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Re: [RC] Nervous or Crazy? - Lysane Cree/That's a wide trail. Try some of the trails at Tellico Plains, /Tennessee sometime. Or parts of the Keyhole route (hikers only, no /horses) /up Long's Peak /in Colorado. /http://www.rnbw.com/LongsPeak.html for some photos. Note the red-and-yellow bulls-eyes you can see on the rocks in some of the photos; /that's what marks the trail. Those pictures remind me of hiking the north rim of the Grand Canyon last fall. I thought I was in good shape but coming from flat land, no "real" mountains and only not that many feet above sea level, that hike put me in my place. The way down didn't seem too scary although there were some very narrow trails with very steep dropoffs and some loose shale to navigate through. The way back up was a killer though and my legs and lungs
were screaming. I got really nervous when we were 3/4 of the way back up to the trail head and had to climb back up a steep trail that was all loose shale and there was rock wall on one side and drop off off several hundred feet on the other. I wanted to cry and I'm not usually scared of heights, but this was more than I'd ever seen. You had to kind of run/jump up the "trail" without stopping because when you stopped you'd slide down on the shale. Yikes. I'm not sure I'd be ready at this point to *ride* trails that look like that! You probably have to "build up" to riding trails like that if you or your horse are inexperienced. : ) It definitely is about controlling your fear and not letting it leave you unable to act. Having had to take almost a year off riding after getting hurt at a ride, there have been alot of moments when I have been so nervous and scared over things that would have been nothing in the past. Facing the scary things a little at a time
and pushing myself, while accepting my limits at a given moment, is what got me to where I am now - conditioning my horse and making a plan for upcoming rides. I'm still a beginner at CTR and my horse is young, so we're going slow but at least I'm doing it. Doesn't mean I'm not nervous but I am getting better at controlling it. The leftover nervousness is just there to save my butt. :) __________________________________________________
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