Becoming A Confident Horse Rider

Becoming a confident horse rider is not easy. When it comes down to being a confidence in the saddle, two things can affect your outlook; your ability and your mindset. After time off riding, you might feel as though the reset button has been well and truly hit regarding your previous boldness in the saddle. So, what can we do to get back to our courageous riding ways?

Tackling the Ability Barrier

No matter how much time you have had away from the saddle, you horse knowledge is still in there, somewhere! However, if you’ve lost faith in your knowledge of horses and riding, here are a few ways you can get back on track…

Top up your knowledge

Make a conscious effort to get to know the theory of riding and horse care. In your spare time, read books, browse website articles or even watch YouTube videos or scroll through social media – you literally have a world of information at your fingertips!

There are plenty of online courses, or turn to the BHS to see if they offer any help in your local area. If you’re a younger rider, the pony club offers some invaluable training and certificates of achievements.

Take some lessons…

Feeling wobbly in the saddle? Maybe you should rope in the help of a professional. Getting the help of a qualified instructor or coach, can make the world of different to your stability, functionality and mindset in the saddle.

Coaches and instructors are also a great source of information, so if you have any questions, fire away! If you can’t get an instructor to travel to you, trying recording yourself and sending it to them or someone who is experienced and ask for their thoughts and advice.

Build strength

Feeling weak after time away from the saddle is also common and can be very unhelpful when trying to tackle nerves. So, why not build up your strength out of the saddle.

Building your core and leg strength can help you to feel much more secure in the saddle, assisting with balance and position!

Tackling the Mindset Barrier

Having a negative mindset surrounding your riding experiences can also put a spanner in the works when wanting to achieve bigger and better feats, or just getting back in the saddle. Therefore, it’s not only important to ensure you ability is up to scratch, but that your head is in the right place in order take on these new challenges.

Feeling nervous around riding can negatively effect our performance and position, therefore negatively impacting our horse’s wellness and performance. But what can we do to tackle those nerves?

Start Small

For progression, we all need to push ourselves outside of our comfort zone. However, don’t feel pressured into doing an exercise you feel to overwhelmed to complete. Instead, make compromises and build up to a bigger goal. For example, if you are asked to canter on lap around the arena, but feel too nervous to, break the task into more manageable chunks until you’re ready to take on the full task. Coaches and friends should support your decision, especially if you are looking in the direction of progress.

This could be the perfect time to nail the basics, such as riding the perfect circle and improving your accuracy in flatwork movements!

Founder of Everything Horse, Suzanne Ashton says “Only do what feels right on the day. If you’re not feeling yourself, then don’t push it too much. Enter the school with realistic expectations, and you’ll no doubt perform better and do more (and better) than you were anticipating. By putting yourself under too much pressure, you risk making mistakes which will further impact your confidence and ability.”

Always remember, slow and steady wins the race – so have patience and don’t be too hard on yourself, or your horse.

Breathe

When riding, take the focus away from the horse and focus on something else. Whether that counting your own breath or listening to your favourite music, sometimes a distraction can be key in order to reduce the sound of overthinking situations and possible scenarios.

Body Check

Finding areas of tension in your body can be an outward sign of underlying nerves or insecurity. Start from your head, working down to your shoulder, hips, knees and ankles. If you notice tension, try to release the muscle through gentle swinging or rotational movements. Ask yourself why there is tension in this area – do you feel more secure with or without the tension?

A human physiotherapist is always a good option. Alternatively, a good sports massage will go a long way – and it’s a great excuse to book yourself in for some well deserved pampering as don’t forget, it’s not just the horse that’s the athlete.