Photo credit: Brant Gamma Photography
5 Things Confident Riders Avoid
Recently I told you five things that confident riders do. There are also things they avoid doing so that they don’t damage their confidence. Here are five things that confident riders avoid:
1. They avoid thinking about all of the bad things that might happen.
Confident riders don’t picture their horse spooking at the real estate sign or refusing the Liverpool jump. However, they’re not oblivious to potential problems either. Instead of thinking about what might happen, they make a plan about how they’re going to prevent a problem from occurring: “Before we get to the real estate sign, I will bend my horse away from it.”
2. They avoid beating themselves up for mistakes.
Confident riders know that even the best equestrians make mistakes and have trouble spots. Instead of thinking “I’m a terrible rider” when they make an error, they think “What should I do differently next time to do it better?” After that, they move on; they don’t get stuck on replay, reviewing the problem over and over. They get going on a solution instead.
3.They avoid staying in their comfort zone.
Confident riders know that confidence comes from taking risks, making mistakes, and doing it better—over and over and over. They like their comfort zone as much as anyone else, but they know that the only way to get better and more confident is to make themselves a little uncomfortable so they can learn.
4. They avoid riding the wrong horse.
Confident riders know their limits; they know what pushes them past the learning zone and into the panic zone, which is a confidence killer. That includes riding the right horse for them. They recognize when a horse is too hot or too green for them, and they sell it, send it for training, or avoid buying it in the first place. They are quick to ask a trainer or a trusted friend for an honest opinion about whether a particular horse is right for them, and they don’t let themselves get seduced by their emotional attraction to a horse. You will never hear a confident rider say, “I know he’s too much for me, but I LOVE him.”
5. They avoid avoidance.
Confident riders get nervous just like everyone else; they just don’t let it stop them. Instead of avoiding things that make them nervous, they do them over and over until they aren’t nervous about them anymore. A confident rider who is nervous about jumping a ditch jumps every ditch she can find, as often as she can. She is quick to seek help from a trainer or a more experienced friend, and she may practice on a solid schoolmaster if her own horse is as nervous about ditches as she is. If her horse spooks and spins every time he passes a trash can, she doesn’t avoid going out on trash day; she goes out every trash day with a buddy and goes back and forth past every trash can by the roadside until her horse can do it calmly. She knows that avoidance just makes her comfort zone get smaller and smaller, so she avoids avoidance like the plague!
What can you avoid today to bolster your confidence as a rider?
