Tidewater Area Clinic: Ending Riding Anxiety and Fear Of Horses

Saturday, August 13, from 9-3, at Mill Swamp Indian Horses near Smithfield, VA, we will conduct a very important session aimed both at novices who are afraid of horses and those who have lost their confidence in themselves as riders.

Participants will not ride in this session. No one will be embarrassed or shamed into trying to change their feelings. Instead we will look at the root causes of this fear and offer strategies to overcome it.

Few things improve the quality of one's life as much as developing a close relationship with a horse and it is a horrible irony that many of those who would benefit the most from such a relationship are prevented from doing so because of their anxiety.

For over a decade I have been teaching riders, both children and adults, how to deal with riding anxiety and fear of horses. I recognize that this fear has different causes for different people. For example, a person with PTSD who has experienced severe trauma will generally benefit from a different approach than will one whose fear is rooted in complete inexperience with animals larger than dogs.

There are no gimmicks or quick fixes. The solutions lie in both learning to understand horses and learning to understand one's self.

Topics covered will include:

1. Understanding what flight, freeze or fight means to a horse.
2. Understanding a horse's fears and motivations.
3. Understanding how to communicate with a horse in a manner that the horse can understand.
4. Understanding why you fear loosing control of the horse and why the horse fears being uncontrolled.
5. Understanding your personal obstacles in developing a close, comfortable relationship with a horse.
6. Understanding how to regain your sense of confidence after a traumatic event with a horse.
7. Understanding real safety issues with horses and how to make you and the horse safer.

I am not a mental health professional. My life has two separate facets that complement each other. Often what I learn from one side can be directly applied to the other. I am a horse trainer and riding instructor who is also the Deputy prosecutor for Isle of Wight. For over fifteen years I have worked with victims of severe abuse and trauma in the courtroom. And for about the same length of time I have been teaching people to improve their lives by developing close relationships with horses.

We are a 501(c)5 non profit corporation. None of us get paid for what we do. I want to limit this session to 10 participants in order to allow each participant to gain everything possible from the session. The cost for the session is $76.00. To register contact me at msindianhorses@aol.com.

This topic is very important to me. I have seen a lot of suffering healed in the horse lot and I want to share that healing.

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