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5 ways to help control fear or frustration while riding and handling horses️
A big part of living the horse life is managing chronic pain and mitigating all of the emotions that can bubble up at the barn or show. These 5 exercises just may help you stay in the present moment, whether you ride on your own, teach or take lessons.
1. Ground Yourself with Deep Breathing
As you ride, focus on your breathing. At the walk. Inhale deeply for four counts, hold for four, and exhale for four. This technique helps calm your nervous system and promotes clear, intentional communication with your horse.
When you get more comfortable doing this exercise, start counting their steps and listening to the bilateral stimulation of their hooves. Knowing where their feet are every step is half of the battle!
2. Feel Your feet in you boots and your seat in the saddle.
When frustration arises, shift your attention to the sensation of your feet in your boots, then to your seat connecting with the saddle. Notice how your body aligns with your horse’s movement. Relax any compensatory tension. This grounding technique keeps you present and fosters a stronger bond with your horse.
3. Relax Through Movement
If tension builds, use extremely small, slow, intentional movements to release it. For example, gently figure eight your nose horazonally or virtically, slowly wiggle your fingers, or lift and curl your toes. These actions help release pent-up energy without disrupting your ride.
4. Tune into Your Body's Sensations
Scan your body for tension—tight shoulders, clenched jaw, or stiff hands—and consciously relax those areas. By softening your posture, you signal calmness to your horse, making the ride smoother and more enjoyable for both of you. This will also help stack bones on top of each other properly, giving the receptors in your joints the message that you are in a balanced and stable posture.
5. Sync Your seatboned with Your Horse's Movement
Focus on matching your seatbones to your horse’s rhythm. For example, as your horse's right hind leg prepares to move forward, your right seat bone will be lifted up and in, and then it will stay with their right hind leg seeming to move back and down. Repeat!
Your left side will do the same, but I find when beginning to learn this exercise, it's easier for most riders to focus on one side for a while, and then to focus on the other, before combining the two sides into a following seat.
This creates a harmonious connection and helps regulate your emotions and your horse’s responses. The more we do that, the easier our training sessions get and the faster our horses progress.
In an earlier post you read a little about how my work with Dr. Kutsko over the last 8 years has informed the way I handle and ride horses.
Converting the method she created and uses in her office into ridden exercises that I could do and teach was key for my horse's progress.
I'll share more about how you can apply this work to your horse in a later posts. Their wellness truly does start with our wellness as riders and handlers. So, focus on you first!
Give these a try and let me know if you have any questions. 
~Jessica
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