Many riders face fear and anxiety when riding. It's not just adults who have experienced a frightening situation with horses and are suddenly overwhelmed with anxiety. Fear can take a hold of young children and teens alike.
It's a difficult balance for equestrians to be aware and understand the potential danger of riding horses but at the same time to maintain relaxation. Just having some general common sense and a healthy respect of a 1000 pound animal with a mind of its own can lead to slight trepidation. Add a bad experience to the mix, and you can have rider fear.
Let’s face it. Horses aren’t the dumb creatures some non-horse people think they are. They have minds of their own, can react in a split second with their flight syndrome and can be mighty athletic with their bucks, spins and bolts.
Nearly every rider can probably recall the moment they were riding a horse one way, then, in the blink of an eye, were in the opposite direction and galloping madly, lost stirrups swinging against the runaway’s sides. Sometimes it doesn’t even take a bad fall or an injury to create rider anxiety. Skill levels can mean nothing. I’ve known many a seasoned rider who suddenly felt the need for greater self preservation; sometimes it was a result of seeing a bad accident rather than actually experiencing the accident themselves.
Instructors too need to recognize the signs of fear in their riders. Often, teens and children may be afraid to express their fear as they think they may face ridicule. For example, after a scare or accident, a formerly proactive rider suddenly becomes passive. Or a student who has never missed a lesson starts canceling. Instructors need to be able to gauge changes in behavior and be able to read their students’ expressions. Then they need to address the fear privately with the student.
The instructor needs to do several things. He or she needs to reassure the student that fear is normal and common, and that it can be overcome. The instructor also must ascertain if the student is being over faced in lessons and needs to adjust accordingly. Regardless of whether the student is currently over faced, taking the training down a notch will help rebuild the student’s confidence and focus. The instructor should also develop a series of lessons designed to build this confidence and focus.
The goal of these lessons is to eventually erase the fear and return students to the time when they looked forward to riding. The first thing an instructor needs to do is to take students back to the basics and work on the balanced seat.
With the help of a quiet horse well accustomed to the lunge, the first few lessons remain entirely on a lunge circle regardless of the rider's level at the time. The thought of work at the walk and trot with no stirrups or reins and closed eyes is often enough to elicit protests from anxious riders, but within moments, when they realize they can depend on the instructor for control (and the horse to do his job as expected), they get into the routine. The instructor incorporates exercises into the program, having riders hold their arms out to the sides, in front and over their heads. The instructor keeps encouraging breathing and can do so by constantly engaging the student in conversation. The focus on what they are doing as well as answering the instructor is enough to relax them. Each small step that they make at this point is a building block to recovering confidence. Students then begin riding without stirrups during their lessons off the longe.
With these exercises, the rider recovers his security in both seat and knowledge. His seat is more secure now, and he will be more secure in that knowledge.
Some riders get so overwhelmed that the fear extends beyond the riding and to the handling aspect of horsemanship. Is the student hesitant about entering the stall? Does she look worried walking the horse? Is she standing further than arms length and not holding him up by his chin? If fear extends beyond riding, the instructor needs to help the student with ground work, revisiting how to move a horse off and away from the handler, how to walk an ornery horse, etc. Refresh the student with the tools he or she needs to feel confident.
Getting over the fear is easier said than done as it requires some effort. And getting over it by yourself without an instructor’s aid is even more difficult. Since a major problem is that the rider’s fear can result in the horse becoming anxious, it’s imperative for the rider to try to create relaxation even when anxious. Interestingly, by trying to create the relaxation, the rider often can ease her own anxiety.
Creating relaxation:
§ Fight the urge to choke up on the reins when you first mount and let the horse drop his head and walk with a relaxed and swinging back.
§ Keep awareness of your own back, seat and legs. Make sure you’re not gripping with your legs. Keep thinking about relaxing your buttocks and thighs especially. Allow your lower back to follow the motion, and if you do tense up, use your seat to drive the horse into a longer stride while lightly applying some calf pressure. This driving seat and calf pressure will work to calm you, and your horse if necessary.
§ Breathe! Take deep, regular and rhythmic breaths well into your belly.
§ Don’t force your shoulders back unnaturally. Allow your breath to lift your sternum, then keeping the sternum lifted, drop your shoulders back and down. Keep your elbows in the nook at the sides of your body, just above and slightly forward of your hip.
§ Whenever you start to tense, breathe first deeply and rhythmically, and then relax your back, seat, legs and contact. As you’re working your horse and you’re maintaining contact, give with your inside hand every couple of steps to keep your hands from clenching up and to allow the horse the opportunity to carry himself. This exercise is also good if you find you and your horse are getting into a pulling match. Release that inside rein by moving your hand forward from the elbow.
§ Mentally stimulate yourself into relaxation. Instead of thinking of all the bad things that can happy, like a spook in the corner or a potential deer panic on the trail, think of the joy you have experienced when riding. Recall a particularly great ride you had; it’s even more effective if you recall the ride with the very horse you’re riding at the time!
§ Ride with a friend. More specifically, ride with a stronger rider with a quiet horse. Having a riding buddy can often help work through the mental static, and a quiet well-trained horse is a good role model for your mount as horses tend to feed off other horses' reactions--good or bad.
§ Make a program. Doing multiple changes in gait (transitions) or patterns (figure eights, serpentines) keeps you and the horse focused on the work at hand; whereas walking or trotting endlessly around the arena without changing the program makes for a bored horse who might look elsewhere for interest.
§ Ride proactively. Being a soft rider is a great thing, but it doesn't mean being passive or a passenger. Keep your horse actively working forward from back to front. That means an active marching walk and forward trot and canter. Learn how to ride through scary situations such as riding shoulder fore past a frightening object or circling your horse if he gets strong and too forward. Learn the concepts of half halting and riding every stride to keep your horse's attention. If you don’t have an instructor, books and videos can be of assistance.
§ Be patient. Remember that sometimes fear can change our behavior patterns, and we can grow angry and impatient if the horse doesn’t respond immediately. Remember to maintain your patience and understanding.
§ If all else fails, sing! I’ll share with you my personal fear story related to this exercise. I was riding out in the hunt field when my ex-racehorse started rearing, lunging and bucking. After this incident, I found every reason to avoid riding in the hunt field. When I walked her in hand near it, she would prance and snort, shying at the bushes and trees. But I knew I had to overcome the hunt field issue. So, I walked her in hand twice around it, talking the entire time. When I saw her eye grow calm and she lowered her head and stopped snorting, I got on. But I tensed immediately, and in a split second, she tensed too. Then I remembered what worked for my old thoroughbred—I started to sing. And it worked! When I shared this with my barnmate, she said she sings on the trail too. Horses are very forgiving of vocal talent in favor of the relaxation that the singing (and breathing) brings.
If you’re feeling anxious about riding, address that fear. Tell your instructor or your friend, and don’t be ashamed to ask for help. We’ve all been there, and you’ll find your way back to being the happy, confident rider that you were.
