Ride with confidence
(even if you’re shaking in your boots!)
There’s many a time we ask our horse to tackle an intimidating obstacle, one that he’s never seen before. If you’ve given him a firm foundation in fundamentals, he will try to please you. Equally important when he realizes you’ll be patient, he can satisfy his curiosity.
Keep your horse pointed head-on at the scary obstacle. Allow him to look. Hold him steady with your legs. Talk to him. BREATHE! Bonus perk: when you talk to your horse, you HAVE to breathe!
Allow him to take his time to check it out.
When your horse has learned to trust that you won’t let him get hurt, you’ll also trust that he will obey in whatever situation. End result: you’ll both enjoy a wonderful time on the trail, certain that together, you can handle challenges.
Gaining confidence in each other’s abilities is the product of many hours. Time is well-spent in teaching basics, moving on to a little more difficult obstacles/maneuvers. There are so many rewards for your patience and effort!
Don’t feel like you’re back-tracking to review basics. Maintenance is always necessary for top notch performance in anything. And, as you two become a team, you’ll spend less time fine-tuning. And, that’s called efficient training!
