Isn't it funny. You were young, fearless, would jump anything, and I mean anything - man how resourceful were you when you were a kid; mum's picnic table; dads saw horses with a plank laid across the top; road cones... we had to invent our own jumps! You found dressage a chore - merely the necessary bit so you could get on with the fun stuff.
Time goes on and you grow up, sometimes that's enough of a handbrake in itself. Then you have a baby. Maybe even a few... Right, time to get back on the horse. But uh-oh, what's happened here? Suddenly your once trusty steed has grown what seems like 3 hands taller, he's moving too fast, he's turned from bomb-proof to a complete ninny, and time to do some jumping? Forget about jumps - a 60cm jump looks like a grand prix fence! Stuff that. I'll tell you what's happened - it's the baby (or multiple babies, if applicable). But how does such a small human hold such power over you? How has becoming a mum turned you into a wuss? You've just gone through one of the craziest, hardest things ever required of you when you gave birth - riding a racehorse should be like a walk in the park. I'll tell you what happened - you started to have to worry about someone other than yourself. In the back of your mind you know if you come off and brake your arm, you can't hold your baby. If you carry out an ungraceful, unauthorised dismount, you don't get any judges' points for style, it just leaves you wondering how you're going to get your kids to school. And you know what? Those niggling little thoughts in the back of your mind, start making riding a nerve-racking task, rather than the worry-free, pleasurable pursuit it once was. But here is a secret I feel I absolutely must share with you: Every rider gets nervous at times. Yup, ALL of them. It may be at different times for different reasons, but nerves hit us all. Sure there are different thresholds which trigger nerves, depending on the level of experience and current riding regime. But they all feel it. All of them. Truly. The difference between someone who looks like they have it all together and how you feel? Good management. Even the greatest of the great Olympic riders have hairy moments. How do they cope? If in doubt, they go back a step, regroup, and then try again (and again and again). How can you apply this 'good management' technique to yourself, at home on your own hack, who would quite frankly rather be eating? Well, there is always something basic that you know you and your horse can do. If something gets hard or scary, go back a step and concentrate on concreting-in the basics until you start to find them boring. While you're in a state of nervousness or apprehension, your horse can feel it - don't let that stop you from getting on, just be aware of yourself and what is triggering your feelings. Here's an example: You feel like you want to go for a canter. You know that you can do it, and you feel silly for being worried about it, but regardless, you are secretly freaking out inside (or maybe you're an extrovert and are quite open about how you feel!) Solution: Trot. Trot fast, trot slow. Trot big, trot small. Trot circles, trot lines. Get on that horse everyday (or at least as much as you possibly can) and trot. Trot until your horse is well-worked, and you are bored of trotting. At the point of boredom, curiosity and bravery start to creep in. So trot, just a bit more. Then, when you think you can't stand going out for one more ride of just trot, you are ready to canter. Pick a calm day, when it's warm and your horse is feeling relaxed and go out and trot - just so he doesn't think something is up. Then pick a marker - a tuft of grass or a fence post - then at that point, sit up, be strong and canter for 6 strides, then go back to trot. Depending on how you feel, you can try it again or leave it for that ride, and just aim to canter for longer the next time too. The same thing applies to apprehension about jumping the bigger heights that you feel like you should be jumping, but don't feel confident enough to tackle. Don't worry about what you should be doing, just pop over tiny little baby fences, until once again you become bored, because closely following boredom is curiosity and bravery. Little by little, you will build yourself up in confidence and security, in a safe manner. I know first-hand, because I am a horse nut, and I had a baby - two in fact, I love them both to pieces. I would jump on anything and everything. Having my babies made me re-evaluate things, perhaps a little too much at times; and for a period of time I felt pretty overcome with nerves - my younger, 'gung-ho' self scolding me on a regular basis. So I took it right back to basics and re-built from the ground up. I still think before I leap more than I used to, but we can't let our babies take away our passion and the thing that makes us happy. And heck, if they grow up and love riding too, we can all go out together! I have seriously got my fingers crossed there - my babies out with me and my horses doing what we love together? Jackpot. |
AuthorChristine Armishaw: Archives
November 2020
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