The butterflies of excitement had invaded my tummy as I was sitting there, waiting for my first ride on Space Mountain at Disneyland. I remember that day clearly as I was on a special pass and getting a guided tour, first in line sponsored by corporate Disney. The excitement of the red-carpet treatment was crazy. Recently, I heard that the butterflies of excitement are the same as the butterflies of "what if" fears. The two are the same feeling. We all get to choose excitement or fear! This is a huge revelation.
This inspired me to share the 4 steps to handling nerves when getting back into the saddle. Fill up with that butterfly excitement and joy and follow these steps:
1. Preparation. Make sure you and your horse are both as prepared as you can be. Use a pre-ride checklist (get a copy of mine here!), and check it off, just like a pilot would do before flying a plane. Your safety is as important as any passenger on a plane.
2. Verify the horse is ready to be mounted. Standing still and calm. Move them by pushing back and forth slightly on the saddle to make sure they are standing balanced and square. Pick your reins up to just right, not so they are tight but so they are there if you need to move them slightly to stop forward motion. You can have someone at your horse's head for your courage, but you don't want them trying to hold the horse still, get that really good first.
3. Get on, breathe, when you are ready, take the steps you are ready to take. Stop, get off, repeat a few times taking a few more steps each time. CELEBRATE!
4. Decide what your comfort zone is and take one more step. If you are comfortable going 50 feet, go to 55 feet and then return to where you started. Next time, go 60 feet, return to start. Just keep building your distance, your time in the saddle, and your courage! Soak it up! Enjoy it as you go.
You can check out my latest blogs talking about overcoming fear at most podcast platforms or here on Rumle! Turn Riding Fear Around Podcast.
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