely lost my confidence amazingly enough! my worst fall was when nutmeg majorly spooked on time and i wasnt holding on at all and she turned a sharp corner at and canter and i ended up breaking my wrist and being knocked out for a few seconds. after that i wasnt suppossed to ride for 2 months! but about a week after i just went up to nutmeg, hopped on her and rode just like i normally would (bareback over jumps) if anything after my fall i wanted to ride more then ever! i think what you need to do is not doubt what you are capable of. everyone is equal and everyone needs to know you can do something even better then the next person if you just dont give up!