Equestrian Psychotherapy

~ claire ballardie

Equestrian Psychotherapy

 With many years of experience as both a rider and coach, and as a  psychotherapist  with an equestrian background, I combine many years of experience into my unique approach to help you to get the best out of your relationship with your horse.

When you worry, your nervous system goes into survival mode, looking out for danger. Your horse reacts to your adrenalin levels, and becomes fearful, mistrustful. You are no longer his ‘safe person’. Panicking can lead to poor decision making. I can help you to  prioritise a sense of calm, before making choices.

Some of the issues we can work with:

  • Loss of confidence
  • Lack of trust in your horse
  • Performance anxiety at competitions
  • Residual fear  from riding incidents
  • Post traumatic stress (PTSD) from frightening experiences
  • Grief from the loss of a beloved horse (or human)
  • Lack of self-worth, self-doubt

and more ……………

How can equestrian psychotherapy help?

As a rider, most are aware of learning the physical side to riding, such as your riding position, and the aids. Equally, keeping yourself and your horse physically fit and well adds to the enjoyment of being able to achieve your goals. You might aim for a competition, or to be able to hack safely.

Equally as important is being aware of your thoughts and emotional responses to your horse. We will work with getting to know how your nervous system works, alonside your horse’s.

If your horse is spooky, or you feel he does not understand you, I can help you to take a look at what is going on for you emotionally.

You may face choices about your horse, or your riding career. talking through your options in sessions can give you a clearer picture about your decisions.

My aim is help you to take the stress and worry out of ‘what if’ scenarios which turn up in your mind, thinking logically rather than responding emotionally. learn how to Be aware of your emotional response – your feelings/mood when you are with your horse, or thinking about things in the night. What stresses you? What makes you feel relaxed?

Building a better relationship with your horse is about how you work as a team. Sessions will include ‘talking therapy‘ without the horse, to gain self-awareness  and to explore emotional issues going on for you. We will also work with your body to help you to relax and remain calm with your horse, to improve how you function together.

What happens in sessions?

I aim to help you to work through problems before putting them into practice with your horse. If we are working on-line, we can discuss a short video of you and your horse in action together. We can schedule an initial session to see how best I can be of help. A minimum of 4-6 sessions are recommended to get a good understanding of what is going on for you.

I work with adults (over 18 years) on a one-to-one basis. Sessions can be in person at my therapy centre (without your horse)  or on-line using Zoom. Ridden sessions can be also be done virtually using Zoom.

Prices 

 The Psychology of Horsemanship Webinar  is available from the shop page.

You may find my latest book, The Psychology of Horsemanship supportive in your quest to improve your understanding of your horse.

Claire Lilley Ebooks

~ claire ballardie

 

Did you know Claire Lilley books are available as Ebooks? Follow the links below to the publisher, Crowood Press.

The Psychology of Horsemanship

 

 

Lungeing, Long-Reining and In-Hand Schooling

 

200+ School Exercises with Poles

 

100 School Exercises for Teaching Riding

COMING SOON! THE SCALES OF TRAINING WORKBOOK as an EBOOK!

Meanwhile, here is the paperback version:

Scales of Training Workbook for Dressage and Jumping

 

 

The Window of Tolerance – Horse and Rider

~ claire ballardie

The Window of Tolerance – Horse and Rider

Have you ever wondered what’s behind a successful horse and rider partnership? Why are they so in sync, confident, capable of mastering any challenge that arises?

The mystery lies in expanding your, and your horse’s, window of tolerance.

What is the window of tolerance?

It is your comfort zone. Where you feel calm, confident, and in control of your emotional and physical state. You are nor scared. You can breathe, trust in your ability, trust your horse.

For your horse, it is his safety zone- he is wothout fear, calm, trusting in you, and his world.

How does it work?

Say you are riding towards a jump. On the approach you feel scared, your heart rate goes through the roof, you can’t concentrate, so you hang on, and leave it up to your horse, hoping he will get you over it. So what does he do? He refuses. he feels scared and runs away.

You panic, you feel afraid, and vow that jumping is not for you. Your window of tolerance is slammed firmly shut. Your horse’s too. You are left feeling disappointed in yourself, and feel you have failed your horse. Your fear tolerance level is zero.

So how do you expand your window of tolerance?

Breathe. Yes, I know it sounds simple, but there’s more to the effect of conscious breathing. Your nervous system has two parts: the adrenalin activated side which gears you into action, (feeling nervous or excited) and the calming part, for rest, recovery, safety.

The same goes for your horse. He either feels scared, or safe. His nervous system will pick up from yours whether the world is safe or not. So the remedy starts with you. You need to be your horse’s’safe person’ horse for him to trust you.

Going back to the jumping example, if your horse pricks his ears, hesitates in his stride, he is asking you ‘is this safe?’

If you answer is”Oh that’s too big, we’ll never get over that!’ you are compounding his fear, so he refuses.

On the other hand, if you answer him with,’we’ve got this, come on!’ and are confident, he will trust you.

Building your safety zone

Learn. Build your expertise and knowledge. Belief in yourself. Trust your physical ability and be aware of your emotions. Trust your horse. Nervousness will pass. It is this recovery that builds your ‘window of tolerance’. It is the belief that you will land safely over the fence, and carry on to the next.

Building the Partnership with your horse

Practice finding the flow between feeling a bit scared (challenged), and back to calm. This flow expands as you get to know what you are capable of.

You can choose to return to your comfort zone at any time by closing your ‘window of tolerance’ when you need to. This choice gives you recovery time, control, calmness, time to reflect on your achivements, be proud of yourself and your horse.

For more information, see the links below:

The Psychology of Horsemanship Book by Claire Lilley

The Psychology of Horsemanship Webinar with Claire Lilley

The Scales of Training Webinar (2 parts) with Claire Lilley

scales of training
~ claire ballardie

The Scales of Training Webinar with Claire Lilley

If you prefer to buy your webinar without going to our on-line shop. you can purchase it here by bank transfer.

Please email claire@wiltshire-wellbeing.co.uk  for bank details to make your payment, and allow up to 24 hours for the manual link to be sent.

The Scales of Training 

Part One:  (Rhythm, Suppleness, Contact) 

Part Two: (Impulsion, Straightness, Collection)

The Scales of Training
In these two videos, we look in detail at Rhythm, Suppleness, Contact, Impulsion, Straightness and Collection.
The Scales of Training refer to the basic schooling of every horse whether the rider wishes to concentrate on dressage, jumping or eventing and are essential to any horse’s physical and mental development, at all levels from novice upwards.

Accessing your downloads

You will receive the recordings from Zoom once payment has been received.You will have access to the recordings for 30 days.
Please allow up to 24 hours for the manual link to be sent.

British Horse Society

2 BHS CPD POINTS are allocated for each of these 2 webinars.

To claim CPD points with the BHS, please click on the link below:

BHS Link for CPD Feedback form

More information on the Scales of training is available in the accompanying Scales of Training book and DVD