Adult new or returning riders part 2

[theferry]

I thought I’d start a new thread seeing as the existing one is full.

I’m due to ride tomorrow. Maybe I’ll jump. I’ll see.

Any hat advice from please? Fed up with borrowing sweaty riding school hats and want to get my own, so after recommendation!

@AuntyPants my advice is ask around where is a good place to go for hat fitting. Each brand is a slightly different shape so you need someone who knows their stuff and fits it to your head. Also worth knowing what the most up to date safety standards are. Children’s hats are vat free but often go up to large sizes so can save a bit of money that way.

DD has found a video of me jumping 70cm from canter back in 2019. Now I’m lucky if I do a cross pole from a trot! Anyone else lost their confidence as they got older and then managed to get it back? I would love to just be able to canter over jumps again. I’ve no idea why my confidence has gone—there hasn’t been an accident or anything to trigger it. I’m 49.

theferry I am exactly the same. It infuriates me , stuff I used to do and yet I'm scared to do it now. I'm also conscious I'm getting older, (turned 60 yesterday) and will never get this time back. Be interesting to hear if anyone has managed to overcome this.

I think we have to do what we enjoy now and try not to hark back too much. I don’t go clubbing nowadays but it never occurs to me that I should iyswim.

I'm 54 and a new rather than returning rider so I never had the feeling of riding whilst young and foolish and with a fully working body, so I do feel the fear quite often.

I've got one of those watches which tracks your exercise, when I'm riding my heart goes like the clappers even when we're not doing much. I think it depends on my mood whether I feel it as fear or excitement - I really try when we're doing cantering to smile, breathe and enjoy it because I find it is easy to go WTF am I doing otherwise and get scared.

I agree with this , if jumping is giving you anxiety then stop doing it , concentrate on something else and in time you may find the confidence to jump comes back . I don’t think that keeping on trying helps at all .

@AuntyPants agree with find somewhere to go get fitted different brands are different shapes, I fit champion and Karben well but can't get on with Charles own for example.
I have always been fine with regular old champion jockey skull caps with a nice hat silk. I had to replace in a rush last year after a fall where I hit my head so hard I visibly cracked my hat and ended up with a Karen adjustable one and I am really happy with it, a lot less sweaty than the skull cap and very reasonably priced.
When I am brave enough to hit the cross country course I will add another skull cap into the mix but for now I am really happy with this hat and it was under £100 but still meets all the expected safety ratings etc.

Sorry that should read Karben

I've got a Casco which fits very nicely and was in a sale. Before had the midpriced Decathlon one which is nice but more for rounded heads.

Really need to try them on unless you have the most generic head shape!

I posted towards the end of the last thread that I had some lessons booked while I was on holiday. I did them, and they were brilliant. I also took a friend's pony out on the beach, and have since been on another beach ride. I was helping a friend of a friend exercise her horse but sadly the horse is a one-human kind of horse, and I had to stop.

My rational brain is being sensible but my heart really wants a pony. I'm half looking out for loans/shares but as someone said up thread they are all either too quiet or too much for me. Once the madness of half term is over with, I'm going to look at some lessons for me, to keep me ticking over. And keep networking, as you never know what might come up.

Does anyone dismount by putting their leg over the horse’s neck? What do you do once both legs are on the same side? I’ve always dismounted by swinging my leg over behind me but a couple of weeks ago I slipped coming down the muck heap ramp (classic slipping on a banana skin style) and landed on my left bum cheek. I caved after a week and saw a physio who said I had a pretty good range of motion in the hip but there’s deep soft tissue injuries and every now and then my hip goes into spasm. Riding is actually helpful but getting on and off is ‘interesting’ 😬. I was wondering if getting off front ways might be easier but can’t work out how you stop yourself falling straight onto your face?

@Pleasedontdothat my sister dismounts like that she just swings her leg over and then sort of slides down

I’ve got so discouraged looking for a loan I’m saving up some money then going to think about buying one. Never had a horse before. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

the only horse that was a possibility the owner made a HUGE deal about how sensitive it is, how it can only be ridden in a certain way, that I’d need to take lessons on it. I thought blimey ok now I’m a bit nervous about even meeting it. Have since spoken to someone who knows the horse who said it’s a dope on a rope and it is used for absolute beginners. So now I’m wondering whether I’d actually be allowed to do stuff with the horse or is it going to be a case of the owner hanging about looking at everything I’m doing?

too much hassle for me and my anxiety really. I’d rather have a horse I can do whatever I want with and ride however I want

@Pleasedontdothat we were told off for thinking about that. It would be more of a jump to the ground though and maybe your horse could run off if it was inclined. Ditto not taking both feet out of stirrups before swinging leg over - "trop cowboy" apparently.

I find a medium sized horse I can get off without really working my hips, the larger ones it's more effort then I kind of slither down the side hoping no-one is watching.

My instructor swings her leg over the front to dismount, I've never noticed the next bit but I try and watch to see how she then slides off!

I do think it looks cooler though!

@PonyPlaiter I understand that entirely.

I have the other side of that in that I've found a person I can share with and the pony is almost secondary! I also have to travel quite far for it.

But ultimately you are riding someone else's (usually) prize procession and love of their life! Sharing is hard!

Last lesson before school holidays, only three of us and jumping! V tiring as went round and round and round. Finally felt as if I am getting somewhere with position and timing then nearly bounced out of the saddle and lost my stirrups to boot.

Another new horse, one eyed giant (185cm at withers) who was in fact very lovely except for levitating sideways when something happened on his blind side. Super fast canter too.

Reader, I did not swing my leg over his head :-)

Well, I was shaking as much at the end of the lesson today as I was at the start. I’m going to take a break from riding. It’s just not worth the emotional turmoil.

@theferry is there a local rescue or RDA group where you could get your horse fix on the ground

@Floralnomad there is, but I don’t really have the time to commit to anything regularly. I was already down to only riding every other week due to work. DD looks after a horse at the stables so I can pop up and have a cuddle.

Im going to maybe hold off making any permanent judgement, just take a month’s break.

@theferry that’s ok then

@theferry a break sounds like a good idea, give yourself a chance to miss is! (Or not!)

Oh @theferry hope you can get a horse fix with your DD for a while at least and see where you are in a bit

Hello all, had a few weeks of riding for various reasons but braved some more jumps yesterday evening and so glad I did. Still only 50/60cm straights but so much fun. The jumping bug has definitely bitten me.