Feel the fear and do it anyway -

aka cowgirl up.

Have you hit a road block with your horse because you have gotten nervous handling them?

Maybe you have got a legitimate reason to be nervous of your horse.

Maybe they have gotten nervy, spooky and unpredictable or maybe they have gotten aggressive and started lashing out at you.

Maybe you had a bad accident and it was noones fault (which somehow seems to make it worse because you don’t know how to prevent it happening again)

Either way your riding and your handling has come to a stand still. You so wish you had your nerve and confidence back but your finding every excuse under the sun to avoid going and doing anything with your horse. I hear you. I’ve been there time and time again and I’m sure it won’t be long before I’m back there

So here are some of my best tips:

• Knowing why goes a long way to alleviating fear. If you can figure why your horse acted a certain way, you know how to address it and prevent it happening again. This puts you in a place of power and confidence that you know how to not put yourself in that position again.

• Developing the skills to manage the behaviour that is scaring you. Once you know what to do with your horse if they are doing something that scares you it can be less scary. And then you can give yourself props and motivate yourself to work through it when it comes up.

• Positive self talk. If you have worked through the behaviour and developed the skills needed to handle the behaviour talk yourself up. “I’ve got this, I’ve done it before, I can do it again”. Often our head goes to what it was like when it was at its worst but we can have come a long way with our horse and even though the behaviour is still there (because its actually your horses personality) its not as bad as it was at its worse and is a lot easier to work with.

• Breathing. Being able to slow your heart rate and breathing rate not only goes a long way to dealing with your nerves but also helps your horse bring their emotional state down

• Your riding environment. Having a safe riding environment is ideal for working with difficult behaviour. This includes suitable fencing and a good surface.

If you need more support with managing your nerves and your horses behaviour, join our free group. Our members have had some big wins in developing their confidence and their relationship with their horses just from the advice we share in there - and it’s free!