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!
WHOA. I was having a conversation the other day about transitions and it was like I was hit by a ton of bricks. Have you ever had that thought to "trot" and your horse goes off at a trot before you give any cues? Or any other transition for that matter.
This happens for me a lot and lately, I have been more in tune to my thoughts and the horses reactions. This was not always the case. For years, I would think trot, my horse would trot and I would get after them because I had not "asked" with a normal cue and labeled it as anticipation. What if, our horses are really good at feeling our thoughts or reading our thoughts?
Can you imagine the confusion our horses have to go through when we think trot, and then expect them to wait for us to squeeze or give a cue?
Do you know how many times I have seen or heard trainers upset at horses anticipating a cue?
This is all on us. The riders, the partners for our horses to do better. Our thoughts matter to our horses until they stop listening.
I played with this on Michelle yesterday with backing up. I have had a slight challenge with her backing the last couple of days and she was so good at it. I believe it is because I was thinking back, she was backing but then I pulled and she thought backing wasn't the right answer. The combination of my thoughts to back, her backing, and then me adding the cue after that made her think that backing wasn't what I really wanted. So I would think back and wait, then slightly shift my weight back, and then pick up on the reins to back. It didn't take long and she was backing off my thoughts but I had to be exact and very clear both in my head, and with my cues to her and the timing of the thoughts and cues.
For me, this is huge. It is something I can play with and get better at. I need a LOT of work but I can play with it with all three Bay Girls and both during ground play, and riding. I got this!
What are your thoughts on this? Have you experienced that sense of anticipation? If you would like to reply, sign up for emails to connect with me - or just send an email, elisehittinger@gmail.com.
There is nothing worse then riding on a chilly or cold day, bundling up, and 5 minutes into the ride, having to unbundle for a hot flash. It is a great way to get your horse really good at having jackets put on and taken off but really not a fun way to ride. Well, maybe riding in 80 or 90 degrees and having a hot flash burst on the scene and not being able to unbundle might be worse. Hard to decide.
I had up to 20 hot flashes an hour and they made me nauseous, and very faint. I was miserable. Not only did I not want to ride, I didn't even want to take care of the horses or be with them. For me, the doctors were no help so I took matters into my own hands and figured it out, with a ton of research and trial and error. (If you want so see my big mistake and funny story, here is a link to that blog: Toxins in the Tack Room)
1. I started eliminating toxins. I found this great cleaner, Thieves, that not only was toxin free, it cleaned really well, was much less money than my other cleaners, and the best part, it smelled like Christmas. I use it for everything, including cleaning the horses! That started me on a search for where I had other toxins around me and I was shocked. Shampoo, Soap, Toothpaste, Moisturizer, and that was just morning. Then I looked in the kitchen and laundry room: not only were there toxins in my detergents and soaps, but also in the foods I was eating! I progressed on to other areas and finally the tack room. Can you believe we pay for toxins to put on our horses? Wound care and fly spray just for a start contain a ton of toxins and horses are way more sensitive to toxins than we are. What was I doing to my precious partners? Toxins are Endocrine disruptors which muck with hormones and boy did I and my three mares have a lot of hormone issues to overcome! In a very short time, we were all feeling better. Less pinned ears, less kicking, less hot flashes, we all seemed to be heading the right direction.
I had up to 20 hot flashes an hour and they made me nauseous, and very faint. I was miserable. Not only did I not want to ride, I didn't even want to take care of the horses or be with them. For me, the doctors were no help so I took matters into my own hands and figured it out, with a ton of research and trial and error. (If you want so see my big mistake and funny story, here is a link to that blog: Toxins in the Tack Room)
1. I started eliminating toxins. I found this great cleaner, Thieves, that not only was toxin free, it cleaned really well, was much less money than my other cleaners, and the best part, it smelled like Christmas. I use it for everything, including cleaning the horses! That started me on a search for where I had other toxins around me and I was shocked. Shampoo, Soap, Toothpaste, Moisturizer, and that was just morning. Then I looked in the kitchen and laundry room: not only were there toxins in my detergents and soaps, but also in the foods I was eating! I progressed on to other areas and finally the tack room. Can you believe we pay for toxins to put on our horses? Wound care and fly spray just for a start contain a ton of toxins and horses are way more sensitive to toxins than we are. What was I doing to my precious partners? Toxins are Endocrine disruptors which muck with hormones and boy did I and my three mares have a lot of hormone issues to overcome! In a very short time, we were all feeling better. Less pinned ears, less kicking, less hot flashes, we all seemed to be heading the right direction.
2. I added a couple of products that were simple to my diet, and to my bedtime routine. These support my thyroid (Endoflex), support my hormones (Progessence Plus), and support my health (Ningxia Red and Sulfurzyme). It was easy to implement and really helped. No more night sweats for a start. I felt like I was coming back into myself, the hot flashes were dissolving away and now I rarely have one.
3. I eliminated processed sugar. This one was by far the hardest but the most rewarding! I have a love of chocolate treats and when I found out that sugar is a huge trigger for hot flashes, I was crushed. But I was done with hot flashes. So, I eliminated processed sugars. To my amazement, it was easier than I thought and I LOVE my new dessert. Unsweetened 100% Cacoa, Raw Unfiltered Honey, and then I get to pick my favorite flavor, Peppermint, or one of the citruses, or something else! It takes diligence and I have learned a ton. I was shocked to find that just about all condiments have sugar in addition to just about every other thing we had in our pantry. I now use Tapitio Sauce for all condiments or once in a while yellow mustard. For salad dressings, I just use the hot sauce and call it a taco salad or I use some spices and more of those yummy essential oils which have so much flavor.
It has been a journey for myself and my horses and I am happy to say, I now have one or two hot flashes a day, usually about 20 minutes after going to bed and I think it is trigger by the Progessence plus I put behind my knees right before bed but it helps keep them away for the whole next day so it is worth it.
If you are interested in finding out the nitty gritty details, I would love to have a chat with you, every person is different, and every hot flash is unique. Just know, there is hope, there are things you can do, and you can take control of your hot flashes. If you would like to chat about your hot flashes and/or rider health, click here and put it on my calendar! (It is called bundle conversation because I use one calendar and also talk about how CBD helped me and set up bundles for people and horses). Schedule a chat!
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.
Have you ever felt that fear start up when you think about going to ride your horse? You have the thought, what if the wind starts blowing? What if he is frisky? What if….Insert yours here!
We can all play the what if game for days looking for the things that can go wrong. What if, we change that around and look for the "what if" that are AMAZING? Wouldn't it be wonderful to think about riding your horse and be flooded with feelings of JOY?
It is possible and if you were ever that FEARLESS KID, it will come back to you!
I had a horrendous accident and I let it HOLD ME BACK from enjoying my riding. I had to make the DECISION to change my FEAR to COURAGE and get my riding back! Once I made the decision, the process opened up for me and here are the 3 key steps that I went through to getting back into the saddle again and riding my horse.
Step 1 - Health. I know this sounds massive, and for some, this will not be an issue at all, but for me, getting older, I needed to get my health back. One of the reasons kids are fearless is because they don’t have aches and pains. I changed my diet a couple times until I got it right and in doing so, my migraines disappeared (BONUS), my flexibility improved tremendously and so did my confidence with my balance and strength riding. I also had to get my mindset fixed but both of these are complete topics on their own. The other part of this was my horses health and mind. These four elements - Rider Health, Rider Mind, Horse Health, and Horse Mind - all have to be functioning for courage to prevail.
Step 2 - Knowledge. This one was so hard for me at first. How do you go about getting the knowledge you need. The horse trainers I talked to didn't "get" the fear, they didn't have fear. They just said "GO CANTER" or whatever it was because they didn't connect with my level of fear like the horse connected with it. I also tried going to "coaches" but they didn't "get" the combination of rider and horse feeding fear off of each other. I finally found an amazing coach that really helped with cutting the ties to the fear from the accident and I worked through an anchoring process, using Stress Away on my right wrist and Thieves on my left wrist to ANCHOR calm and courage respectfully from a smell to a feeling. These two pieces of knowledge were a huge start.
Step 3 - Experience. This was the hardest part at first. I had to put myself into a "what if" things go amazing place and fill myself with those emotions. I had to use my Anchors to set it into my mind and body. I had to create an amazing vision for what I wanted the ride to look like and then I had to GET ON and ride. I created exercises to help build the confidence and courage as I went and those first few rides, where I had complete peace and joy were worth every minute of working on this process.
So in a nutshell, these are the 3 things that I found worked for me: Health - Rider and Horse; Knowledge; and Experience. Following these 3 pieces of foundation, are so important so that you can enjoy riding your horse again in Confidence and Courage! Think about how grateful your horse will be to not have to deal with your fear any more!
We can all play the what if game for days looking for the things that can go wrong. What if, we change that around and look for the "what if" that are AMAZING? Wouldn't it be wonderful to think about riding your horse and be flooded with feelings of JOY?
It is possible and if you were ever that FEARLESS KID, it will come back to you!
I had a horrendous accident and I let it HOLD ME BACK from enjoying my riding. I had to make the DECISION to change my FEAR to COURAGE and get my riding back! Once I made the decision, the process opened up for me and here are the 3 key steps that I went through to getting back into the saddle again and riding my horse.
Step 1 - Health. I know this sounds massive, and for some, this will not be an issue at all, but for me, getting older, I needed to get my health back. One of the reasons kids are fearless is because they don’t have aches and pains. I changed my diet a couple times until I got it right and in doing so, my migraines disappeared (BONUS), my flexibility improved tremendously and so did my confidence with my balance and strength riding. I also had to get my mindset fixed but both of these are complete topics on their own. The other part of this was my horses health and mind. These four elements - Rider Health, Rider Mind, Horse Health, and Horse Mind - all have to be functioning for courage to prevail.
Step 2 - Knowledge. This one was so hard for me at first. How do you go about getting the knowledge you need. The horse trainers I talked to didn't "get" the fear, they didn't have fear. They just said "GO CANTER" or whatever it was because they didn't connect with my level of fear like the horse connected with it. I also tried going to "coaches" but they didn't "get" the combination of rider and horse feeding fear off of each other. I finally found an amazing coach that really helped with cutting the ties to the fear from the accident and I worked through an anchoring process, using Stress Away on my right wrist and Thieves on my left wrist to ANCHOR calm and courage respectfully from a smell to a feeling. These two pieces of knowledge were a huge start.
Step 3 - Experience. This was the hardest part at first. I had to put myself into a "what if" things go amazing place and fill myself with those emotions. I had to use my Anchors to set it into my mind and body. I had to create an amazing vision for what I wanted the ride to look like and then I had to GET ON and ride. I created exercises to help build the confidence and courage as I went and those first few rides, where I had complete peace and joy were worth every minute of working on this process.
So in a nutshell, these are the 3 things that I found worked for me: Health - Rider and Horse; Knowledge; and Experience. Following these 3 pieces of foundation, are so important so that you can enjoy riding your horse again in Confidence and Courage! Think about how grateful your horse will be to not have to deal with your fear any more!
Come join my "Cheerleading" group cheering each other on in this journey. If you don't experience fear, come help those of us that do and if you do have fear, it is a safe place to share, learn and grow! Click here so that you can enjoy riding your horse again!
