Ten deep breaths
I found myself holding my breath a
lot and just going along for the ride
letting my horse run his own show,
this would make my fear worse because I wasn’t in control at all! My
sister would remind me to take ten
deep breaths and take charge. The
great thing about remembering to
breathe is it not only relaxes you but
by the fourth deep breath you have
lowered your anxiety levels and you
aren’t fixated on the bad things! It
helps your horse relax too, so at the
very least you owe it to him to take
control of your anxieties.
Relax your butt (yes really!)
It sounds like a joke but I am serious! Often I found if Gio got tense, I
would get tense and we both would
go around and around getting tense
together. I found that by relaxing
my butt muscles it didn’t matter so
much if the rest of me was still a bit
tense, Gio wouldn’t feel it as much.
Relax and ride with a nice following
hand. If you aren’t confident to walk
on the long rein, ride with a short
rein but with your hand following
and forward. You will still feel in
control if things happen but you aren’t choking your horse and making
things worse. Over time allow your
horse to take some more rein and
trust him more- this will help immensely!
Before long if you practice these
things I have mentioned you will
find yourself a much calmer, happier rider. Your horse will thank you
for it too!