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Date Posted: 23:26:33 03/08/04 Mon
Author: Bonnie Dockery
Subject: lose my balance

I have taken up riding late in life (am 52 y.o.) and have recently become very discouraged. I had taken lessons(Western) for two years, bought my first horse (a mare) and kept her for a year before realizing that she was too "marish" for me. I bought a 6 y.o. paint gelding that had been a show horse but swished his tail and so did not do well enough in the show ring for the owner. I have had Casper for 18 months and he has had a different life from his former one. He now is turned out with other horses for 8 hrs. a day (he had been stalled for almost a year except for shows). He is physically much healthier, and seems very happy in his environment. My problem is this: Casper is very well trained...has a slow easy jog and is very responsive to his rider. However, 3 times in the past 18 monts, I have fallen, once fracturing three ribs. Each of the falls happened when Casper very suddenly bolted out from under me and spun around to head the opposite direction. Once, a dog jumped unexpectedly into the arena, an understandable "scare" for Casper, but the other two incidents seemed to come out of the blue. The most recent was yesterday and it was a windy day, but Casper had been calm prior to my fall. I am worried that I will not be able to develop a balanced seat to prevent or at least minimize the possibility of falls in the future. After 2 years of lessons, I sadly am thinking that perhaps I have taken on something that at my age I cannot be successful at. My question: I am considering sending Casper to live with a friend for a month or two. My friend is an excellent rider and trail rides every weekend. WE are hoping that by exposing Casper to lots of possibly "scarey" things on the trails, he may be somewhat less apt to bolt when scared. I have also been told recently that Paints are much more prone to the "bolt and run" behavior I have seen in Casper. If anyone knows of any other approaches I might try, I would be very grateful. I am very attached to Casper and am heartbroken to think that I may need to sell him. Many thanks! Bonnie

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