“The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself.”\u00a0 (FDR)<\/p>\n
Fear is normal.\u00a0 Fear is healthy.\u00a0 It is instinctive for us to fear a 1,000 lb. animal that can trample over and crush us to death.<\/p>\n
Most fears are irrational.\u00a0 It is not irrational to have a healthy respect for horses, and it is quite rational to habitually take safety precautions that are widely accepted as “good practice” when working around horses.<\/p>\n
However, it is quite common for people to allow fears relating to horses to get out of hand.\u00a0 There are many, many people out there who\u00a0limit themselves from things they long to do simply because of\u00a0the physical and\u00a0emotional bondage of fear.\u00a0 Any person who decides to take on the task of working with a “square” horse must have a logical and fact-based approach to the horse and his behaviors rather than allowing\u00a0himself to be deterred by irrational fears.<\/p>\n
The difficulty lies in the fact that it is easy to believe the body’s response to fear rather than to think logically about whether the fear is rational or not.\u00a0 This is where our quote comes in.\u00a0 This is where the rational, determined horseman will not let simple fear or a physiological response be the deciding factor of whether he works with a horse or gives up.<\/p>\n
In order to do this, a person must analyze himself honestly and openly.\u00a0 Some questions to ask:<\/p>\n
Can I physically meet the challenge?<\/p>\n
What part of my fear is rational and what part is irrational?<\/p>\n
Am I thinking clearly or only responding to emotions?<\/p>\n
In order to work with difficult horses, you must acknowledge and accept that there will be times when you are afraid.\u00a0 You must accept that although you will take every precaution to keep the horse and yourself safe, there will be times when you are in danger and there will be times you will get hurt.\u00a0 If you are smart and mitigate your risks, chances are you will never be seriously injured.\u00a0 But even if you are very\u00a0intelligent and horse savvy, there is no chance you will never be injured at all and there is no chance you will never feel out of control or be fearful.<\/p>\n
When I began working with my first atypical, reactive horse, I made a pact with myself that I would make my decisions logically and intelligently rather than based on emotion or fear.\u00a0 If I had followed my emotions, I would never have ridden my mare, Amore outside of a barn, never taken her to horse shows or the beach, and most definitely never ended up with my second horse, the firecracker\u00a0named Valhalla.\u00a0 I would have missed out on a thousand priceless experiences, and I would have never discovered that galloping on a powerful horse down a lonely stretch of beach is something worth risking your life for.\u00a0 Fear is a powerful emotion, but there are others that far outweigh it such as the ecstasy and elation I felt when I heard the thunder of hoofbeats on the sand and felt that\u00a0my horse\u00a0must be outracing the wind itself.<\/p>\n
Have you ever felt joy that could not be contained?\u00a0 Giving in to fear means that you risk giving up on far better things than you can imagine.<\/p>\n
It can help to have some experiences to build on, and those can’t happen if fear prevents you from gaining those experiences.\u00a0 The first time I was bucked off Amore, I hit the ground very hard.\u00a0 I began having nightmares about getting bucked up into the high rafters of the riding arena and having no way to get back down.\u00a0 Fear told me things that were impossible.\u00a0 Logic made me acknowledge that the ceiling was far too high for me to reach, much less injure myself on.\u00a0 This taught me a lesson on how to separate what\u00a0I am\u00a0afraid will happen, and what is the worst thing that is likely to happen.<\/p>\n
For instance, my horse takes off at a gallop and goes faster and faster.\u00a0 I feel a surge of fear.\u00a0 The next time I think about riding this horse, I feel reluctant.\u00a0 After all, the horse made me feel frightened the last time.\u00a0 What if this time I can’t stop him?<\/p>\n
Now I rationalize: what is likely to happen?\u00a0 Does the trail have good footing?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 He is not going to slip and fall even if he goes very fast.\u00a0 How far is my horse likely to gallop even if he ignores my cues?\u00a0 With this horse, probably no more than a half mile.\u00a0 The trail goes up a hill for two miles, so there is plenty of room for him to get tired and stop.\u00a0 Does the horse steer well?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Even if he goes out of control, I can direct him to a safe path.\u00a0 Am I likely to fall off?\u00a0 No, I never have randomly fallen off at a gallop.\u00a0 Now I decide what is the worst thing that is likely to happen.\u00a0 Probably the horse will spook to the side or stop from a dead gallop.\u00a0 What are the chances I will fall off if that happens?\u00a0 Probably 1 out of 10 times.\u00a0 If I do fall off, what are the chances I will be seriously hurt?\u00a0 Based on previous falls, I will be bruised and sore but probably won’t break a bone.\u00a0 I wear a helmet when I ride.<\/p>\n
After all this rationalization, I usually feel that my fear is overblown and the risks exaggerated in my mind.\u00a0 Sometimes this doesn’t stop me from having butterflies in my stomach from anxiety when I get on the horse, but it also doesn’t stop me from taking the horse out and riding.<\/p>\n
And therein lies the secret:\u00a0 All fears have a physical component that reinforce the mental component.\u00a0 Your thoughts and feelings of what might happen cause the chemical reaction in your body that taps into your “fight or flight” response.\u00a0 In order to remove the physical feelings of fear, you have to repeat the action that frightened you several times.\u00a0 Often for me it only takes one\u00a0or two reenactments of the triggering event to completely remove the physical part of the fear reaction from my body.\u00a0 Sometimes that means the horse actually does something undesirable such as bucking or I fall off.\u00a0 But that is what is interesting about our bodies; they can even get used to something you perceive as “terrible” if you do it enough times.\u00a0 For instance, I used to get a huge adrenaline rush after falling off a horse.\u00a0 Most people do, it’s quite natural.\u00a0 After coming off several times in a row, I noticed that my body was no longer releasing all the chemicals and I was quite calmly surveying the\u00a0ground, wincing before I hit and then getting up without being affected by all the jittery nonsense that comes from having our muscles pumped full of blood and endorphins.<\/p>\n
Now, there is a warning that goes along with all of this.\u00a0 There is a flip side to exposing your body to fears and getting over them.\u00a0 You also need to use your logical brain to decide if things are safe to do with your horse when you stop getting the natural warning signals from your body that say, “Hold on a second, this might be stupid!”\u00a0 Adrenaline is there for a reason…it’s\u00a0a natural safeguard\u00a0to help protect us from danger.\u00a0 I’ve personally witnessed with people who ride atypical horses that they can become too desensitized to perceived danger and cross the line into actual danger without realizing it.\u00a0 Yes, I admit I’ve done this myself too.\u00a0 That’s why the safest bet is to always run things through your logical brain and analyze the perceived versus actual risks involved.\u00a0 The primary goal is to keep yourself safe and your horse safe, but without compromising the enjoyable time you can have with your equine partner in adventure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself.”\u00a0 (FDR) Fear is normal.\u00a0 Fear is healthy.\u00a0 It is instinctive for us to fear a 1,000 lb. animal that can trample over and crush us to death. Most fears are … Continue reading