What Helps You Feel Confident When You Ride?

Confidence when you ride

Confidence can change from one ride to another. You might feel completely at home with your horse one day and find yourself questioning things the next. What interests me as a coach is what we can do in those moments.

Sometimes preparation helps. Sometimes it is returning to an exercise you and your horse know well, giving yourself time in the warm-up or noticing what has changed today. Confidence when we ride is closely connected to communication: knowing how we can begin a conversation with our horse and having ways to respond when something feels different.

What do you do in those moments? I like to have a few go to exercises and patterns that my horse and I enjoy riding. I have a consistent warm up routine that gives us both the time to feel connected to each other.  
The familiar favourites help me remember that my horse and I can do this together. It’s not because we can execute these moves perfectly, it’s because we communicate and the process helps me bring my mind to the here and now with my horse.
In the past I have ridden some very sharp and awkward horses and my strategy then was to find my way to shoulder fore as soon as possible to give my horse a connection where we could communicate and a way to communicate the need to “stay with me” and “on my aids” rather than behind or in front of them heading to spook zone.

This wasn't always fun for me, especially on “Ride 1” after time off, and I had to deal with the inner voice that questioned all my choices. I recognise some of those feelings from sitting coaching exams too. I was operating in my “stretch/strain zone” and had ways to prepare myself mentally so I could respond to the situation with more confidence than seemed possible when my alarm went off that morning.

I wouldn't want to feel that way every day. If you are in a situation where everything feels beyond possible, talk to a coach and ask them to help you unravel the strands. There are no medals for riding when it's not fun, and there are ways to take steps to change things.

I certainly am enjoying riding Salvation who has better things to worry about than the things that might move! Riding Salvation has given me a new appreciation for the “challenge zone” where we are both comfortable with stretching ourselves in training and competition. 

Confidence can grow through experience. Knowing your horse, having a familiar way to begin, recognising what helps you communicate and giving yourself time to prepare all become part of that experience.

When something changes, you have somewhere to begin.