I ride in the hunter world and love riding. Last summer I had a nasty incident while jumping that made me become very anxious about jumping. What happened was I was in a lesson prior to a massive horse show and my trainer told me to jump some jumps. One of which was four foot. My horse stopped at the base then begin the angel she was took a massive leap to get us over it. Ever since I have a meant all break down if I jump anything bigger then 2'6".
I'm a mixture. Fearless as a youngster hanging out at the barn most days. Riding alone, knowing so much about horses and couldn't wait to get to the barn again. Fast forward to the present day. I went over 30 years without a horse in my life. Life happened and now things are slowing down some. While I am better than ever on the ground, grooming my mare with a ridiculous smile, when I get in the saddle, my legs shake. I know this will be better in time. Sigh...I just know it will.
I am 67, and still riding, the last few years, I still ride the young horses I rescue, it seems you get to know their minds. I will still hop on my Arab bareback and without a halter or bridle, "but" when I see them flying across the field, I do wonder, "if" I could still ride like that.
This is an interesting topic to offer to your readers. My experience with this is that many people are silent about their fears and anxieties about riding. They tend not talk about or acknowledge that have these feelings. Some feel they are the only ones who feel this way, they might tend to isolate or avoid certain situations or people, and there can be feelings of shame & embarrassment attached to this fear. They feel there is nothing out there that can help them change these feelings of fear and anxiety. It might even become a point of frustration for them and their riding instructors. The saddest things to me are those that make the choice to stop riding and get rid of their horses because of it. I am not a riding instructor or trainer. I am a stress reduction specialist and I have worked with people with traumas and fears for many years. After meeting many riders with these issues I developed my Back In The Saddle Rider Recovery program that can help riders dissolve these fears and anxieties and allow them then to a make more confident decisions about their riding. I have been doing this with riders in person and by Skype and phone. I know some riders have found their own way of getting over or dealing with these feelings. That is a good thing. For those that haven’t and still feel stuck, know there is a way and I would love to help them return to their joy of riding. You are welcome to contact me at Jane@bitsrr.com if you would like more information. (I hope I am allowed to put my contact info in here.) Thank you for introducing this topic.