Resolving Fear - Skills for Riders

“Bravery” is highly valued in the equestrian world. "Gutsy" riders who push through a problem - or their own or their horse’s fear - are celebrated , while less confident, or more sensitive, riders often feel inadequate or weak.

The truth is that anyone can have an accident, or even a near miss, and lose confidence. These moments can get etched into our nervous system through our body’s natural trauma response - and once that happens they don’t simply fade away over time even when there is “no reason” to be afraid, or all precautions are taken. Other kinds of fear that get in the way of enjoying riding - eg of success, failure, or being judged - are often also linked to trauma.

Just “pushing through” fear doesn’t work - for us or our horses. Trauma research shows that there are very good reasons for our reactions after an accident - and that unless we can process the trauma effectively, symptoms tend to get worse, not better, over time.

The good news is that there are practical, proven ways to reset our relationship with past experiences and with future risk. This clinic will teach you how to work with your brain and nervous system to come back into balance, so you can acknowledge risk and fear without getting stuck in them, and most importantly, really enjoy your riding.

Note that this clinic is for skill development, not deep personal therapy/emotional processing.

Who is this clinic for?

Anyone who:

• has internal blocks to progress in their riding;
• has lost confidence after an accident or fright - either riding or on the ground - and has not recovered their enjoyment of riding; or
• has a sense of fear, anxiety or apprehension about working with their horse, either generally or about a specific activity such as cantering or competing.

If you would like to attend but can't bring your own horse, please let us know: we have some options.

Aims

All participants - whether you bring your own horse or not - will learn tools for processing fear and trauma that you can work with yourself on a day-to-day basis, to shift how you perceive yourself and your horse, and get back to enjoying your time together.

Clinic format

The clinic will be highly experiential as it is intended to be transformational, not an intellectual data sharing exercise. We aim to create a safe, supportive and fun environment for shared learning, and to make sure everyone has as much horse time as possible. 

We will introduce key concepts on the first morning and then spend the rest of the day learning tools and putting them into practice in hands-on sessions with the horses (either from the ground or under saddle). This will be in a "masterclass" format: one person and horse at a time. The format for the second day will be similar, with a recap session in the morning followed by more horse sessions, and a final discussion session to consolidate learning.

Clinic leaders

Ingrid Gunby

Ingrid has an equine-assisted psychotherapy and coaching practice based in Loburn, North Canterbury. She specialises in supporting people to resolve trauma by working with how it shows up in the present, using a gentle, body-based approach that is grounded in the latest research into the neurobiology of trauma and healing.

Margaret Pickering

Margaret has been a riding coach for over 30 years, continuously learning, and adapting and refining her approach to horses and humans, both at a technical and psychological level.  She has discovered that every rider has far more ability than they credit themselves for, and is somewhat obsessed with helping riders unravel the blocks to reaching their full potential, so they can do the same for their horses.

Numbers

Clinic will be limited to 8 people, and everyone will be an active participant - no auditors.

Cost

The approach we will be teaching in this clinic is new: we are still refining it! This means that we are charging a discounted rate of $345.00 incl GST.