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Confidence

by Judi Daly

One of our biggest goals in creating a great trail horse is to have a confident horse; a horse willing to tackle whatever obstacle that comes our way, calmly cope with frightening circumstances and will travel along in a willing manner. There is no way to achieve this without a confident rider.

Horses are herd animals, and you are part of the herd. It is common knowledge that a nervous horse will follow a quiet horse through a scary or difficult situation. He will also follow a confident rider-even if the rider is actually on his back instead of in front of him. Another aspect if herd dynamics is that if one horse gets upset about something, that feeling will travel through the herd until they are all running! Eventually, one of them will say, "Hey, it's safe now. Let's stop this silliness." You don't want to be the one to start the problem. You want to be the sensible one that realizes it is no big deal.

Sure, this is easier said than done when you are out on a winter's day, and a snowplow is going down the street right by the trail; spraying snow into the air with a loud scraping sound. I've been there myself more than once, and I have to admit I was scared each time, but the trick is to keep your horse from knowing it.

Ideally, you will have a good plan to deal with situations like this so that you don't freeze. By rehearsing your response to "the scary moving object" off your horse's back and imagining the happy ending, you are much more likely to experience one. Picture turning your horse around to face the monster and watching it go past-facing it the whole time as it passes and riding off calmly. The mind is a very powerful tool. If you have rehearsed the routine enough, your mind will get control of your body. This is important because if you see the plow coming your way, and you hold the reins in a death grip, squeeze your legs tight to hold on; you are telling your horse that trouble is ahead. He will act accordingly.

Horses are incredibly perceptive animals. I've heard so many people say, "I was afraid, so my horse took advantage of me." It would be more accurate to say, "I was afraid, so my horse became frightened, too." We need to change that to, "My horse thought I wasn't afraid, so he didn't get frightened of the monster, either." Notice, I didn't say the rider wasn't scared. We are human, after all, and we will get scared. We just have to fool our horses.

Lack of confidence will not only interfere while dealing with a crisis, it can mar ordinary trail riding, too. I know of people that get nervous going down hills. Their response is to hold their reins tight which prohibits their horse from using his neck for balance. I'm sure they are doing more subtle things that are not visible to other riders that tell their horse that there is a problem. Most likely, as their horse is traveling down the hill, they inhale and forget to exhale. It is natural for humans to hold our breath when we are nervous. The problem is that when we do, our horses know it. I'm not sure if they can hear it, or if they just sense the tension it causes in our bodies. It doesn't matter how they figure it out, it's just

that they know there is something wrong with "their fearless leader." They are right. Their "fearless leader" is afraid of hills. That means their horse should be afraid, too. Chances are, your horses will dance, stumble, rush down the hill or simply stall out completely. These were the very things we were afraid would happen when we initially started down the hill. Our poor reaction to our own fear created our destiny. It is a perfect example of the self-fulfilling prophecy.

What do we do if you catch yourself in this situation? Try to concentrate on your breathing to make yourself more aware of what you are doing. You may want to learn about yoga if you have a serious problem. There are specific books available on yoga for riders, or you could take a class in it. If I feel myself freezing up, I like to talk. That usually means I will the start the "good boy" chant. Singing can help you quite a bit. Your horse won't judge your singing voice. If your nerves get the best of you in such a situation, and you don't think there is much you can do, carefully dismount. You will feel better on the ground your horse will know it. You will become the fearless leader that he needs.

Remember, you don't need confidence as much as you need the skill to act confidently. Eventually, you may end up fooling yourself, too, and find you have more confidence than you imagined.

Sherrie Hilliard

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting....... "Wow, what a ride!"