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Control those nerves! Should Must Ought Give yourself a break!
Should
Must
Ought
Everyone gets nervous. Honest! So if you get the jitters, don’t think you’re the only one. Even top riders get butterflies. So here are some coping strategies to help you tackle your nerves!
Banish the words Must, Should, Ought and Have to from your vocabulary. You know the ones: ● I must ride better. ● I should win a rosette. ● I ought to know how to do that by now. ● I have to jump the big jump. Who says so? Only you! Take the pressure off yourself.
Let go!
Let’s try that again ● You are improving your riding every day. ● You could win a rosette. ● You will know how to do that one day. ● There is plenty of time to jump the bigger jump. Change the wording on all those negative thoughts to turn them around to be positive affirmations, instead. Take a chill pill!
Remember!
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If you often feel nervous in the saddle then don’t beat yourself up. It’s natural to feel like that – riding can be a bit of a scary sport! The way to tackle fear is to break it down into parts. Like we have on the next page:
1. Examine your fear Is it a new fear (entering a competition) or is it something you do a lot (jumping, cross country, picking up hooves) and being fearful of it is just a habit? Have you been nervous of doing these things for so long, you haven’t realised that actually, you can do them quite well?
2. The What if? syndrome If you constantly find yourself saying, What if? then stop right now – and here’s how. Put the word So, in front of what if! (So) what if your pony runs out at the fence? (So) what if he shies? (So) what if your friends are braver than you? Oh, suddenly it’s not so scary, and the world isn’t going to end if all those things happen! In fact, whatever happens, tell yourself you can cope. And you will!
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3. Re-programme yourself! If you’re a bit of a worrier then re-write your thought process. Every time you find yourself worrying or imagining things going wrong, STOP. Rewind. Tell yourself that whatever you are facing, you will cope with it. You may not cope perfectly, but who cares? You’ll get better. You’ll learn from the experience. Train yourself to stop worrying! Try these coping strategies and over time your worries will get smaller and smaller, until they disappear. You will get other worries – but by this time you’ll know how to cope with them!
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