Finally...Finding my confidence

I've been back riding my warmblood mare since mid-February, but it wasn't until tonight that I started feeling confident again. I've been taking a couple of lessons a week, and my trainer told me that tonight looked like a completely different ride than the past month. Part of what finally convinced me that I had to have the surgery was breaking my left arm three times last summer. The weight was causing my balance to be almost non-existent in the saddle, and I was almost ready to give up and sell her. Thank God Liberty Belle talked me out of it! After a couple of seasons of watching my trainer ride Libby, I'm starting to feel at home in the saddle again. The balance is back and we're cantering again. Now I can't wait for the trails to dry out so we can get out of the ring. Has anyone else had these issues of fear in getting back to riding after surgery? What did you do to get through the fear and back to the joy of riding? A girl and her horse...it's a beautiful thing!

I know you posted this several months ago but...I've not been on the board in a while either. I too experienced a completely alien feeling of fear of riding--I have never been afraid to ride in my life. I always wanted the most spirited horse of the bunch. The first time I got back on my horse, I was ok, a little apprehensive but ok and then it went down hill from there. Nothing happened, just all in my head. I think the balance thing has a lot to do with it. Our center is no longer where it used to be and if you're like me, you got used to riding while you were bigger. We gained the weight gradually enough that we adjusted as we went along, but it came off a whole lot quicker, so no adjustment period. We no longer have our horses, when the 4th of July rolled around, we realized that neither one of us had ridden but maybe 3 times since the last 4th of July, so we found great homes for both of horses--mine went to an enthusiastic 12 year old girl in Georgia, which is right up my mare's alley--she loves kids. My husband's horse stayed closer to home but now has a full time job at one of the local cutting horse facilities. Both of our daughters started highschool this fall, so we really weren't going to have time to ride. We train enough for other people that we've always got horse to ride if we want, but we've even cut that down to a bare minimum right now. I hope you keep on riding and start enjoying it more and more! Monica Burchett Tioga, TX Riding since I was 2