Don’t take it so personally! How to conquer fear

So one day your horse dumps you after a buck or a spook; or you have a big welt on your arm where his foot hit you while you were crawling under his belly trying to spray him for flies.

Most likely you were in some pain or discomfort after these happenings, and most likely you felt a torrent of colorful language rising to your lips. As well as the desire to “whup his a—“ ... so to speak.

Truly, people do have this tendency to attribute mishaps to some “thing” that must be “out to get them”. This society’s bent to sue is a symptom of that. I do believe that a good part of the fear of horses, or of riding horses, stems from a deep suspicion that the animal has it in for you. Particularly so, if serious injury or worse is the consequence. Then your verbiage changes to “dangerous unpredictable animal”, or something similar.

Isn’t this a somewhat egocentric view of our role in the universe? Why does it always have to be about US? Sometimes it’s just an accident in the purest sense of the word. It's not the horse's fault (it may actually be our own carelessness). The proverbial “s—t” just happens. I firmly believe that we humans do not rank that highly in importance for an animal to spend his precious feeding hours contemplating ways to hurt us.

In my younger days I, too, experienced a fear of horses. It was not easy to conquer but I did. There were a few things I had to do for this. I learned to get to know, understand and communicate with the horse. I accepted the horse for what it is: an intelligent, expressive prey animal, with very strong survival instincts. I also acquired the physical skills and fitness necessary to minimize the likelihood of accidents. And, I wear safety gear.

So, due diligence has been done. Now riding horses is no more frightening to me than driving on the Houston freeways at rush hour.