I mean what is your attitude change and how do you deal with it and your feelings? I get a bit more frightened than I did when I was a youngster and I know this goes right to my horse and I hate myself for it.When your horse starts to act up and it scares you a bit what is the first thing you do?I just push my feelings to the back of my head and deal with the there and now. I make myself forget about what ifs, because they can eat you up if you let them. I remind myself, that if I start getting scared I've completely lost control - so I make myself deal with the issue and deal with myself later when I'm through the issues.
One thing people have a habit of doing when they're scared is holding their breath, so watch yourself when you next get scared - as just taking a few deep breaths can sometimes be enough to clear your head and calm you down.
Nerves are a part of riding, we all have to learn how to deal with them in some point in our lives. There is not shame in being a bit nervous, but you need to learn to control nerves and get on with it - because it's when you allow nerves to take control, that you lose control.When your horse starts to act up and it scares you a bit what is the first thing you do?Right, my horse....When your horse starts to act up and it scares you a bit what is the first thing you do?the horse can always sense you tense up or when you get scared. and this is saying %26quot;okay fine you can do whatever you want and get your way if you act up%26quot;, just like a little child. you have to make sure your the one in charge. dont be afraid to get pushy and agressive. show em whos boss. also time in the round pen and basic ground work gains ALOT of respect with your horse. everytime i have a session with my horse, shes the most gentle and sweetest thing ever.Well if a horse I'm riding acts up, I usually go from happy/confident to stern. I know that if I get angry and start whipping him violently, it won't end well in the long run for both rider and horse. There is always something that makes the horse act up, so I try to think quickly and find it. It is always important that you are in charge of your horse (it should be a 51/49% relationship.) Some people believe that you need to be equal with your horse and thats understandable but you always need that 1% more control because you don't want to get hurt.
If my horse acts up, I take a deep breathe (if I have time lol) and immediaty take control of the situation.When I was working at a horse rescue, the gelding that was %26quot;mine%26quot; (i took care of him when I was there, and got super attached to him) pinned me in the corner of his stall one night because he didn't want me to leave. If the horse in the stall next to us got to close he would attack him, and he would cut me off (never tried to hurt me, but made it clear that I was not getting passed him!) I was just very stern with him, talked to him and after a few minutes of just being calm and not getting hyper or showing fear, he let me walk out. He scared the heck out of me at first and I nearly cried out for help. But if I would have it would have excited him further and he might have accidentally hurt me. So, it affected me by making me stay calm and collected, and understanding that reacting in fear, as natural as it might be, is definitely not the solution.
Don't hate yourself for your fear, hun. Accept it, understand it, and it will help you to get beyond it. Good luck, :-3
ADD: I'm Munnin.Graymoon@gmail.comWell, it helps when your confident and know you can handle whatever your horse is going to throw at you. :) When you know your horse well and know why and when your horse is going to act up, you can find the answer and work on it and be confident. :)
I hope I helped (..but don't get too cocky...)Well, when a horse tries to scare me on the ground, the first thing I do is make him yield to my space. This means backing off from me. If your horse comes at you in an aggressive way and you back off, he has just established his dominance over you. Remember, you only have a few seconds to make a correction, and it should come as a natural consequence of the horse's behavior. How would the bossiest horse in the field act if your horse pissed him off?
Look, I see people all the time who are scared of their horses. If it's to the point where you hate yourself for it, maybe you should think about selling your horse and getting one that suits you better. You might enjoy a more sweet tempered horse. If your horse tends to be dominant and you tend to be a timid person, I'm not sure how much you can change that dynamic. What never really helps is sending the horse off to a trainer. Not unless you get training for yourself too.
The best way to deal with a horse that %26quot;acts up%26quot; is to not get scared! You must be confident and not get rattled. I'm assuming that your horse is basically good natured and just has learned to push you around a bit, not that he's a truly dangerous or ill-tempered animal. Do you ever watch the Dog Whisperer (it's a tv show)? He always talk about having %26quot;calm assertive energy.%26quot; That is what you need. I truly believe that animals respond to our energy. That's really a new-agey way of saying that they read our body language.
Do you have a more experienced friend who can come work with you and your horse together? Thay way your horse gets a lesson in submitting to human control, and you get to see how a confident handler (but not an aggressive or abusive one) acts around your horse.
But truly, if you're scared of your horse is it really fun for you? I had horses before that I just had to admit were too much horse for me. I don't like getting bucked off, and once you start worrying about something like that you make it more likely to happen because your horse feels your tension and responds.well, my horse only ever acts up out of fear, so i never get angry at her or anything. she's a mustang mare who was formerly abused for many years, so i figure there must be a lot of things to be scared of to her. when i first got her 5 years ago(i was only 11), she spooked at everything. birds, tractors, people, bicycles, dogs, leaves, lizards, cars, etc etc etc. i learned quickly that the best way to deal with this is to remember to stay calm, speak softly, and gently ask her to stop or circle. over time, we've managed to work through for the most part, though she still gets nervous about tractors and bicycles, and she doesnt trust most people on foot at all. now, she's the horse that faces any obstacle and makes all the other horse people jealous when theirs is being difficult.
the most important thing is to feel the fear at the initial moment, recognize it and move past it into being utterly calm, which naturally calms your horse down too.like if the horse acts up, bees silly like he doesnt want to do something i become tough and tell him wat to do but if im leading and he gets a bit scared or something i am calmer because he obviously senses somethingWell, for me, l loooove getting on naughty horses! Just to see how much they will give me! :) But maybe l'm just weird. lf l'm on a horse that starts to act up the first thing l do is grap the reins and pull them in close to me. lf l have his head, he will have a little less mobility. l also sit deeper in the saddle in preperation if he really goes for it. lf the reins thing doesnt work, l pull him into tight circles. lt gets it through their mind that 'lf l do the wrong thing, she makes me work harder, it's just easier to behave and do what she wants.'
l did the circles with my horse and has never, ever acted up since.
When they act up, l do feel a rush of adrenaline and my heart is normally pounding, and yeah, afterward, l do feel a bit scared! But l was always taught that if they know your scared, they'll use that and run with it! (Not always literally, but you know what l mean...) So l always put on this brave, tough front to let them know they cant intimidate me.I know just how you feel! I am the same way I got bucked from a horse and broke my arm when I went trail ridding because the horse was new at the stables and does not like to have people ride him. So I went trail ridding again at a different stable for my b-day and the horse spooked because of another horse and I feel off again! So now I am very nervous when I ride. I listen to calm relaxing music before I ride and just tell my self that I can do it and if I get at all scared by something the horse is doing I stop and take a break then get back on. Hope this helps!
