What To Do If You Start Panicking While Horse Riding

What To Do If You Start Panicking While Horse Riding

That terror of the horse going up, first the head, then the neck and shoulders follow, then at the peak, the tipping point, you realize that the horse is going over and there is nothing you can do about it.  The crash and the pain and just knowing you are dead or dying.  Then the anxiety and fear set in that it will happen again. 

 

When the head starts to go up, or the horse speeds up on its own, or any number of other triggers, the panic takes off in your heart and body.  The fear robs you of all the joy from riding.  You spent hundreds of hours enjoying riding and now, you are just waiting for the next buck, the next rear, the next crash to the ground.

 

This is specifically talking about panicking when your horse is being fine, you are not in real danger.  Panic attacks are real.  The first thing is to practice before you get on your horse.  Make sure you can amp up your stress level and know how to calm yourself back down.  Not every solution works for every person so practicing getting stressed and then calming down again before getting on will help you know what helps you the most. 

 

The things that have helped me is Breathing and knowing what breathing techniques work for me.  The second is to know my comfort zone, go to the edge, take a few steps more and then call it done.  If my comfort zone is riding to the head of the trail, I might go 10 feet down the trail, but I would not do a 3-hour trail ride.  Know what your comfort zone is.  The third thing is to practice on the horse.  Set up things that trigger your panic in a controlled environment and practice remaining calm or panicking and then coming back to calm.

 

I detail out 3 Ways to Stop Panic in my latest guide if you are interested in learning more, Click Here!


Lost Confidence Riding Horses? 3 steps to getting it back!

Lost Confidence Riding Horses? 3 steps to getting it back!

Confidence can go out with a bang, or a buck, or it can gently slip away like the flow of a creek.  Either way, losing confidence can rob the joy from riding our precious horses. After a horrible accident, mine went out with a bang.  It then, slowly slipped away, further and further until it seemed completely out of reach.  I had to make the decision to get it back and enjoy riding again.  Here are three steps that really helped me.

 

The first step is making the decision.  It would have been so easy to listen to the others and to my fear. I was getting too old, I don't bounce like I used to, I might get hurt and so many others.  I really evaluated the joy I was missing from not riding and that made all the difference.  I made the decision to ride again.  That decision wasn't easy but it was so rewarding.  I was done letting a lack of confidence rob me of hundreds of hours of joy riding.

 

The second step is to put an action plan in place.  Look at the fear and do what is needed to be done to turn that into a success.  Everyone's fear is different so write yours down, evaluate the fear, take action to help the fear get smaller and the confidence grow.  One of my fears, getting hurt, is an easy one to look at as a sample.  What actions could I take to improve my confidence that I wouldn't get hurt. Action 1 = make sure my horses were safe for me, my level of riding.  Action 2 = get MIPS helmet and a vest. Action 3 = improve my balance and flexibility. It was a huge confidence boost to have a plan and see that I could implement it.

 

The third step is to think like an airplane pilot.  Pilots have a complete checklist they go through before they ever take the plane down the runway.  They do this every single time.  Put together your plan, your checklist.  Use it. Follow it.  Put things in that make you know you are ready and things so that you know on that day, at that time, your horse is ready.  If you would like some help with this, I have a whole session in my Fear to Courage Virtual Clinic that walks through my pre-ride checklist for myself and my horse.  This was so important for me to get my courage back.  Knowing when it is ok to get on and when it isn't.  (You can find out more information about the virtual clinic here.)

 

If you would like to hear a little about my journey to courage, I share some thoughts that might resonate with you, in this video.  Click here to watch the video!


To Ride Your Horse or not, Am I too Old to ride horses?

To Ride Your Horse or not, Am I too Old to ride horses?

The anxiety and fear are gripping.  The sweaty palms, the shortness of breath, the butterflies (or worse) in the tummy.  Those feelings that come up when thinking about riding your horse, they feel insurmountable.  They suck the joy right out of riding.

 

So how do you know if you should enjoy your horses and not focus on riding them anymore?  I hear the question so often, "I am not sure I want to ride any more".  

 

First of all, this comes with so much stigma.  What will others think?  This is an easy one for me but not easy for everyone.  I learned a long time ago that my horse and my relationship with my horse must always come first.  There were so many times, I would hear what others said, and do what they said even though it didn't feel right to me.  It took almost wrecking one of my horses to snap me out of caring what others think (which I talk about in my video blog if you want to know more).  I now, take what others say, say thank you, and then see how it feels for me and either try it or not, based on my horse and myself.  Where horses are concerned, this is so important, others don't know your horse like you do.

 

Secondly, there is so much that goes into the relationship with your horse.  To put it mildly, your horse doesn't really have being ridden as a priority.  Their priorities are food, shelter, water, and surviving.  The riding, if they enjoy it, is a bonus.  I have one horse that clearly does not want to be ridden, at least at this point in her life.  I will honor that until she lets me know she wants to be ridden.  We can have an amazing partnership with our horses and never again get on their back.  I personally LOVE trail hiking with my one that does not want to be ridden and she loves it too!  You can find things that fill you and your horse up without riding.

 

Thirdly, and probably the hardest part in this decision is the cost of owning a horse.  We rationalize the cost with the joy of riding and/or competing.  This is a hard one for some people (and usually spouses or significant others) to understand.  How can you spend that much and not ride?  This is so very personal for each person.  I know for me; I made the decision to ride.  Not for financial reasons but for the joy of partnering with the horse as one, like a kid sitting on the shoulders of dad.  The balance, the dance, the oneness is important to me. So, I have two horses that love to be ridden.  And I just dance on the ground with the one that doesn't want to ride.

 

These are just three of the big things, for me, in the decision to ride or not to ride.  The most important thing is you and your horses being happy and healthy and how that happens is a creation you two get to make together.  If you would like to ride again and are not sure where to start, I created a self-paced virtual clinic that follows my process to riding again and you can get more details here if interested. Rise From Fear to Courage Virtual Clinic


Overcoming My Fear Started with Safety and Barn Sour is NOT Safe!

Overcoming My Fear Started with Safety and Barn Sour is NOT Safe!
I have received a couple of questions on buddy sour.  I have a couple of things that have worked really good for buddy sour.  
1. Feeding with the flag - from Carson James.  This one took me a few months but I was dealing with a VERY aggressive mare that had bit me in the back, kicked another horse over on me, twice, so this was first and foremost in changing her attitude.  I took the buckets of feed in to the pasture, gave my quiet mare, Taika, her food and set the aggressive mare, Binky's, food about 5 feet away.  Mostly because I had a hard enough time getting Taika to eat so I didn't want to disturb her.  I made Binky stand 50 feet off until she lowered her head and walked in respectfully.  If she even twitched an ear, she went back to 50 feet with me looking like a mountain lion, mostly for my safety, I could not be wishy washy.  I had to get my timing right and it took a few months but they now all go to their buckets and stand there waiting patiently.  If an ear flicks back, they MOVE off their feed, every single time.  What I didn't expect was how much it helped the buddy sour!  It was huge.
2. I put them in the small arena together and I just sit in the middle and hang out.  If they stay on opposite sides of the arena, not exactly but in general, I leave them alone.  They can come up to me but not in my bubble, about 3 to 5 feet away from me.  If they get onto the same side of the arena, I make them work, or at least I make the horse that approached the other one work.  I do this until I see them start to move toward each other and then turn away all on their own.  Then I know they got the lesson.  I only did this twice and never even needed to do it when I added the third horse.  I can take anyone out at any time and there is no issue.
3. I take the one out that is the worst, and start walking away, if they want to go back to their buddy, we go back and I make them move their haunches politely and softly but make them move, then move the shoulders, and just work on supple for 5 minutes or so and then I walk off like nothing different and if they want to go back, we repeat.  The combination of these has been amazing for my three mares!  Keep me posted.  There are a few other things too but these are my favorites.  
Overcoming my fear had to start with safety in all situations and learning these above things, really helped me with my safety, with their safety, and it built my courage, very fast.  I could see how leadership and partnership really wasn't as hard and scary as I thought.  Timing took a bit but the more my timing on things around them on the ground improved, so did my timing on riding.

If you would like more information on overcoming fear, or buddy sour, you are welcome to join my small FB support/cheerleading group!  Click Here.


Anchoring With Aroma

Anchoring With Aroma
How amazing would it be to have a genie, sitting on your shoulder, and you could say, "I wish for courage" and BAM, you would have all the courage you needed?  Well, anchoring may be the next best thing.  There are a lot of ways to do anchoring and there are a lot of things you can use as an anchor.  This is my favorite process and my favorite anchor system.

I used to be petrified of the Dentist, to the point of passing out in the waiting room to get my teeth cleaned.  After starting to use the Young Living essential oils, I discovered that I could focus all my calm into the smell of Stress Away and then use that when I need calm.  I started on a really peaceful day on the farm, hanging out with the horses in the pasture, just leaning against the fence with them grazing all around me.  The sun was warm and the pretty blue sky and green grass were a nice contrast to the dark bay mares.  In this place of peace, I put stress away on a lava bead bracelet on my right wrist and I just smelled it in.  Over and over for about 30 minutes.  It doesn't have to be this long for sure, but while in a completely calm, peaceful situation, you really want to "Anchor" that calm to that smell.  I redo this part of the process every chance I get to keep it fresh and because I love the peace that it brings to me.

Then, when I start to feel a little stress, sometimes a week before going to the dentist, I have a tool to bring me right back to the feelings of being in that pasture, the pure calm of heaven on earth.

Well, the bonus is, it also works while riding!  I found out that putting a drop of stress away on the bracelet right before I get on, lets me carry that tool with me, and if I even start to have a slight feeling I don't want coming up, I can smell that Stress Away and bring that Genie right back to my shoulder.  I can whisper, I wish for Calm, and BAM, the wish is granted.  I can then be in a mode of calm and trust my horse and enjoy the ride.

On the flipside of that, sometimes, I need to be the LEADER for my horse while riding.  She may be concerned about a tree that has fallen down, or something out of place from the last time.  We might be on a new ride and I need to be there for her and to guide her with my confidence.  I started a new trail that we had not been on before and the entrance was from a very sunny grass trail, through a hole just big enough for us, into a deep dark forest.  When I got to the trail head, my horse was NOT sure that it was a good idea to walk through that hole.  I just kept my leadership and assured her that we would be fine, I would not let anything happen to us and it took a little bit, but she did walk right into that hole.  I could not have done this from a state of fear myself.  When we talk about an Anchor, this is a great example I can focus on to create a Leadership/ Courage Anchor.  I love Thieves essential oil and the story behind the Thieves blend so that is the oil I chose to Anchor courage too.  I use a lava bead bracelet on my left wrist for Courage.  When I have feelings of leadership and courage, I anchor them into that smell of Thieves, every chance I get.

Then, when I am finding fear starting to come up, like facing my horse to that hole in the forest to walk through, I can smell the Thieves and know I will be all right and with my courage, my horses puts her trust in me and off into the forest we go for an amazing cool ride getting out of the heat of summer.  (Here is a link to check out the products I use!)

If you would love to find out more about overcoming fear, I would love to have you join our free Facebook support group, Happy, Courageous, Horses and Riders!

 
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