Do you find it a battle sometimes with your nerves and confidence when riding?
You really are not alone here. I feel ya!
Since the start of lockdown 2020 (seems a long while ago now) I have spent time working out what causes my nerves and rider confidence issues with my riding. At times, I had tuned out from the reason WHY I want to ride and spend time with my horse. (Check my previous blog post here)
Thoughts of the “what if…” would creep into my head, and I have quite a good imagination….! I could picture some disastrous things that could happen, rather than imagining what could go well and what fun I could have.
Building on my rider confidence is a work in progress for sure. Things don’t just happen with a flick of a magic wand… but believe me I did hunt for that solution!
LEARNING TO ENJOY THE PROCESS!
Have you ever been so focused on the outcome that you have got overwhelmed on how to get there?
I had started to dwell on feeling that the end result was out of my reach, I couldn’t clearly see the steps on how to get there.
It wasn’t until I stumbled upon a new riding coach that I realised there was a whole journey to reaching my goals with my riding. And guess what, the process to getting there could actually be fun.
I highly recommend getting a good team behind you when building on your rider confidence. This has been a game changer for me. I had instructors in the past that really helped the riding part but I neglected my mindset. Changing to having a coach was the best outcome for me. I can work on my horse but also my mindset, which in turn makes for a better rider!
Have someone in your corner fighting for you, as let’s face it we can be pretty mean to ourselves and are really not the best cheerleaders in our own lives! Make sure that person ensures you are accountable for your actions too.
GET WRITING….
Something I worked on with my coach was what I could do with my time whilst out of the saddle.
Spend some time away from the yard, writing down what is important to you, start remembering your WHY! Write down your goals, and if you can, break it right down to mini steps in reaching the main goal.
This was a huge break through for me, and something I had never done before. But it makes sense right?! Sometimes the most obvious things don’t always appear to us at the time.
Breakdown your goal – improve your confidence!
Being able to find bitesize versions of my goals has made me feel way more likely to achieve them. Another positive to add to this is aiding my rider confidence by gaining a quicker sense of achievement. Confidence takes action, but when we look too hard at the larger picture it is too overwhelming. Breaking down the goal into smaller action points will make it seem much more achievable and in turn boost your confidence!
I would love to hear about your journey to becoming a more confident rider, if this resonates with you do drop me a message!
I will keep you all posted on the next chapters to meeting my goals and I will be sure to share any more tips I pick up along the way!
x Jen x