Rider Health & Wellbeing

Are you an overthinker? Here’s how to stop the overthinking...   In this blog, I’d like to give you two tried and tested techniques to stop overthinking, the destructive ‘what-ifs’ that plague so many of us. Overthinking something can be stopped, but we need to put the handbrake on and override the automatic thoughts. We need to take control.   Having continuous negative commentaries or movies dominating our thoughts not only impacts our ...

Wondering how you can solve the issue of competition nerves and how they impact your performance? Dr Tracey Cole touches on her top tips and advice for how to shed the nerves and take control of your mind when competing, or going about your daily life.

Do you find yourself saying you ‘should’ do something; there’s a lurching feeling of either dread or pressure to get it done. As riders, there are should about riding, ourselves as riders and carers for our horses. It may be time to re-evaluate when and how often you say ‘should’, it could be revealing more than you think about your mindset! Think about your own equestrian 'shoulds'... I should ride more   I should compete   ...

Do your riding fears stop you thinking rationally? Your brain may be being hijacked! Sometimes, when we’re anxious, all rational and logical thought goes out of the window. You can’t think straight and all you can think about is your high state of alert and fear. There’s a good reason why this happens – part of your brain is being hijacked! How do you free yourself? Read on! Knowing a little bit about the brain and the mind helps us to put fears into perspective. ...

Hi everyone, Today, I want to do a little follow up to my previous article, ‘Equestrianism: Anxiety Within The Sport – You Are Not Alone’, published back in July of last year. If you are yet to read my original article and would like to do so, I will include a link at the bottom of this one for you. In this article, I will be covering my journey and feelings throughout the pandemic, as well as catching up with a few equestrian influencers, whom you are likely to recognise, to get the...

With swathes of people getting back to riding and competing after a time off, it’s natural to have a mindset hiccup and wonder how it will all go. Anxiety can become a habit – it’s learnt. The good news is that anything learnt can be unlearnt too. Where does the anxiety come from? Anxiety can be thought of as a very natural response to impending danger. It’s a good mechanism to have. The stress of a situation, or the anxiety beforehand, was always a fabulous alarm system for cavemen....