Tuning In To Your Internal State - All riders are familiar with the joy and challenge associated with mastering the dance of connection and communication between horse and rider. However, fewer riders are familiar with the role which regulating our nervous system plays in this intricate ballet.

Last summer I was watching a warm-up ring at Thunderbird Show Park in Vancouver, BC and noticed a rider who seemed to be having a hard time. Her horse was quite tense and wasn’t paying attention, despite her best efforts to create a contact. The horse seemed very distracted and when they trotted up to a practice jump he refused. The rider was fighting to retain composure, but her tension and frustration were evident. She managed to get over a few jumps at the trot but when they began cantering, the horse rushed the jumps and nearly bolted away on landing. After a couple of jumps she pulled up in the corner of the arena and I could see from her face that she was working hard to hold back tears.

Have you ever felt like you’re getting in your own way? If so, you are not alone. As equestrians, we can be at particular risk of “self-sabotaging” when moving up a level in competition. This article will explore why this happens and what we can do to work against our tendency to make things harder for ourselves than they need to be. It is possible to tackle each new level with self-trust, confidence, and effective riding. All we need is the support of some mental skills and strategies.

What are your personal values and why do they matter? Have you ever temporarily fallen out of love with riding? In my work as an equestrian mental performance coach, many clients share with me that they’ve lost the joy that riding used to give them. Sometimes the challenges of your sport can feel like they’re outnumbering the positives and equestrians can find themselves wondering: Why do I do this?

Facing Fear - Real and Imagined - The Mediterranean waters glistened below me. As I stood on the edge of the rockface, contemplating the 25-foot drop into the clear blue sea, it felt like my body was screaming at me to not jump. My knees were shaking, making my legs feel unsteady. My mind felt fuzzy and slightly disconnected from reality. I was more acutely scared than I had been in quite some time. But here’s the thing: I really wanted to jump. I was in Croatia and the sea was warm and inviting. I had watched about 10 people make the same leap quite safely and I knew, rationally, that it really wasn’t that high. I was determined to push through my nerves and do it, but in that moment I wasn’t entirely sure my body would let me.

How to Bounce Back - As I sit down to write about burnout, I step back through time into memories of moments where I felt overwhelmed by frustration, exhaustion, and an agonizing feeling of not achieving. A feeling of not measuring up to expectations. When I was in this mental place, every unsuccessful show and difficult ride left me feeling stressed, anxious, and like a failure. The thoughts, Why do I do this? and I can’t do this any more! played on repeat in my head. I was spending so much time and money and I wanted success badly.

You may think your barn community is too small to have something as fancy as its own culture, but it does. Whenever groups of people come together through common goals, interests, and patterns of behaviour, a culture is formed. A culture is a set of shared beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, practices, and behaviours. A strong culture can help all involved reach higher and further than they can alone. However, when a culture isn’t shaped intentionally, it may not serve its full potential. In some cases, a culture can even become harmful to those within it.

In my work as an equestrian sport psychology coach, I spend a lot of time talking with riders about guilt. It seems that we riders experience a lot of guilt in response to an amazing variety of circumstances.

Every equestrian knows the magic of our unique bond with our horses. It is a relationship that sits at the centre of our lives, supporting us and challenging us in equal measure. Every minute spent with our horses has a big impact on our well-being, which is an individual’s personal experience of good mental health and satisfaction with life. Research now supports what horsey folks have known for years: spending time with horses is good for us, so much so that horses are increasingly being used as a source of therapy. Studies have demonstrated that time spent interacting with horses increases positive emotions, decreasing depression and increasing social connection skills in children and adults alike.