Equestrian Life March 2018 Issue

feature
An Introduction to
Horse Riding with
Confidence Scotland
Equestrian Life meets Jane Brindley
Horse Riding with Confidence
Scotland (HRWCS) was born in
2004 but was a couple of years
in gestation before that. I was
studying Hypno-psychotherapy at the time,
with a view to setting up in practice to help
people overcome a wide variety of personal
issues, and whilst studying I started applying
the techniques I was learning to myself
and my own riding and soon realised the
potential these practices had to help riders
overcome confidence issues. I was never a
particularly confident rider and frequently
heard others expressing their own difficulties
in overcoming, or dealing with, anxiety whilst
riding and so I realised that there were likely
to be many riders who could benefit from
what I was learning. I knew that I had noticed
a huge change in how I felt about riding once
I began to think about it in a more helpful
way and use positive visualisation rather than
allow my mind to conjure up all sorts of scary
scenarios.
I began with a simple advert in a free horse
publication and was amazed with the number
of riders, at all levels, who got in touch. These
riders varied from those who were finding
excuses not to ride because they were so
worried about what might happen if they got
on their horse, to riders who were regularly
competing but felt that they weren’t achieving
their goals, plus others who were struggling
to recover mentally after a fall or accident.
I saw my job primarily as helping
them to regain an enjoyment of
riding and to develop the mental strength
they needed to overcome performance
issues and to put any traumatic incidents
behind them where they could learn from
what happened but move on from it. Using a
combination of hypnotherapy, psychotherapy,
NLP, visualisation and mental rehearsal, riders
are able to make powerful lasting changes
which help them to achieve their goals.
Over the years since setting up HRWCS the
equestrian world has become much more
aware of the psychological elements of horse
riding and today there are many opportunities
to attend confidence camps and clinics, as well
as sport psychology talks and demonstrations.
From a business point of view this has meant
a lot more competition and a need for me to
diversify and develop my business. This has
been a challenge which I have enjoyed and
through the use of social media and by making
links with other equestrian professionals I
have been able to expand the services which
I offer.
Initially I was a little hesitant about
contacting other professionals with a view
to working together but invariably I have
had a positive response and through these
collaborations have been able to reach a much
larger number of riders. So now, in
2018, I regularly speak to groups
of riders about confident riding at
a variety of camps, livery yards,
riding clubs and pony clubs with
lots in the diary already for this
year. I work regularly with riding instructors
and coaches to run workshops and day clinics
where I can teach about the psychology of
anxiety and help those attending learn ways to
understand and deal with their anxieties and
the riding coach can then run ridden sessions
where the riders can put into practice what
they have learned from me.
So what does the future hold from HRWCS?
Individual 1:1 sessions will always be the core
of my work, as this is where a rider can really
work on their own issues and concerns and
therapy can be adapted to that person’s needs.
I would like to see more collaborations with
trainers, coaches and others in the equestrian
industry and am always open to discussing
possibilities for working together. To date,
the majority of my work has been in Central
Scotland, but I do enjoy travelling so am
happy to work in other areas.
For more information see
www.horseridingwithconfidencescotland.co.uk
www.equestrianlifemagazine.co.uk 41