You also should watch other riders and instructors in their dealings with horses. Then imagine yourself in their place, just as if you were doing what they are doing. Work hard on concentrating on what you are doing. Not concentrating or allowing yourself to become distracted can lead to carelessness and mistakes. Concentrating totally can help you eliminate imaginary fears.
Imaginary fears can lead to nervous, disorganized behavior.
If you feel afraid of certain things in riding you will need to analyze these fears, try to find out the cause and then try to gradually over come them with the help of a good instructor and visualization and relaxation exercises. Only if you accept your fear, and work on getting through it with meaningful and systematic steps will you be convinced that there is no longer any reason for it. It is important that you do no confuse fear with normal excitement or stage fright that is often experienced before a show or competition. This excitement or stage fright is actually a very useful stimulus to action and it usually disappears after the first few seconds in the ring. Fear is something that every rider will have at some time.