I wish I knew it. I really do! I’d be rich and you’d be happy. But the bad news is that, to the very best of my knowledge there is no single, magic solution to all the vast and myriad challenges that arise in the sport of horse riding. I’ve spent quite a lot of time presenting seminars to riders over the past few years and in common with many of the clients who I see in my private practice, lots of them hope for nothing short of a miracle. And they think that perhaps I have the answer. So that’s the bad news – for us both! I don’t. The good news is that you DO have the answer. Somewhere, tucked away in the depths of your knowledge, creativity, experiences and understandings is the perfect solution to your particular (and often unique) problem. More good news – you don’t have to make big changes to generate big results. People are very often surprised to discover that a relatively small shift can manifest in huge differences.

That’s because we’re pre-programmed to look for evidence to support our beliefs. A process called ‘selective observation’ means for example, that if you get a new red car, you’ll suddenly notice all the other people who have that car, even though this information had completely escaped your attention previously. Similarly if you start with a positive belief you will consciously or subconsciously use the same process to verify that belief.

The Positive Cycle

It will become a self-fulfilling prophecy because a positive belief will build a more positive attitude that in turn leads to more positive expectations. This expectation means that you will start noticing when you behave differently and more positively and so you start to notice the little improvements in performance. And the positive circle continues because as you notice these improvements, so more positive beliefs will grow. Great! But unfortunately (as we all know), it works the other way round too. Which is why, I suspect, that if I fall off once I seem to fall off (or nearly fall off) again quite soon afterwards. I sort of come to expect it having been reminded that unfortunately these things do sometimes happen and then - I do it again! Its almost as if some perverse part is looking for an opportunity or excuse to do it. Again.

I guess that riders enjoying life in the positive circle do their very best to stay there and may not be interested in reading about how to escape from the negative circle. The reality of course is that wherever you are now, you could end up somewhere different very soon! Confidence is not a stable commodity (and yes, I do know it’s a dreadful pun!).

Which circle you are in will depend to some extent on the chemicals released into the body during the so-called ‘Fight, Flight or Freeze’ response. This, as you may well know, is a primitive survival mechanism that allowed our ancestors to speed up their reactions in the face of threat or danger. In order to keep the process as fast as possible, information is taken into the brain from the five senses and bypassing our conscious, critical facilities is matched directly against our store of emotional memories to assess, amongst other things, whether or not something is a threat. Consequently, and most importantly for riders I think, our response will depend very much on our perception of the threat. Doctor Paul Martin in his book “The Sickening Mind” defines psychological stress as

“the state arising when the individual perceives the demands placed on them exceed (or threaten to exceed) their capacity to cope”.

It is psychological stress that gives rise to the ‘Fight, Flight or Freeze’ response and so this definition already offers us an opportunity – we can reduce the demands, increase the capacity to cope (maybe even both!) and we can work on an individual basis to change our perception of the threat. It has to be on an individual basis because everyone perceives threats differently because everyone has a different store of emotional memories to match them against.

It would be a very strange rider indeed who didn’t experience some arousal of the ‘Fight, Flight or Freeze’ response at some time or another. In fact, don’t most of us enjoy at least an element of the challenge it presents for us – most of the time? Liz Morrison writing about the NLP Approach to Confident Riding suggests that “Perhaps one of the gifts a horse offers is a chance to explore constructive ways to meet danger and manage our private fears. Horses can give us confidence in our own innate resourcefulness, reminding us that we have the ability, intuition and flexibility to pass through challenging events”.

It is our perception of the challenge that determines the cocktail of chemicals released into the body and these in turn determine our emotional response. Contrary to popular belief, it is noradrenaline (not adrenaline) which gives rise to those lovely feelings of excitement and drive as well as physical strength. For this reason noradrenaline has been named the ‘kick’ or high performance hormone which in large amounts stimulates special areas in the brain that produce a feeling of pleasure. In contrast, the feelings and sensations associated with high levels of adrenaline are not pleasant – these are the ones generating the need to flee, leaving us overwhelmed, inadequate and afraid.

So if there is a secret, I think it has to be to intervene at the thin end of the wedge where its much easier to get a handle on our thoughts and emotions before they run riot with us. A good place to start would be to begin to explore, re-evaluate and if necessary modify our perceptions. A Mind to Ride offers you that opportunity – but the magic is YOU!

In addition to specific skills in personal development and coaching, Sue has extensive experience as a private practitioner and an integrative skills base incorporating hypnotherapy, NLP, advice and guidance, counselling and stress management techniques. She is a LifeMapper Senior Therapist/Coach, a Supervisory Member of the Association for Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy and an Accredited Member of The National Council for Hypnotherapy. For more information, visit www.theconsultingrooms.co.uk.