Review of the Year

As we approach Christmas and 2018 draws to a close I thought it was a good time to review the year for Horse Riding with Confidence Scotland.

I have enjoyed the work I’ve done in 2018 enormously, have met some wonderful and inspiring people, made connections in some new areas of Scotland and have attended several courses and workshops.

As always, the core of my business is 1:1 clients who I see here in Dollar.  The  majority of these clients come for help with a riding related issue with only about 18% of this year’s new clients having a non-riding issue.  I’ve seen a few school age riders and the age of clients has ranged from 10yrs up to well over 60yrs showing, once again, that anxiety can challenge us at any age and stage of our lives and riding careers.  Riding issues have generally been anxiety related and most of the clients have been pleasure riders or those wishing to compete for fun.

It has been gratifying that I am seeing an increasing number of people make 1:1 appointments after having been to one of the talks or workshops I have been involved with and word of mouth or social media have been the way clients have found out about the work I do and the service I offer.

Talks held this year have involved a few trips to the west of Scotland and I have enjoyed collaborating with both yard owners, riding clubs and other professionals in the equestrian business.  At the end of February I travelled to Wemyshill in Lanarkshire, in  April to Sunnyside Equestrian near East Kilbride and in June to Lochgilphead to talk to the members of Argyll RC. Wemyshill Equestrian

 Sunnyside Equestrian with Lauren Semple of Equestrian Fitness Scotland

I am thrilled to continue to be involved with the amazing work done by Equiteam Confidence Camps held at Lindores in Fife and have attended numerous camps and day experiences throughout the Summer months to talk to the riders and offer them help, advice and support with the mindset side of riding and confidence boosting motivation.  Plans are afoot to develop this work and bring in some new ideas and content for 2019 camps.

 Day Camp at Lindores with Equiteam

In October, together with Anne Currie Horsemanship, we held our fourth “Ride in Harmony with your Mind” day workshop.  These days offer the opportunity for riders to bring along their own horses, to hire a RDA horse for the day or to come as non-riding participants.  This year’s workshop went very well and will hopefully we will run another similar workshop together next year.  The facilities available at Sandyflat RDA are fantastic and the staff there are hugely supportive and helpful.

 Ride with Harmony in your Mind Workshop

 Ride with Harmony in your Mind Workshop

As always, I am committed to continuous professional development and have attended several workshops on sport psychology as well as an update on some hypnosis techniques and a major certificate in Timeline Therapy which I did in the Autumn.

I continue to work with some riders on a sponsorship basis and love this aspect of my work.  Eventer Jodie Neill has had a successful year moving up to 2* on her gorgeous horse Clover with lots to look forward to for 2019.   I have just recently taken on another sponsored rider, Jodie Campbell who competes in dressage and showing and we are both excited to see what 2019 brings for Jodie and her horses.   The sponsorship of the young riders of Team KA came to a natural end with riders moving and the yard developing a new focus but I enjoyed the work I had done with the team.

On a personal level 2018 has been a year of highs and lows.  I continue to enjoy the riding I do at Kilgraston equestrian now that my own horses are retired and we had a fantastic safari holiday to Botswana in July but we also said goodbye this year to my wonderful father who would have been 88 on Christmas Eve and have had to help my lovely mother to settle into a care home in Newcastle.  We all miss Dad enormously but are grateful for his long life and I dedicate the work I have done this year to him.

Timeline Therapy (TM)

Any of you who follow my social media pages, or know me well, will be aware that I am a great believer in CPD (Continuing Professional Development).  In fact both of the organisations I am registered with demand that I keep a CPD record and commit to attending courses, study days, reading and learning in order to continue my registration.

Each year I make sure that I attend study days and lectures where possible and find that doing this keeps me interested and stimulated and allows me to offer my clients the best possible care and therapy that I can.  It had been a while since I had completed any form of new certification or learned any specific new techniques to add to my tool box so this year I was on the lookout for something suitable.

Then I came across Tracey Cole, in a Facebook group I’m a member of, and I liked the look of what she does.  Tracey and I chatted a bit online and I realised that she most definitely could provide me with the training I was looking for.  We both offer a similar service to our clients which  I saw as a good thing, as the training would also give an opportunity to compare notes and chat about our approaches and experiences.  Fortunately the timing was good as Tracey was running a course which included Timeline Therapy (TM) and I was able to attend purely for this element of the full course.

So, last week I headed off to Staffordshire which is a new part of the country for me.  I did go to a 21st birthday party in deepest rural Staffs many years ago but that is another story and I can remember very little about it!!!  I decided to go by train and had a pleasant journey down even though it involved several changes.  I did have to do a little bit of therapy on myself en route when I realised that I had left my mobile behind and had no phone or internet access – EEK, DON’T PANIC!  It wasn’t a disaster and I just asked a couple of random people if I could borrow their phone and without exception they were kind and generous and I managed to get messages through to people who needed to know where I was and what was happening.

I spent a lovely couple of days studying, having fun, making friends and talking about horses and came away with a certification as a Practitioner of Timeline Therapy (TM).

The course was held in a lovely cottage on a livery yard in rural Staffordshire, we also stayed in the cottage which was warm, homely and had beautiful views over the surrounding countryside.  Tracey is a wonderful teacher and delivered the coursework in a relaxed but stimulating manner.  There were lots of opportunities to practice the techniques on each other and we had a lot of fun and some interesting insights whilst doing so.

You’re probably still wondering what this new therapy is as you may not have heard of it before.  Timeline Therapy (TM) is a powerful therapeutic process derived from NLP and using aspects of hypnotherapy so right up my street in therapeutic terms.  I couldn’t wait to get started.   The process was developed by Tad James  

in the 1980’s and is based on the concept that the unconscious stores our memories in a linear way, like a metaphorical timeline.  Using a variety of techniques the therapist will help the client to let go of negative emotions and limiting beliefs leading to longstanding fundamental changes.  I think that it will be hugely applicable to my horse riding clients, particularly those with long standing anxiety and a difficulty in “letting go” of negative past experiences.  It allows the client to learn from past experiences and move on from them.  Sounds like a “win-win” to me and I can’t wait to start using it and to see the results for my clients.

PS If anyone can tell me how to do the trademark symbol on a Mac I would be very grateful, I’ve googled it but none of the suggestions I’ve found seem to work so I’ve just used (TM) for this post!!

So what actually IS Hypno-psychotherapy?

I recently did one of those ‘Ask me anything’ posts on FaceBook and one of the questions asked was ‘What is Hypno-psychotherapy?’  At the time, I gave a brief reply and promised to write something more detailed about it.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the person who asked the question but hopefully they will see this and see that I keep my promises and always try my very best to answer questions.

So, this blog post is kind of a shameless piece of advertising but hopefully it will make interesting reading for those of you who would like to know more about what I do and how I do it.

I trained with the well respected National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy www.hypnotherapyuk.net in the early 2000’s qualifying in 2004 with a Diploma in Hypnosis and Psychotherapy and the colleges website explains very well what this actually means so I can do no better than to copy and paste from their site.  I am now registered with the college and also with the National Register of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy

What is the difference between Hypnotherapy and Hypno-Psychotherapy?

Hypnotherapy is the clinical application of hypnosis to assist clients to resolve problems arising from habits, maladaptive behaviours, pain (under medical supervision) and psychosomatic medical conditions. It can also be used to assist clients in maximising potential in settings such as work and sport. At the time of writing hypnotherapy has developed a system of Voluntary Self-Regulation through the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council and as such hypnotherapists will be trained to a minimum of a level 4 NVQ equivalent standard. Hypnotherapists are not trained to deal with deep psychological issues or psychiatric illness.

Psychotherapy is defined by UKCP (2009) as a process “to help clients gain insight into their difficulties or distress, establish a greater understanding of their motivation, and enable them to find more appropriate ways of coping or bring about changes in their thinking and behaviour. Psychotherapy involves exploring feelings, beliefs, thoughts and relevant events, sometimes from childhood and personal history, in a structured way.”

Hypno-psychotherapy is the clinical application of hypnosis to enhance psychotherapeutic interventions. Hypno-psychotherapists should be trained at master’s level and are trained to deal with deep psychological issues and psychiatric illness.

(The above definitions are credited to the National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy.)

As well as completing the training mentioned above I have gone on to complete further certificates such as the Practitioner in NLP cert and a Specialist certificate in Anxiety as well as attending numerous study days covering all sorts of related subjects. I consider myself to be an expert in helping clients with anxiety issues.  At the end of this month I will be doing some more additional training and will tell you about that in due course.

So the next question might be ‘How does Hypno-psychotherapy help horse riders?‘

Over the years I have developed a speciality in helping riders at all levels overcome anxiety and develop a strong mind-set to the extent that virtually all of my clients are riders.  My training allows me to see my clients as a whole person and help them to understand and overcome their fundamental anxiety issues, treating them as individuals who come with their own unique personalities, experiences and lifestyles.  Each rider is different and the beauty of the training I have done means that I have a large tool box of techniques and approaches to draw from depending on the rider’s individual needs.  A nervous novice who may be worried about even getting on their horse has very different needs to, for example, an eventer who is looking to step up a level in competition and may have concerns about that.

Using hypnosis is an option which enhances the psychotherapeutic processes and can hasten positive results by accessing the, sometimes hidden, strengths of the unconscious mind. It can be very powerful and help the client to make changes or it can be used to help the client simply to feel more calm, more relaxed and more confident.  We don’t always use hypnosis and only after full discussion and explanation of all techniques.  Hypnosis is a very safe therapeutic intervention and the vast majority of clients say that they love the feeling of being in a trance.

Sometimes people contact me with the question ‘Do you think that you can help me?’.  My answer to this is that to have got in touch with me they already have a belief that I can help them. In our training we are taught that hypnosis is effective to the extent that the client wants, expects and allows it and therefore all hypnosis is effectively self-hypnosis. In any psychotherapeutic approach there are never guarantees but my experience show me that the majority of riders who seek help can make significant and long lasting changes.

I am always happy to chat to anyone who wishes to contact me and any initial contact is completely free of charge and can be the first step towards regaining your enjoyment of this wonderful sport.

Any thoughts, comments or questions are very welcome and thank you for reading this.

Daisy’s Story

With my new website up and running it seems like the appropriate time to put more focus and energy into my THROUGH THE EARS blog.  So as part of the re-launch here is a very special blog for you.

You may have come across the How Very Horsey  blog written by the lovely Daisy Smith.  Daisy is a talented writer and horsewoman, comes from a long line of well known equestrians and has been very open and honest about her own struggles with riding confidence. Daisy has kindly agreed to write this piece for me to share with you.  When I first read it yesterday evening it brought a tear to my eye and made me think of so many of the riders I have been privileged to work with since 2004 who have similar stories to tell but prefer them to remain private.  The sharing Daisy’s story here is intended to give YOU hope and inspiration and if YOU need help then please do just get in touch and take the first step towards helping yourself to recover your enjoyment of this wonderful sport.  THANK YOU DAISY.

DAISY’S STORY.

A year ago, I was a bit of a mess. The combination of a bad riding accident, a traumatic birth and associated PTSD and PND, and a few weird years of riding horses I didn’t know or trust, left me with zero confidence. Less than zero, actually. I was at the point that, for the first time in my 20 years of riding, I actually considered giving up. Not even because I wanted to. More because I thought I had to.

I got to the point that I was having such anxiety just driving to the stables that I had to frequently pull over just to breathe. If a horse so much as moved an ear unexpectedly, I would get off. To put this in perspective, a few years ago I was competing at 1.20m level and had previously ridden for England and won BSPS Rider of the Year. Last year, I couldn’t trot around an arena.

What helped me? Blogging. I started my blog when I was pregnant and unable to ride. It was a way I could stay involved in the horse world somehow. I said when I started it that if one person read it and enjoyed it then that was fine. I had no idea of the true impact my blog would have on me though.

Writing honestly about how I felt and what I was going through, firstly, helped me to see it more clearly but it also opened me up to a world full of advice. A world full of people in the same boat or people who had been there. And an amazing crowd of previous strangers who were suddenly invested in my story and cheering me on.

What I would like to share with you guys though is this: People will tell you it will get better, people will tell you that you will be fine, people will make lovely comments about how good you were and how they are sure it’s just a phase. As lovely as these people are trying to be, it will not help.

What will help is this: it can get better.

Last week, I jumped my young, sprightly 17.1hh horse at a county show and won. Tonight, I jumped round a course of fences at home with a smile on my face. I am looking forward to riding tomorrow. It can get better.

 Daisy enjoying riding the lovely Jack

What you need to find is what will help you. Real, practical advice of how to find that confidence. It will not be an instant fix. Confidence is built up through consistent, positive experiences over time. Set yourself up to have those experiences, surround yourself with people who understand and are sympathetic, but at the same time are cheering you on, actively work on changing your negative mindset if you can. I now walk the course and say to myself “This will be fun to jump. What a great feeling it will be!” I am still nervous but it helps me.

 Daisy and the famous American Pie, now a sprightly 23 yrs old.

I can get better.