I love my horse

[JeznWoods]

I know, we all love our horses, but I am so happy with mine at the moment that I just have to tell everybody.

Woodsy and I have not always been happy together. I used to be terrified of him and would feel very sick whenever I went to ride him. (I'm over 40, have had one fall off him where I broke a bone in my foot, and just know that I don't bounce any more.) I even got to the point that I had decided that I would be better off selling him if riding him made me feel as bad as it did. Once I came to that conclusion I cried my eyes out on my way from the stables to the arena because I really had become very attached to him (even if you are going to sell them, you still have to ride them). This made me decide that I would have to find another way to deal with my fear. That is only a fraction of our story, but you get the idea.

Today, after 4 days off, I rode my 'tower of terror' in the cold, wet and wind and he was such a good horse. He had a moment that he thought he might revert to scarry Woodsy, but he didn't scare me and I just gently reminded him that we don't behave like that any more and he behaved himself like a gentleman.

It's probably taken me about 18 months to get to this point, and we have had some ups and downs on my fear factor along the way, but he is now such a pleasure to ride and I am so glad I persisted. I really owe a lot to my coach who has helped me through my issues so much. I also have to thank Woodsy for seeing the sense in being a pleasure to ride, but I will do that with carrots, as he likes them much better than words.