One thing that people might consider with regard to fear developed as a
result of riding injuries, is cranial sacral work. I'm not a practitioner myself
but after having two bad falls practically in a row, I found out about this work
and decided to try it. The work addresses fears that we take in on a cellular
level.
Another area that I found I needed to address was my balance. Injuries
create trauma to the whole person and we aren't always aware of how our bodies
have been changed as a result. This can be accomplished with core training,
which is exercise that focuses on strengthening the body's core. The cranial
work is also good for balance.
In my case, the first accident was on my then-green mare who bucked me into
a fencepost, and the second was not quite three months later as I
was training to do an endurance ride, and my very broke gelding shied and I
fell and broke my shoulder. Never before had I suffered any broken limbs or
serious injuries from horses.
Of course, there's the training stuff to deal with with the green horses,
and even they might benefit from some bodywork to keep them from bucking when
you get on, etc. I even discovered that my gelding had some back problems that
might have contributed to his shying so often during that time, and since chiro
he has been immensely better.
I would suggest to anyone who has great fear to keep trying different
things to get you back to where you want to be with your horses. I have listed
some things that worked for me; keep in mind that people respond differently to
treatments and may need other ones. Some of these things aren't really as costly
as you might think and you may not have to do them for long, but
ultimately, the goal is to regain the pleasure of being comfortable riding
your horses again.
