Please Help!!!

[Broken spirit]

Hey everyone!
I jsut thought i'd tell you i was thinking of quitting riding. I have absouloetly no confidence anymore i darn't even jump past 3' and i struggle to get over the 3' fence. I am constantly scared of falling off and i hardly dare ride lucky anymore. It's sad to say and it means either sellign or loaning lucky but he needs a confident rider to ride him and maybe he'd be better with someone else.
I use to cope with anything you threw at me while riding but i had a fall off my old pony last year and broke my arm, i cou;ldn't get straight back on and dispite riding taz after the accident i am still scared. I keep thinking mayeb if i'd kept taz and ridden him maybe i would be more confident now but whatever i do nothing works.
Has anyoen been threw a time when they had n confidence? and can anyone help me gain mine back??
I really don't wnana quit but i have to think about what is right for lucky and what is right for everyone else, it would save all the hassle of tears and tears every night because i dismounted lucky on a hack or got off while school because he messed around a little.
Aby help would be grateful
lv yas
steph
x ♥ x

[ashlea]

I used to feel the same way when I rode a pony at lessons who used to either bolt, buck and jump unlikely objects-often meaning that I did an 'emergency' dismount. I guess that I always felt a little unsure around her, and that may have affected her mood and made her more anxious and more inclined to misbehave. Maybe just take it slowly and just start back with the basics (eg trotting around the arena) and then once you are confident with that you can begin to feel less worried or scared. Sometimes thinking about what might happen causes you to tense up and this may be the core of the issue, because you are so worried about what will happen that you are already anticipating trouble and not trusting in your pony (Lucky). I think that in some times of a rider's life their confidence does take a battering and 'climbing back on' is simply not the answer. Instead of riding for a couple of days, go out and spend some alone time with Lucky to remind yourself that he trusts and respects you as his leader and rider, as much as you love him.