I absolutely LOVE summer.
Heat.
Sunshine.
Even humidity.
They agree with me.
But you know what else summer heat has been really good for?
Giving me an excuse not to ride. 😂
Maybe you know this one.
You get dressed to ride.
Walk outside.
And...
"Maybe later."
"I'll get up earlier tomorrow."
"Maybe after they eat."
"Maybe after I eat."
Suddenly, the temperature has given you a perfectly reasonable reason to stay out of the saddle.
And sometimes it IS a perfectly reasonable reason.
It's hot.
Your horse is hot.
You're hot.
The conditions aren't appropriate for riding.
Don't ride.
That's good horsemanship.
But I eventually had to admit something to myself.
Sometimes it wasn't really the heat keeping me from riding.
It was fear.
The heat just happened to be a really convenient excuse.
What If I Didn't Have to RIDE?
This was the shift for me.
Somewhere in my head, getting on my horse meant I needed to do something.
Trot.
Canter.
Work.
Have an actual ride.
But...
Who made that rule?
What if I got on and walked?
What if we practiced halts?
Backing?
Bending?
A few turns?
Leg yields?
A serpentine?
What if we wandered around in the shade for ten minutes and called it a ride?
Wait a minute...
GENIUS! 😂
Summer Became Confidence-Building Time
I started doing exactly that with Taika.
Nothing impressive.
Nothing particularly exciting.
And I was having a BLAST.
Every minute I spent on her back mattered.
Every step became another little deposit into my confidence.
A Courage Penny.
Instead of waiting for the perfect day to have the perfect ride, I was riding the horse I had, in the conditions we had, and doing what made sense that day.
Sometimes that wasn't very much.
But it counted.
And because we weren't trying to accomplish some giant riding goal, I could pay attention to other things.
My position.
My breathing.
How Taika felt underneath me.
Our communication.
Our partnership.
I was enjoying riding.
Which was the whole point.
A Short Ride Still Counts
This is something I wish more riders believed.
Ten minutes counts.
Walking counts.
One lap counts.
Getting on, doing something that feels good, and getting back off...
counts.
Especially when you're rebuilding riding confidence.
We have this tendency to think:
"If I'm going to ride, I need to make it worthwhile."
But what makes a ride worthwhile?
Forty-five minutes?
Sweat?
A certain number of miles?
Getting through everything on your lesson plan?
Or could a worthwhile ride simply be one where you and your horse finish feeling good?
I'll take that one.
But Heat Isn't Something to Prove Yourself Against
There's another side to this that matters.
Sometimes it really is too hot to ride.
Heat and humidity can become dangerous for both horses and humans.
So this isn't about saying:
"I'm not going to let the heat become an excuse, so I'm riding anyway!"
Nope.
Your horse doesn't need you proving anything.
Pay attention to the weather and conditions.
Pay attention to your horse.
Pay attention to your own body.
Have water available.
Know the signs that either of you isn't handling the heat well.
And if today isn't a riding day?
Don't ride.
There are plenty of things we can do with our horses without sitting on them.
Confidence isn't built by ignoring good judgment.
Is It the Heat...Or Is It Fear?
This is the question I'd ask.
Not to shame yourself.
Just to get curious.
If it were 72 degrees and absolutely gorgeous outside right now...would I want to ride?
Hmmmmm.
😂
If the answer is still...
"Wellllllll..."
Maybe the temperature isn't the whole story.
And that's okay.
Now you have useful information.
Maybe today you don't need to conquer your fear.
Maybe you just need to take one small step.
Groom.
Tack up.
Walk to the mounting block.
Get on and walk for five minutes.
Or take four steps.
Four steps have counted for me before.
They can count for you too.
Every Footstep Can Be a Courage Penny
Looking back, those simple summer rides with Taika weren't really about summer at all.
They were about discovering that riding didn't have to be all or nothing.
I could make the ride fit the day.
I could make it fit my horse.
I could make it fit me.
And every footstep I took on the back of my horse became another Courage Penny in the bank.
Not because I forced myself to ride.
Because I found a step that felt doable...
and took it.
That's how confidence gets rebuilt.
One small experience.
One tiny win.
One Courage Penny at a time.
If you're rebuilding your own riding confidence, grab my free Courage Pennies eBook and start noticing all those tiny steps that count.
Because sometimes a great ride isn't the one where you accomplish the most.
It's the one that reminds you how much you enjoy riding.
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