Confidence Building for Horse and Rider
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Interactive Work Book. Introduction to Confidence Building for Horse and Rider By Vicki Jayne Maris BA Hons, National Horse and Pony Network Manager and Freelance Natural Horsemanship Instructor. £29.95, this includes postage within the UK. Click here for more information.
One to one support from Vicki Jayne Maris. Click here for more information.
Vicki Jayne Maris the author of the National Horse and Pony Network’s interactive work book Confidence Building for Horse and Rider has an article about confidence building in the June / July issue of Natural Horsemanship Magazine.
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Natural Horsemanship Magazine is an independent magazine. Published bi-monthly it is a resource for the equestrian looking for smart, alternative and holistic approaches to horse riding, health, training and management. Each issue carries news, articles, stories, features and advertising relevant to all disciplines and abilities. We include regular contributions on barefoot horses, equine health, holistic dentistry, the big tack debates, ethical training and horse-friendly riding as well as reader’s questions to our panel of experts, an opportunity to air your point of view on the Soap Box and a column for dog owners. Looking for something different? You can look for FREE at a copy of the magazine on the Natural Horsemanship's website and join the debate. Click here to visit Natural Horsemanship’s website. |
Interactive Work Book. Introduction to Confidence Building for Horse and Rider
By Vicki Jayne Maris. BA Hons.
National Horse and Pony Network Manager and Natural Horsemanship Instructor
£29.95 this includes postage within the UK.
Introduction
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I was inspired to write the Introduction to Confidence Building for Horse and Rider by many of the people and horses I have helped to regain their confidence. It started with me putting down in writing some of my insights on paper to compliment the lessons I deliver. The feedback from people I teach was very positive. I can only help a limited number of people with one to one support, so I felt if I put together a resource that people could use with their own instructor these insights may be very useful for more people. My aim is to help people understand the bigger picture of how we and our horses can be trapped in a cycle of anxiety and fear that limits us and eats away at our confidence and dreams. And to share the simple and easy to use techniques we can use to build confidence.
As a seasoned horse riding instructor with over twenty years experience, I have time and time again come across a lack of confidence from horse, rider or both as being a major barrier. Often the horse owner is unable to recognize it is a confidence issue, many give themselves a hard time or avoid the situations that cause the horse and rider partnership problems. Sometimes the horse is labeled as “difficult / naughty / a problem” etc… Mostly it is a tangle of confidence, tension and poor communication between horse and rider that escalates to a crisis point. Often this is when people recognize they need help or the horse is moved on. |
The Introduction to Building Confidence in Horse and Rider aims to help you understand human and equine confidence, what causes a lack of confidence, and tips to help build confidence. This book should not be used as a replacement for professional support. Horses are big, strong and fast animals that when they lack confidence, become anxious or fearful can become very dangerous.
The contents in this book are based upon using guiding principals that support any natural horsemanship technique combined with cognitive behavioural techniques. Click here for more information on cognitive behavioural techniques. There are many excellent practitioners of natural horsemanship and this book will not examine natural horsemanship in detail. However it will make reference to practitioners and further reading. The book will cover an overview of cognitive behavioural techniques in relation to horsemanship, with the aim to support horse owners and riders to utilize a very valuable resource within ourselves for working with horses and to help with day to day life challenges. The topic of cognitive behaviour is vast and there are many in-depth publications on this subject, however until now none that I am of aware off with an equine context set within the natural horsemanship approach.
The Introduction to Confidence Building for Horse and Rider Work Book is packed full of information and interactive exercises. The exercises are designed to stimulate thought and help you question your thinking or approach and in turn enable you to understand your or your horse’s lack of confidence, what fuels the lack of confidence and how to take planned steps to work through your lack of confidence.
The contents of the book cover:-
Part One - Guiding Principals
§ How to maximise your learning
§ Learning styles
§ Comfort zones
§ Empathy and develop equine compassion
§ Compatibility – The equine and human relationship
§ Patience is a virtue
§ Energy and emotion
§ Simple consistency and practice
§ Layers of practice
§ The perfection stick
§ Chasing moonbeams and spiky profiles
§ Healthy horse & human
§ Environment
§ Deal with the horse that turns up
§ Learn to read the questions your horse asks
§ Struggling and learning
§ Do the same get the same
§ Be open minded – are you ready to try a new approach?
§ Pressure
§ Sands of experience
§ Move subconscious to conscious
§ The people who make a difference
§ One at a time - You can’t fix it all at once
§ Safety
§ Confidence and ability
§ Avoidance and evasion
§ Trust and belief
§ Prepare to push
§ Heavy load – let it go
§ Relaxation and concentration
§ Make it fun
Part Two - Cognitive Behaviour Techniques
§ An unfair label?
§ Negative inner dialogue
§ What is confidence?
§ What is low self-esteem?
§ What is the anxiety response?
§ What is stress?
§ What is panic?
§ What is fear?
§ Do you feel the fear? And should you do it anyway?
§ Warning signals
§ 5 steps to problem solving
§ Develop an action plan
§ Maintaining progress
§ Celebrate and Congratulate
§ Some final thoughts to ponder
Please note
The book has lots of interactive exercises therefore the book is presented in a file so you can remove pages.
Cognitive Behavioural Techniques What is cognitive behaviour? Cognitive behavioural techniques can help you to change how you think (cognitive) and what and how you do things (behaviour). By understanding and using cognitive behavioural techniques will help you to understand how the way you think affects you physically and emotionally. How you think about situations / difficulties / problems will in turn dictate how you feel, what you do and the outcome.
Why is cognitive behaviour useful when building a good relationship with a horse? When working with horses we need to understand what it means to be a horse, therefore natural horsemanship and human cognitive behaviour need to be interwoven and balanced. When you are building your confidence or supporting a horse with confidence issues understanding and applying cognitive behavioural techniques will help you to become aware of reasoning and allows you to take control in a direct and targeted way. It helps you to identify your personal goals, to then develop an action plan with strategies. As with all good plans you need to monitor and evaluate progress, and be willing to adjust goals and time limits. The skill of learning and applying cognitive behavioural techniques to your horsemanship has far wider benefits as it enables you to tackle many life problems by harnessing your own inner resources.
What are the benefits of using cognitive behavioural techniques?
- It can help you to make sense of overwhelming problems
- You can challenge negative thinking
- Help you understand biological responses in relation to stress, anxiety and fear
- Challenge common thinking distortions
- Consider more useful ways of dealing with difficulties
- Plan for success, with realistic aims that are in line with your values
- Be aware of your strengths, skills and talents
- Become more purposeful
- Skills learnt you can apply in a number of settings not just with horses
- Builds confidence and self esteem
- It helps you regain perspective and control
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