Building Confidence and Overcoming Riding Anxiety

If there was a way to build the confidence you need to accomplish your riding goals and overcome riding anxiety, would you want to know what it is?

Of course, right!?

In this episode I’m going to share with you how to overcome and eliminate the anxiety that is keeping you stuck so that you can reach your equestrian goals.

Let’s dive in.

Building Confidence and Overcoming Riding Anxiety

Click Here to download Vicki’sKick Negative Self Talk to the Curb Guide

Since in this episode we’re talking about building your confidence and overcoming riding anxiety, I want to leave you with a free resource that will help you align your inner dialogue with your equestrian goals. 

After going through this you’ll develop the awareness to be able to choose your inner dialogue rather than having it on automatic and repeating what you don’t want.

You can download the FREE resource by clicking the yellow button above 👆

Building Confidence and Overcoming Riding Anxiety

Before tackling riding anxiety, it’s crucial to understand why you have anxiety. It can be caused by a multitude of things such as past negative experiences, fear of falling or getting hurt, lack of trust in your abilities, or even the unpredictability of your horse.

Identifying the source of your anxiety is key. And the source of your anxiety is not any of the things listed above. Those things have just been a place for your anxiety to live.

To get to the source, you need to go deeper.

Here is an exercise that will help you get to the source of your anxiety.

Step 1 

You want to be in a quiet place, close your eyes and bring up the anxiety. Feel into it and be with it. Take some deep breaths. 

If you’re having trouble bringing up the anxiety, then, you can imagine a riding situation where you have anxiety and this should bring it into your awareness.

Step 2 

Acknowledge it by saying hi and ask it where it came from and why it’s here. And listen for the answer. 

If unwanted self talk comes up, just dismiss it and keep your attention on being with the anxiety and listening for the answers to where it came from and why it’s here. 

Your job is to feel the anxiety and continue breathing. Feel, breathe and release. You’ll notice when you’ve released it because the heaviness will subside. 

This will not be a once and done activity. You’ll need to do it several times over several weeks or several months.

Once you have released the anxiety or at least diminished it, your confidence should improve because you’ll no longer have that uneasy, scared or fearful energy in you. You’ll have more peace. You’ll be more spacious which will allow you to have more clarity and calmness in your riding.

Building Confidence and Overcoming Riding Anxiety

On the practical side of things, familiarize yourself with your horse’s behavior, body language, and signals to better anticipate and respond to their actions.

Regular practice and taking lessons or working with your trainer will also help you build your skills and competence, which will increase your confidence in the saddle.

Include activities in your schedule that lift you up and make you feel good, and surround yourself with a supportive network of people.

Make sure that the conversations that are going on in your head are supporting you and not hurting you.

In Closing

Hopefully, this training on building confidence and overcoming riding anxiety helps you understand what is needed to reach your riding goals.

Don’t forget to grab the resource that goes with this episode called Kick Negative Self Talk to the Curb Guide.

Going through this will allow you to align your self talk with your equestrian goals and help you develop the awareness to be able to choose your inner dialogue rather than having it on automatic and repeating what you don’t want.

You can download this FREE resource by clicking the yellow button below 👇

Click Here to download Vicki’sKick Negative Self Talk to the Curb Guide