Managing Riding Anxiety With 21st Century Science and Two Thousand Year Old Wisdom

Have you ever known anyone who had no problems with fear or anxiety in any other aspect of their lives, only when it comes to riding a horse? 

I have not. 

 Anxiety around horses is generally the tip of the iceberg. Deeper fears of everyday life experiences generally haunt such people. They may be good at hiding it. They may be not only functional, but successful. 

But they worry. They might mask the fear with alcohol. They might live their lives in full pursuit of "control", of making rules that somehow will take the risk out of risky situation. As they get older, they are more and more likely to fall into avoidance behaviors. They make the horrible mistake of labeling themselves as "introverts" or other convenient labels that explain their avoidance behaviors. and the inevitable social isolation that it produces. They procrastinate because making decisions is stressful.

Many people desperately want to ride but their fear holds them back. They need to ride, but their fear holds them back. They could achieve enormous personal breakthroughs, but their fear holds them back. 

Some people push through it. They admirably build the courage to ride and the more they ride the less anxiety they feel. They start to see improvements in other parts of their lives. But the monster of anxiety and its fellow traveler, depression, continue to dog them--though admittedly to a lesser degree. 

And here is where groundbreaking new understanding of the links between the body and the mind come into play. While learning to increase skill and confidence with horses, one can also take on the entire monster of anxiety. 

And I do not mean just with counselling and medication, although I am a strong supporter of both counselling and medication. There are other lifestyle changes that can bring peace and calmness to anxious, ruminating minds. 

Read all of this before you give up and decide that these steps could never help you.

The first step is to learn everything that one can about the workings of anxiety, its relation to past trauma and what fuels the fires of fear. Then be bold and look at the impact that avoidance behaviors have had on one's life. The only thing good about living in a prison cell that you constructed for yourself is that you can understand its design and can use that knowledge to burst free.

Nothing is better than working with a first-rate counselor. For various reasons that might not be possible for everyone. The good news is that there is some great science out there concerning how the brain works and how to make it work better that can be found from Andrew Huberman of Stanford University that is easily accessed on YouTube as are a great set of videos called Therapy in a Nutshell.

Studying Huberman's work will give one an understanding of how exercise and nutrition can be two of the biggest weapons that one has to overcome depression and anxiety. This is especially important as the world struggles with the virus and as we are just beginning to understand the incredible damage done to young minds by the dopamine flooding that results from video games, internet pornography, and the tyranny of social media. 

But humans do not face new problems. We only face new variations of old problems. As a child Harry Tuman thought about this and decided that all he would have to do is learn all of the history that has been written and it would give him all of the answers to vexing situations as they arose in his future. It was a profound, yet not practical, thought for a small child. 

We cannot read all of the history that has been written but we can read and learn from a handful of writers that made up the Stoic system of learning and we can see that their teachings directly apply to life in this century. It has been said that cognitive behavioral therapy is rooted in Stoic thought. Take a look at Ryan Holliday's great site, The Dailey Stoic and you will find some of the clearest direction for living an ethical, fearless and peaceful life that one will ever find.

It is sad that nearly everyone who rides horses goes through life without learning what the experience can truly do for them, mentally, physically, and even spiritually. Such people are like those who never learn the taste of an onion because they only eat the thin skin of the plant.

It does not have to be that way. 

You can change. And a horse can help you change.

New Rules For 2022

In addition to the safety and conduct rules in the handbook, beginning on January 1 we will institute the following aspirational rules: 

1. When confronted with selfishness demonstrate generosity. 

2. When confronted with arrogance demonstrate humility. 

3. When confronted with fear demonstrate courage.

4. When confronted with ignorance demonstrate knowledge.

5. When confronted with foolishness demonstrate wisdom.

6. When confronted with hate demonstrate love. 

Every day at the horse lot gives you a chance to achieve two goals--to become a better horseperson...and to become a better person.

Why Teach Endurance Riding To Kids?

This year we are going to build an endurance riding team. We will have several in house events restricted to program participants and will do a few off site rides. I want the kids to learn to be part of a pit crew, how and why to do vet checks, how to condition the horses and themselves and to learn to compete against no one but the person that they were the day before.

Distance riding does great things for kids. My niece was seven years old when she set out on her first forty-four-mile ride. It was in the twenties when we tacked up but warmed up nicely for a great day of riding. Even when you are seven you know that it is a big deal to have forty-four miles under your belt.

Conditioning the horse takes time and time is what kids need to spend with horses. Long steady trots with friends and great horses are a great way to spend half a day. Conditioning requires a deep understanding of equine nutritional and emotional needs. The work that goes into conditioning the horse teaches patience and responsibility. 

It provides for competition with meaning. It is not a contest of a judge deciding which fat horse best meets the current fad in conformation. It is a competition in which the goal is to get one's horse in the best health that it can possibly be in. It is a competition in which the horse is never at fault and the inability to blame the horse helps kids to take responsibility for their role in caring for and conditioning the horse.

I do not know of any other kind of equine activity that can provide young people with as much exercise as long, steady, consistent training rides. Training rides through the woods are constant opportunities to view wildlife and to learn about the natural world all around them. It improves core strength and balance. And it can become a gateway into learning more about human nutrition and exercise benefits. 

Best of all, when we build our team, we are strengthening social bonds that have been frayed during the virus. 

Lydia Dog: For Everything There Is A Season

Many years ago Emily and Lydia recognized that I had need of a dog after having kept a kennel of a dozen to thirty deerhounds for many years. They got me a wonderful little puppy, coon hound and boxer cross. I named her Lydia because she lacked arrogance and never caused me problems.

For many years she accompanied us on nearly all of the rides that we went on. She joined in on the long rides and did many twenty and forty mile rides. 

In later years she had to become a house dog because bikers were afraid of her. I wish she could have always roamed free as she did during the first half of her life.

She has been remarkably healthy up until about six weeks ago when she had her first seizure. We knew her time was coming soon, but we did not know when. 

It came today. 

She lived a happier and healthier life than any dog that I have known. She lived a long life, loved her family, and liked most strangers (unless they were riding bikes).

He Grew Up With Us, Now He's Helping Us Grow

He began riding with our program as a child, the better part of a decade ago. Now Chris is grown and he has grown into a first rate horse trainer. Chris understands the mind of a horse. He is developing the skill to teach others what he knows.

 Chris will be taking on a major new role in our program. He will be in charge of our training team program. In late February, as the days get longer and we have a bit of sunlight after work, we will be doing focused sessions weekly. With the help of a few other experienced trainers Chris will be training horses and teaching those new to the round pen how a horse's mind works. 

 This is one of several major new efforts that will begin in 2022. We are ready to explode out of the virus and reach more people than ever.