Whether people share it or not, we all have stuff happening in our personal lives. What you may not realise is that this can have an impact on your riding!
Of course things like past injuries or certain conditions can impact your riding, but that's not what we mean. It's the things you might not think about, like getting a new job, stress about school, even just being worried about your spring cleaning!
No matter how big or small having negative feelings can cause us to ride differently. This is because of the tension it causes in our muscles. It may also make us more anxious in tackling riding challenges!
Not only does this impact how we hold ourselves, but it can actually impact the horse. They can sense how we are feeling which changes how they act. When both you and the horse relax it will feel much more balanced and natural!
Before your lesson we recommend:
- Visualisation (next blog post will be on this!)
- Telling your coach you feel stressed
- Practice some breathing exercises
- Listen to podcasts we have reccomened
- Talk to someone about how you feel
- Set yourself some goals to focus on