Don't Ignore Your Horse's Confidence
You need to be positive when riding, especially if you are nervous about something. But step back for a minute and think about your horse. If you are worried he will sense it and this can make him worried. This will only make your situation harder as you will end up in a never ending loop; this happens when you are nervous, which makes your horse nervous, you will then pick up on your horse's nerves and the loop will repeat. Help your horse out and improve his confidence to help you with yours, the methods in today's post will not only help you with the battle of confidence but will help improve you and your horse's bond.
Reward Him When He Gets It Right
Only ever use positive reinforcement, if you use negative reinforcement you may scare your horse further and make matters worse.
Rewarding your horse is a very important step for improving confidence. When I am lacking confidence in something I need Gigi to show me she can do it, this can only happen if Gigi feels confident with what I am asking her. When riding I try to carry some treats in my pocket or I have someone on hand ready with a treat when I need it. I ride Gigi as normal then introduce some challenges, these are aimed at both me and her. The example I will use for this blog is to jump a double, I used to be a very nervous jumper and a double was my worst nightmare. I kidded myself into thinking Gigi could only jump down a pony double which led to trouble when we went to a show without the choice. If the double was set to a standard horse length Gigi would jump the first then bolt and run out of the second. This only made doubles worse for me as I worried about her ducking out leaving me to go solo over the fence! To fix this problem I needed to step back and take in the whole picture, I worked out that the reason Gigi was refusing was down to her lack of confidence, she could have easily jumped the fences (max height of 2ft) I was asking her but chose not to because she was worried.
To fix the problem I gave Gigi a reward to work towards, every time she jumped the double I gave her a treat. If she ran out she didn't get anything, soon enough Gigi was flying down the double getting it right every time and making me feel on top of the world. Not once did I use negative reinforcement such as the whip as I didn't want her to associate jumping a double with something bad, this would make the situation worse and she may not want to jump at all. Instead I trained Gigi to accept the whip as an encouragement, if I felt she needed a boost I would tap her gently on the shoulder just before the jump. This encouraged her to pick her feet up but did not punish her.
The more Gigi got it right the less I was worrying about it, eventually I could just get on and do it! I also slowly reduced how often Gigi got a treat, now she gets one at the end of a good ride to say thank you.
Use Your Voice
Sounds silly right? But I find it is one of the most useful ways I can improve my confidence. When riding use everything you have, your horse has ears and you have a voice. Think back to Train Your Confidence #1 where you count into your jump out loud. Gigi listens to me counting and I find it makes jumping easier. On landing I will also say "good girl" saying this out loud to Gigi rewards her with my voice. Over time she has learnt "good girl" is a positive sound and responds positively to it. Encourage your horse with your voice so they know they have done the right thing and they will become more confident in what you are asking as they know they got it right.
Improved Bond = Improved Confidence
You and your horse need to work as a team, if he is worried you must help him and if you are worried let him help you. Spend the time to take a step back to work out what the cause of the problem is, sometimes it's right under your nose but you may overlook it. When jumping if your horse is worried keep the fence small a horse is more likely to be able to fix any issues (bad stride etc.) over a smaller jump. Once you have your horse going over the fence forward and positively, start to increase the height, don't rush yourself or your horse as it may cause you both to back track. Work at your own pace, not someone else's and remember:
The height of the jump doesn't determine how good you are!
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| Positive Reinforcement Has Given Gigi Confidence And Allowed Me To Trust |
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