Confidence

So, I’m restarting the blog. I apologise for neglecting it, and I promise I won’t anymore.

I’ve been thinking about writing this for a while now. Lately a lot of social media posts have been about confidence. It’s a topic I’ve written about before, because I’ve struggled with it.

I don’t think personally I’ve ever had as much confidence in my ability as a rider as perhaps I should have. But I’ve noticed it’s not just me who does this. I watch my mum ride and think how she rode well today or did something good, and then she gets off and moans about how bad her riding was. Do you do this?

Another thing, that I really believe doesn’t help us improve our confidence, is we are all a bit worried about sharing what we find so scary, or what we are lacking confidence in.

I’ve been so lacking in confidence that I have felt as though my right leg is sooooo heavy it is physically stuck to the mounting block and nothing is moving it. It doesn’t matter if you’re that person who is struggling to get on, or the person who is perhaps learning to ride slower than others because you are a bit scared, or if you’re worried about riding in the school, or hacking, cantering, jumping etc etc.

What matters is we all support each other with those fears. I wouldn’t be improving without my mum there to help me; we need that support. Your cheerleader or hand holder may be a fab friend, or an amazing instructor. But I think it is better to address it, to get it out in the open. Don’t sit there feeling sick to your stomach because you don’t want to go out for that canter.

Sometimes I feel so worried, that I might not ride, come up with some reason not to. And I often think, do I even want to ride anymore? Am I that bothered? But when I do, I love it. When I have that brill ride, I smile from ear to ear all day.

Don’t ride because you must, because your friends want you to, because you’ve paid for that lesson, because you’ve got a horse in the field. Go and ride that horse because you love horses and you love horse riding. You might be sitting there feeling worried and dread overtakes you, but we all know that when we are on, and when we see those big beautiful eyes – that we started riding because it was fun. Have fun riding! That is the main thing, enjoy your horses and your time in the saddle.

So, I’m setting you (and myself) some goals:

1. Stop being so negative on yourself. Just stop. Don’t do it! No, you may not be the best rider ever, but does your horse care? No! Did you have fun riding? Because that is the main thing. 
2. Find that fab friend or instructor! Find someone who works for you, whether it’s an instructor who will push you to do those things, out of your comfort zone or the person who will just be there to give you that confidence boost.
3. Set yourself a goal! It doesn’t have to have a time scale, but maybe I will do one little thing out of my comfort zone this week, I will get on once this week. It doesn’t have to be big; it doesn’t have to be that you’ll be at national championships next year.
4. HAVE FUN!

Billie x