Has anyone worked with a performance coach/therapist (either with or w/o horse experience) who they’d recommend? Also would love to hear what they’ve helped you with and some of the techniques they recommended.
I’d like to find someone to help me better manage anxiety when jumping with my current horse. I think somewhere in his past he was trained to just run at jumps so he can get anxious and fast, which I’m not comfortable with.
There have also been a few instances where he’s bucked me off or one time just bolted with me in the arena during a ground pole lesson. I think the bucking was hock related and since we did injections that hasn’t happened, but that not surprisingly has added to my nervousness whenever it feels like he’s getting stronger/faster than I want. That then causes me to ride more defensively which doesn’t help him and it becomes a messy cycle.
I work with a trainer, but I think I need to find someone who can help with the mental side b/c once I get rattled it’s hard to get out of my head. My trainer does try to help by breaking down and simplifying the exercises when that happens, but I feel like we’re just not really progressing our rides b/c it’s always 1 step forward, 2 or 3 steps back.
I was on a work webinar today with a guest speaker that coaches execs as well as athletes. She walked us through some visualization and mindfulness exercises which I think are on the right track. But it made me realize I might need to find someone who’s at least somewhat familiar with riding so they better understand what’s involved b/c the horse factor makes it such a different sport.
