Disclaimer: This guide is formulated and written based on my own experiences and knowledge. I do not claim to be an expert in this field and I recommend seeing a physiologist for professional advice.
Of the 8% of the population who struggles with a fear of animals in general, some of those people deal with a specific kind of mammal know as the equus, or more commonly, the horse.
Fear of horses is often related to some personal or second-hand trauma by which the person is affected. This could be a death in the family caused by a horse, an injury related to one, or simply a fall that left them afraid to get back on.
When helping these people to overcome that fear, it is very important that the helper knows why they are afraid.
In almost thirteen years of riding, I have had several scrapes that left even my horse-loving self with a certain amount of fear. The most prominent was about two years back when I attempted to gallop bareback. Attempted is the key word here. I was on the ground in about sixty seconds with a minor concussion and yes, I will admit, a fear of riding again.
However, in my years of experience, the one concept that was drilled into my mind was the importance of getting back on. After my fall, I led that gelding over to a nearby stump and forced myself to ride again even though I had a terrible headache and an even worse fear. (I don't necessarily recommend forcing yourself to ride if you are seriously injured). BUT, with some people, such as a relative of mine, they do not get back on and this allows a small fall to grow in magnitude.
This manual will be addressing those who were not able to deal with the fear at the time of the injury or with those who have a second-hand fear.
