It's Only the Wind: Anticipatory Anxiety and Equestrians

(This blog was originally posted on January 15, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

One of the first things people learn about horses is that these animals (can) shy or “spook” at anything and everything—but wind is Public Enemy Number One. Even if it is just an errant breeze rustling the leaves in a tree overhead on an otherwise still day, the breath catches in our lungs and our heart pounding in our chest. If the Santa Ana Winds snaps a tree bough nearby, all bets are off: we instinctively prepare our bodies to make an unscheduled dismount in case (when) our horses bolt and head back to the security of the barn. We tighten our grip and/or shorten the reins (to get better control of the horse’s head and try to prevent him from looking at anything), collapse our rib-cage and assume a “fetal position,” as described by Sally Swift, look down at the ground (ostensibly to choose the perfect landing spot, just in case) and tighten every muscle in the body as we prepare to hang onto our panicked steed (if we can) as soon as he takes off.

Your subconscious mind is likely to send these kinds of instructions to your body if your mental script and previous experience, knowledge and expectations tell you that this is how your horse will react in a specific situation. Consequently, your anticipation of a possible problem, or “anticipatory anxiety,” will virtually guarantee that your horse will act like there is really a problem because your body has told him that there is one. Here are some suggestions and visualization exercises that I provide for equestrians to override this automatic fear response so you can both enjoy the ride.

1.       Be sure to eat some protein before you ride/work with your horse to help reduce anxiety and stabilize your mood. (For more information about the role of nutrition and anxiety, see my blog titled Nutrition and Development of Phobias).

2.       Spend a few minutes practicing deep-breathing exercises before you go out to work with or ride your horse. While you are relaxing in an area of peace and quiet, visualize, imagine or picture the kind of ride you want to have with your horse. Sit up straight and tall in the saddle. This posture enables you breathe deeply and easily, which will help you to relax. It also tells your subconscious mind that you are relaxed and confident.

3.       Think about/reflect on a very good ride or time that you recently spent with your horse. Bring up the positive images and emotions associated with that experience and then anchor that association by pressing or rubbing together the thumb and index (pointing) finger of either hand. You can activate this anchor any time to remind yourself how good, enjoyable, etc. it is to ride or be with your horse.

4.       Send/think only positive images and expectations about the ride you are about to have: “I am confident and relaxed when I am on my horse. I am having a great ride.” Only use adjectives and emotions in this imagery that will increase your confidence, sense of control, etc. for and during the ride.

5.       Reassure your horse that you are in control and are your horse’s leader during the ride. Give him plenty of ­physical/vocal rewards such as pats and praise, etc. to let him know that you are there and will take care of everything; all he needs to do is listen to you and do what you ask him to do. This physical and vocal contact isn’t just for your horse; it is also a way to comfort and reassure you, and reinforce your role of the brave, confident herd leader in your subconscious mind.

6.       Practice some simple mounted exercises such as figure-eights, lateral work, etc. so you must focus on riding and interacting with your horse and your horse must focus on you (not what is going on around him).

7.       Activate your finger-press anchor throughout the ride, as needed.

I hope these suggestions help you to relax and enjoy the time you spend with your horse, regardless of what is going on around you. I am not a riding instructor, and I encourage everyone to consult with a trainer or instructor to resolve riding and horse-related issues. However, I have found from personal experience as well as my hypnotherapy work with other equestrians that setting positive expectations for a good ride is the most effective way to achieve that goal. For more information about my hypnotherapy work with equestrians and to schedule an appointment, please contact me via my website at www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2018

Progress

Photo courtesy of Sara Fogan

This photo of Galahad was taken in 2011, before I bought him
and before his serious training as a dressage horse began.

 

Yesterday, I finally had a few hours free so I could watch my dressage trainer, Laurel van der Linde, school my horse, Galahad. While I do spend time with him every day, now that my hypnotherapy practice is growing, I don’t get as many opportunities to watch him work as often as I used to. My horse’s training is much further along than my own, so it is a real treat for me to be able to see Galahad’s progress for myself. And he has progressed a lot in the past five weeks or so.

When I watched him work yesterday, I suddenly understood what my grandparents meant when they told me how grown up I seemed since the last time they saw me. The Santa Ana winds were blowing hard during his schooling session, but Galahad remained calm, relaxed and focused the whole time he was in the arena. Even from my seat outside the arena, I could see that his back was up and stretched all the way through his topline; I think I got a virtual back stretch just watching him move. The length of his trot strides was longer, and the movement of his hindquarters reminded me of pumping pistons as my horse pushed his body forward. When Laurel asked for canter transitions, my horse easily picked up a comfortable, rhythmic canter that seemed both slower and more contained than I remembered him doing last time I watched them train. Galahad has always been a very balanced horse in that he carries his weight pretty equally (self-carriage) at each gait—walk, trot and canter—while tracking both to the right and to the left. Yesterday, he seemed even freer in the shoulder and through the back while cantering on the right lead, which has always been a little stiffer for him in the past. Also, he has had a tendency to rush a bit in some of his canter-trot transitions—especially when on the right lead—but yesterday Galahad’s body moved in that even, flowing cadence of a true rocking-horse canter.

I was most impressed by the way he was able to maintain an almost-vertical flexion in his poll and the lift in his back throughout Laurel’s ride. It has taken a lot of time, training and conditioning to get him to this point, but Galahad seems to understand that his work is easier to do the more collected he is. How do I know this? Well, at the risk of seeming to anthropomorphize my horse’s interpretation of collection, whenever he received praise after he completed a movement, he needed very little aid to transition back into what he had just done.

He suddenly seemed like a much more mature and “together” version of himself than I had ever seen. I couldn't take my eyes off him: Is this really my horse? I kept thinking. Laurel has been fine-tuning his flying lead changes, and Galahad did some gorgeous ones yesterday. He looked like a real dressage horse. I have already started visualizing, imagining, picturing and pretending how he will look doing—and how it will feel to ride—his single tempi lead changes, one day.

 

I am so lucky to have this wonderful horse in my life. Now, I have to work hard to keep up with him!

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014