On the back of a horse was where she belonged

 

I was reading this romantic novel/thriller today and there was this line in it about the heroine who had been a champion rider and she and her horse had both suffered career ending injuries in a riding accident.  She was watching a new young stablehand get on one of her horses with yearning:

 

He looked like she felt on the back of a horse.  Like that was where he belonged and everything else he did was just passing time.  Like climbing on that horse’s back made all the misery in his life fade away.  A small pang of loss sliced through her.  She would never experience that ease again.  For her, riding was tainted by pain, guilt and worry, and for a few seconds she almost wished she’d never sat on her first pony.

Because you couldn’t miss what you never had.

This started a train of thought in me.  So many riders have suffered – yes SUFFERED – the consequences of falls off horses that if they were lucky, have just left them a bit tight and tense and knocked some of the confidence out of them – and if they were unlucky, the fall/s REALLY knocked their confidence and even caused physical damage that still effects them today.

Here’s a shift of perspective. What if those “unlucky” ones are really the lucky ones after all?  What if I told you that you could have that childhood confidence and feeling of safety that you yearn for?  That you could have it back again? Or even get it for the first time?

And that the very process that you need to go through to get that confidence back will make you a seriously better rider?  And a seriously better horseperson generally? And the same process that will make you a better rider could even bring you more happiness in your life generally?

What if I told you that getting to the bottom of, and releasing that tension would stimulate the healing process of even old injuries to – at the very least – feel better?

I know…  I’m smiling a little as I write this.  I can hear some people thinking “Oh yeah… reaaallly…  Way too far fetched.”  I don’t blame you.  If I hadn’t seen this kind of mental, emotional and physical healing happening consistently over these years, I would be questioning it too.  But my students who are reading this aren’t questioning it.  They’ve seen and heard about and talked to and felt that kind of healing happen on our courses and in the live seminars, repeatedly.

So what does it take to get that kind of healing to happen?  I think the most important step is realizing that you don’t have to put up with it.  That it’s not necessary to feel that little bit of tension as you put your foot into the stirrup to mount up or when you hear that motor bike in the distance when you’re out on the trail.  We can change this stuff – we can release this tension and it’s not even that difficult to do.

And as for the confidence, confidence is a rider AND horse issue and no matter how many people settle for it, it’s NOT NECESSARY for our horse to experience tightness and tension about anything, let alone the routine things of life – like riding away from home by yourselves, getting on the float, doing a transition from trot to canter, being saddled, whatever.

And, no matter how many people settle for it, it’s NOT NECESSARY for a horse to explosively spook at anything, let alone at things that you can see are not things to be worried about.

Crikey I can feel myself getting on my soapbox again. Smiling here. I get VERY passionate about this stuff.  I’ll put some links to programs that will help you to fix ALL of these issues at the bottom of this article and they all come with a “love this or get your money back” guarantee.

The book I’m reading is She Can Tell by Melinda Leigh.  Don’t read it late at night by yourself (that thriller content will have you wanting to check under the bed and jumping every time the dog barks. And please be warned 🙂 there’s explicit sexual content.

The rider AND horse program is Fast Track to Brilliant Riding, which contains the lessons that will help you to release stress and tension from old falls – and the payment in full option comes with a free private session with me if you have a really big old accident in there. In this program, the overall mental, emotional and physical well being of both horse AND rider is covered step by relaxed, happy step.

If you don’t know of me and my genuine-ness or if Fast Track is too big a commitment, Foundation for Riding Excellence is a smaller riding seat improvement program that also contains the lessons to help you release stress and tension from old falls. What it DOESN’T do, is address the horse side of the issue and a good ride takes two to tango. 🙂

And 21 Days to a Quiet Mind is a gorgeous little program that will improve your horsemanship in a mere 21 days.

You can find all these programs on the training page here.