I will grant you that perception is a big part of it. ?There are some trails that I ride that might be considered "narrow", but there is a slope to them, or the narrow section is very short. ?I'm also familiar with them, and that does make a difference. ?
As to unfamiliar narrow trails -- I've had my share of bad experiences, and would prefer not to have any more, thank you very much. ? I lived through them, but was pretty lucky, and one horse did not:
-- Was riding my previous horse, Shadow, (then very young) on a narrow trail w/ a sheer dropoff, and he got spooked and spun around. ?His front feet were over thin air... ?I tried to get him to turn around, and he spun again with his feet over thin air (I was young, too...).
-- Riding Shadow on a trail that got narrower and narrower until it was barely 3 feet wide over a sheer dropoff down to the desert floor, at least 500 ft below - I think more. ?No slant to the dropoff -- straight down. ?Way too narrow to even attempt turning around. ?No room at all, and I was scared to death the trail was going to peter out completely. ??
-- Riding Shadow as the first of 3 horses, and last horse tripped, fell, and came up stampeding on a narrow trail. ?I ended up jumping off when my bridle broke, and both following horses (then riderless) ?went over me. ?We lost the 2nd horse from a broken leg in that stampede.
-- Riding Shadow on a narrow trail above a steep slope that ended up being blocked by fallen rock and overhanging trees. ?Three horses again, and we all had to turn around. ?I had to back Shadow around a curve to get to a place wide enough to turn around. ?He was 23 by then, and knew better than to try spinning on his haunches. ?:)
At this point in my life, I'm mostly through with narrow trails - somebody else can ride 'em. ?I will do very **short** stretches of narrow trail, but If it starts getting narrow and I don't know where it's going, I turn around and go back. ?:)
On Aug 7, 2007, at 1:22 PM, Barbara McCrary wrote:
I'm exactly the same, but I am gaining some confidence these days.? The bridges, unless there is something new since about 1986, weren't particularly threatening to me, but those narrow trails on steep drop-offs would set off a panic attack in me.? "It's not reality, it's perception."? That's my assessment of my fear.? If the trail has a wall?of brush or trees, I could still fall off, but the wall makes me feel as if I couldn't fall.
