Welcome to Enya Explores, a series of interviews with industry experts and riders just like you. Here we cover valuable insights and practical tips to improve your and your horse’s health, happiness, confidence and success.
Rider Mindset Part 3 – Change your mental state, one Gangnam Style move at a time
When it comes to our riding mindset, the last thing we want is to be in an anxious or stressed state. Not only will it stop us focusing, it makes us physically tense – affecting our ability to ride properly and transferring to our horse.
But when we’re nervous or dealing with pressure, it can feel almost impossible not to be in a negative state. So what do you do?
Instead of trying to control your already-racing mind, there is a simple physical activity you can do that will leave your mental state happy and confident, with no wine required!
Rider mindset coach Selina Iddon explains more: “People think you have to have the right feelings first and then change your posture, but you can actually do it the other way around. By first changing your physical state, that affects the chemicals in your body which then shift your thoughts.”
“Think about how you feel listening to a song on the radio, compared to listening to the same song at a concert. The stage is deliberately raised from the mosh pit so that you’re looking up, because it’s not just the crowd – it’s actually that change in physical state that affects your mood.”
Dancing your way to a more confident ride
It may be a little different to your usual pre-ride routine, but dancing with your hands above your head is a great way to change the chemicals that change your state. This even applies at competitions.
Selina says “I tell my clients to take their headphones to their competition, and before they ride go into their float or truck or even a toilet cubicle, and play some upbeat music while dancing with their hands up. I’ve got one person who calls it swirling a wine glass, and a few who do the Gangnam Style dance. Anything with your hands in the air where you’re generating some energy.”
You’re probably going to feel silly, but that’s part of the effect.
“I had one client who was so nervous at a competition that she didn’t want to get on her horse. So she went and did this exercise in a toilet cubicle. And she started giggling at herself, then laughing even harder about what people would be thinking hearing her laughing in the toilets. By then all fear had left her mind, and she just walked out, said ‘I’m going to do this’ and hopped on. She then rang me that night saying how much fun her competition had been after that.”
When to do your ‘mindset dance’
You might be thinking ‘I’ll give this a shot before a competition, but I can’t I do it in the morning before I leave?’
Selina says that it’s best to do it just before you get on your horse, but can do it at beforehand at home if needed.
“If you really can’t or don’t want to do it at your competition, you can do it before you leave but it won’t have as much impact as immediately before your ride. Just be careful not to do anything afterwards that will bring your mood back down. That means on the drive there, listen to music similar to what you just danced to, rather than something like the news which could affect that positive state you’ve just generated.”
If you haven’t already, check out Rider Mindset Part 1 [link] and Rider Mindset Part 2 [link] for other simple but very effective ways to be more focused and confident in the saddle.
About Selina
Selina has been coaching for more than 15 years in various capacities and running her own mindset coaching business for 8 years. Her formal life coaching certification was through Authentic Education delivering the International Coach Federation curriculum.
Selina has specialized working with Equestrians for the last 6 years in addition to business women and mothers.
You can follow Selina on Facebook at Equestrian Confidence, or listen to her podcast Aussie Mindset Mentor.
About Enya
Enya is an EA Level 1 coach and 1*/2* eventer who has been riding for 20 years and coaching for 10 of them. Her favourite thing about working with horses is that we never stops learning, and loves tapping into the knowledge of specialist experts to enhance the skills of both herself and her students.
