VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 14:57:59 11/04/05 Fri
Author: 10cwalknh
Subject: Re: lose my balance
In reply to: Bonnie Dockery 's message, "lose my balance" on 23:26:33 03/08/04 Mon

>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

One thing you could try to keep a little bit more balance in your seat when casper gets spooked is to shorten your sturrips a little shorter than your used to. I ride multiple horses all under the age of 4 and they are extremely spooky and clumbsy. I have found, until they are almost bomb proof, if I shorten my sturrips 1-2 holes so it's easier not to lose my sturrips. One of the easiest was to come out of the saddle is by losing your sturrips. I started riding when I was 15 and I'm now 17. In those two years I went from riding pushbutton older geldings to 2 year old stallions. I was thrown multiple times by the latter of the two until I figured out the shortening method. Another thing you could do, if you haven't already done, I ask someone knowledgeable to give you balance lessons. My younger family friend just started riding when she bought her first horse just over a month ago. Our trainer gave her balance lessons and she now rides like a pro.
-good luck-

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]



Forum timezone: GMT-6
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.