Horse Riding With Confidence Scotland

20/05/2025

ANNOUNCEMENT

🔷After 21 years I have made the decision to retire from my work with riders and therefore close Horse Riding With Confidence Scotland . I plan to finish fully by the end of June and will honour all appointments which are already planned but won't be taking on any new bookings.

🔷It has been an honour to work with so many horse riders from Scotland and beyond over the past 21 years and I'd like to thank all of you who have put your trust in me and have allowed me to help you to grow in confidence both as a rider and as a person.

🔷A huge thank you to all of the riding coaches I've collaborated with as well. Combining our skills in order to help riders both on and off their horses has been a great joy. Thanks also to the colleagues I have met through the trainings and courses I've undertaken over the years - your support has been immensely valuable.

🔷If you are looking for help "off horse" with the psychological aspects of riding please do some careful research and only contact someone who has appropriate qualifications and the equestrian experience required to support you.

🔷I have many ideas for the next stage of my life but nothing definite yet and I hope that I will be able to stay involved in the equestrian world in one way or another. The first plans are a holiday to Iceland in July and then to get my second knee replacement in August! Once I've recovered from that I'll be out and about again and look forward to following the adventures of my clients and friends and their horses. 🩵🩵

19/05/2025

I'm looking forward to having a lovely day today at with at our Ultimate Confidence Camp.

A day for riders to learn in a supportive and encouraging environment so that they can grow in the confidence that they can achieve their riding goals 🩵🩵

16/05/2025

WHAT SEEDS ARE YOU PLANTING THIS SPRING?

🔷In order to grow something for the future you need to plant the seed now!

🔷Once the seed has been planted you will need to nurture it for it to grow and mature.

🔷What seeds are YOU planting which will surely grow into something wonderful? 💙

15/05/2025

14/05/2025

JUST FOR FUN

What’s your favourite Summer show and why?

Mine was definitely Blair ( I’m excited to see how Scone Palace develops in its place) closely followed by The Royal Highland Show.

Over to you......🐴🌟🍔😍

13/05/2025

JUST FOR FUN

🔷Are you a morning person? Up and at it at first light and raring to go...? Then early to bed at the first opportunity in the evening..... A lark?

🔷Or are you an evening person? Hitting snooze when the alarm goes off and needing a shot of caffeine to get going? Do you come into your own at the end of the day? Are you an owl?

🔷Personally, I'm definitely a lark. Usually awake before the alarm goes and ready to get on with my day. Come the evening, I'm happy to head for bed by 10pm (at the latest sometimes!!).

12/05/2025

START THE WEEK

🔷Lot's to think about in this Carol Dweck quote.

🔷Mainly two reminders though......

🔷Firstly, it's not helpful to compare yourself to others, perhaps thinking "why do they make it look so easy?". We never know what's going on in other people's lives and what goes on behind the public face of their life. Yes, they may pick up some new skills easily but that doesn't mean that they might not struggle in other areas of their life.

🔷Secondly, if there's something that YOU wish to learn and haven't mastered yet have a think about the processes you can set in place in order to make progress towards your goal. Once you have the learning processes in place then there is no reason why you won't achieve your goal and master those new skills 💙

🔷This applies to mental skills as well as physical ones 💙💙

09/05/2025

What's YOUR Badminton?

🔷It's a big week for equestrian sport here in the UK with riders from far and wide fulfilling lifelong dreams of competing at Badminton Horse Trials

🔷Of course not every can, or would want to, compete there but each of us will have long held wishes of our own.

🔷I wonder what YOU dream of doing with your horse?

🔷Has that dream come true YET for you? Or are you still working towards it?

🔷I would love to hear about YOUR dreams and about what you are doing to help to make them come true?

🔷Huge thanks to my friend Sammi Nisbet for allowing me to use this iconic photo, taken last year when her daughter competed there in the grass roots :-)

05/05/2025

DO YOU EVER WISH THAT YOU HAD STARTED SOMETHING AGES AGO?

🔷Perhaps your fitness journey? Maybe learning something new? Or how about reading that book which has been sitting in a pile for months?

🔷Or could it be that you regret a lot of unhelpful mindset habits and wish that you had made some changes years ago?

🔷As the proverb says.....the second best time to start is RIGHT NOW!

🔷Learning some helpful new ways of thinking will lead to changes in how you feel and therefore improvements in how you ride.

🔷WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? 🐴🏇💙🐴🏇💙

02/05/2025

Please take a few moments to complete the survey for Riders Minds. Thank you 🤩

💜We need your help please!
Can you spare 2 minutes to complete our Mental Health and Wellbeing Awareness in the Equestrian Industry survey?

ℹThe answers are 100% confidential (you are not asked for your name), and your
answers help us to continue to raise awareness and develop the Riders Minds resources.

➡Have your say here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeKEzR0uiBPeQrj70mWxIEQl88EK1zo9tWWL3W_n0wcCUUipA/viewform

The British Horse Society British Dressage British Equestrian

02/05/2025

THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEKEND

🔷What do YOU do when you're struggling to take the next step to to find a solution to a problem?

🔷I love this quote from, former USA pro basketball player, Michael Jordan about overcoming obstacles.

🔷Obstacles and challenges happen in all areas of our lives and, I believe, that learning to overcome them makes us stronger AND that each obstacle that we do overcome makes us more resilient to future challenges. So it is well worth developing strategies for how to cope when the going gets tough.

🔷What's YOUR tendency? Do you tend to give up or do you plough on/over/through the challenge?

🔷My advice is to have a go at sorting things out for yourself BUT if that is causing you any distress or, the challenge is too great to sort on your own then, seek help from an expert in whatever area of your sport/life that's causing you difficulties.

🔷As Michael Jordan says "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it" 💙💙

01/05/2025

HAPPY MAY DAY
🌳May is here and what a lovely month it is.
🎋The month of fresh green leaves in the trees.
🦉The month of the dawn chorus, nesting birds and new life. The swallows have returned and I've been listening to a cuckoo for the last few days.
🐴The month when there will be a lot of young foals born and, if you're anything like me, when you are out and about you're on the lookout for them gambolling in the fields. 💚
🌍Wherever you are in the world, spending time in nature helps to boost your mood and fill you with happy hormones 💚
WHAT DO YOU HAVE PLANNED THIS MAY?