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The equestrian client:
I have a particular interest in sports performance, performance anxiety and actual fear. I have helped many competent riders who have lost their nerve to regain confidence and self esteem, allowing them to move on to the success that they deserve. Fear in the equestrian world is very relative, it doesn't matter if you have been a successful jump jockey or a happy hacker, confidence is like a fine web and once it is damaged it can be very hard to regain. As well as human psychology, I am fascinated by, and make continual study of, equine psychology. Working with both of these perspectives in mind help me achieve success with moving riders from a state of parlaying fear into one of easy going confidence and joy. |
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Owning and riding horses is a huge part of my life, and with that I have experienced many of the emotional roller coaster events that go hand in glove with the sport. No matter how confident and capable a rider you are, at some stage in your career, the demon fear can creep up and paralyse you. Whether this manifests as an inability to perform in competition, or destroys the once comfortable confidence to hack and simply enjoy downtime with the horse; whatever the scenario, fear’s crippling action has devastating effects on other aspects of life. If the sport is horses, it is not simply a sport but a lifestyle. The horse should be a partner but fear can easily change that and even create an enemy. Our relationship to horses is defined by confidence, confidence being a most fragile thing, and once broken it’s almost impossible to re-gain without intervention. The problem is that it takes many guises: performance anxiety might not impinge on the ability to ride per se, whereas for some people performance is easy but schooling (particularly jumping) without the adrenaline associated with competition makes the task impossible, and if you can’t school how can you teach the horse the necessary to compete safely? For others the pleasure of owning a horse is to simply ride it, be it in the school or hacking. One thing everyone has in common, whether fear develops because of an actual event or is a result of perceived disaster, the subconscious mind does not differentiate - fear is always real. One of my favourite quotes, of Montagine, which puts fear in a nutshell “my life has been filled with terrible misfortune, most of which never happened”… how true is that?
A testimonial from once fearful to regained confident hacker:
"I had my first ride since Wednesday, this morning. A was very spritely, which would normally have me worried. I smiled the whole way round whilst he was bouncing away, we had a few trots, then I decided to go round again. Halfway around the second lap he wouldn't go passed a dead bird (that he trod on the first time...!) and the pony across the road spooked at him dancing and galloped off so he stood like a giraffe with his heart going crazy. I stroked his neck and let him have a nibble of the grass (which was very long and near his face) until he calmed down and then we carried on as if nothing happened! I feel SO much better! And had the best morning! I love riding first thing.
Thank you so much for all your help, I really cannot get over the difference in how I feel so soon! It can only get better"
SC (Kent)
"I had my first ride since Wednesday, this morning. A was very spritely, which would normally have me worried. I smiled the whole way round whilst he was bouncing away, we had a few trots, then I decided to go round again. Halfway around the second lap he wouldn't go passed a dead bird (that he trod on the first time...!) and the pony across the road spooked at him dancing and galloped off so he stood like a giraffe with his heart going crazy. I stroked his neck and let him have a nibble of the grass (which was very long and near his face) until he calmed down and then we carried on as if nothing happened! I feel SO much better! And had the best morning! I love riding first thing.
Thank you so much for all your help, I really cannot get over the difference in how I feel so soon! It can only get better"
SC (Kent)
Showjumping:
"Having had two sessions with Fiona, I felt that a review of what's changed in me was necessary. I hope someone else can relate to this and gain some relief too.
After 30 years of riding and competing in affiliated Show Jumping competitions, my nerves would really hold me back. This would effect me jumping at home and then massively multiply at a show - everything felt really like a heightened state of anxiety. The worse I felt the worse I performed which set me on a vicious circle of self destruction. My horse, being a living breathing animal, would feel my indecisive requests: this in itself caused me distress as I felt terrible for not riding how I knew I could. I have sustained many falls over the years and riding negatively because of my nerves was causing an issue.
After my first session with Fiona I was of course still really nervous the first time I planned to jump, I didn’t know what to expect and I was terrified I would feel the same as before. I warmed up on my horse and instantly felt so much better, from the first warm up jump I knew it would be OK. Since then my belief, mindset and trust in my horse and our training regime has gone from strength to strength.
I am delighted with how things have panned out. I found Fiona knowledgeable, not just for Hypnosis but for all things horsey too. Someone who doesn't understand the nitty gritty of horse life wouldn't have hit the mark at all. It was also reassuring that Fiona knows how much love, time, blood sweat and tears we put in to these amazing animals.
I feel very blessed to have come across her".
LM (Canterbury)
"Having had two sessions with Fiona, I felt that a review of what's changed in me was necessary. I hope someone else can relate to this and gain some relief too.
After 30 years of riding and competing in affiliated Show Jumping competitions, my nerves would really hold me back. This would effect me jumping at home and then massively multiply at a show - everything felt really like a heightened state of anxiety. The worse I felt the worse I performed which set me on a vicious circle of self destruction. My horse, being a living breathing animal, would feel my indecisive requests: this in itself caused me distress as I felt terrible for not riding how I knew I could. I have sustained many falls over the years and riding negatively because of my nerves was causing an issue.
After my first session with Fiona I was of course still really nervous the first time I planned to jump, I didn’t know what to expect and I was terrified I would feel the same as before. I warmed up on my horse and instantly felt so much better, from the first warm up jump I knew it would be OK. Since then my belief, mindset and trust in my horse and our training regime has gone from strength to strength.
I am delighted with how things have panned out. I found Fiona knowledgeable, not just for Hypnosis but for all things horsey too. Someone who doesn't understand the nitty gritty of horse life wouldn't have hit the mark at all. It was also reassuring that Fiona knows how much love, time, blood sweat and tears we put in to these amazing animals.
I feel very blessed to have come across her".
LM (Canterbury)
