Tag Archives: equestrianlife

Harnessing Metacognition: A Mindful Approach to Connecting with Your Horse

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In the world of horse ownership, where the bond between rider and steed is as vital as any equipment or technique, there exists a powerful yet often overlooked tool: metacognition.


So, what exactly is metacognition? In simple terms, it’s the ability to think about your own thinking. It’s almost like having a second pair of eyes observing your mind’s inner workings.

In the realm of horsemanship, cultivating metacognitive skills can be a big game-changer. Imagine being able to step back from the immediate tasks at hand and analyse not just what you’re doing, but how you’re doing it. This heightened awareness opens doors to deeper connections with your horse and a more refined approach to training and communication.

At its core, metacognition empowers horse owners to understand their own mental processes. By honing this skill, riders can better regulate their emotions, manage stress, and make more informed decisions in, and out of the saddle. When faced with a challenging situation, such as a spooked horse or a tricky maneuver, metacognition allows riders to assess their own reactions and feelings and adjust accordingly, fostering a calmer, more confident presence that horses can respond to, positively.

But the benefits don’t end there! Metacognition also plays a crucial role in understanding your horse’s mind. By observing our own thought processes, we become more attuned to the subtle cues and body language of our horses. We learn to anticipate their actions, interpret their signals more accurately, and respond with greater empathy and understanding.

Imagine, for instance, encountering a hesitant horse during a hack/trail ride. Instead of reacting impulsively, a metacognitively aware rider might pause to assess their own feelings of frustration, nerves, or anxiety. By acknowledging and addressing these emotions, they can approach the situation with a clear mind and a compassionate demeanor, helping to reassure the horse and ease its apprehension.

Moreover, metacognition fosters a growth mindset—a belief in our capacity to learn and improve over time. Just as we can reflect on our own experiences and adjust our behavior accordingly, so too can we adapt our training methods to suit the individual needs of our horses. This flexible, open-minded approach lays the groundwork for continuous progress and mutual trust between horse and rider (which is ultimately what we are all looking for!)

In essence, metacognition is the bridge that connects the realms of thought and action, enabling us to navigate the intricate dance of horsemanship, with grace and insight.

By embracing this mindful approach, horse owners can unlock new levels of harmony, understanding, and fulfillment in their equine partnerships.

So, the next time you saddle up, and work with your horse, remember to harness the power of metacognition—it just might be the key to unlocking your horse’s full potential!

Need some help harnessing metacognition for yourself?

Pop me an email at info@idyllwildhorsemanship.com and I’ll be happy to discuss how I can help you!

Reframing ‘Have To’ to ‘Get To’

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I write to you from my sick bed! I can’t remember the last time I had a cold, and honestly, I’d started to take pride in the fact that I haven’t had one in I don’t know how long! I’d even started to think that I must have some cool kind of immunity thing going on.

But nope. That is not the case! I have a cold, and its the mother of all blooming colds. I’ve been sneezing my head off, my eyes won’t stop watering to the point that one of them is swollen, and I just generally feel bloody miserable.I’m surrounded by tissues, I’ve been drinking immune herbal tea like its going out of fashion (and its not blooming working!!!) and Mavis keeps giving me funny looks every time it looks like I’m going to sneeze. (is anyone elses dog mortified when their humans sneeze or is it just mine..?!)

Safe to say, I’m not feeling the most joyful right now, and I am having to surrender to rest. After I’ve finished this I’ll be taking a nap!

My question for you to ponder today, is why we never really fully appreciate our health, and feeling ‘normal’ until we get sick?! I always talk about gratitude and appreciation, and how important it is in our lives in general and with our horses, and its just as important with our health too.

I think its so important to take the time to appreciate what we have, and that we GET to do things. We get ‘should’ and ‘have to’ so mixed up, and we forget that we in fact are very privileged in this life, and we’re very lucky to do the things with our horses that we sometimes shy away from. We GET to spend time with our horses. We GET to have the energy, health, and physical function to muck them out, we GET to have the time and the energy to poo pick their paddocks, we GET to have the capacity (most of the time!!) to pay their livery, feed, and vet bills.

This reframe can be so powerful in changing how we look at life, and therefore improving our overall well-being and the time we spend with our horses. I invite you to try that reframe for afew days to see what you think, sprinkling more gratitude and appreciation into our lives can do some very profound things for our mindset, and our relationships with our equine friends.

Above all we should never forget how lucky we are, or what an honor it is to live our lives alongside our horses.

If you you’d like to explore mindset reframes further with me, head over to my services page to see how I can help you!

www.idyllwildhorsemanship.com/services

Otherwise, I hope you found that helpful, have a great day!

Over and Out!

Beating the Winter Blues

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Hello All and a Happy New Year!

This time of year, motivation can be incredibly difficult. If you live in the northern hemisphere like me, the shorter, darker days and grim weather can leave you feeling drained and unmotivated, and despite the ‘new year new me’ narratives that are currently floating around…you may find yourself feeling a little stuck and stagnant when it comes to life with your horse.

First of all, please know, this is OK, and totally normal.

Believe it or not, we are meant to actually slow down in winter. Winter is a time for reflection, hibernation, and recalibration. Society nowadays will tell you otherwise, and we have all been conditioned to just keep going and to ‘do,do,do’ whatever the time of year.

But think for a moment about what the rest of the planet does this time of year. By planet, I mean, the earth, and nature, not us humans. Animals hibernate or slow down, allowing more time for rest and sleep, and trees shed their leaves, preserving their energy. Nature is showing us the importance of restoration, and doing less, in order to blossom, bloom, and come alive again in the spring and into the rest of the year. The trees and animals don’t just keep pushing all year round, because they’d burn out…so why do we?

Unless you’re competing or have pressing things you need to be doing with your horse over the winter (or you’re lucky enough to have an indoor arena and hot water etc)…it is OK to slow down and pair back your work with your horse over the winter.

So many of us feel pressured to keep ‘doing’, and then feel frustrated or disappointed when we can’t ‘work’ our horses this time of year. What about, if we looked at this time of year as a time to relax a little, to spend time just ‘being’ with our horses, maybe working on some ‘lighter’ and alternative things with our horses like trick training or working on things we wouldn’t normally make the time to do, like trailer loading or mounting block training?

If you’re reading this and you have been feeling frustrated about the lack of daylight or the extreme mud we’ve been having, please know you are not alone, and cut yourself some slack! This isn’t a race, and slowing down and allowing you and your horse some rest time this winter is totally ok.

If you are feeling the need to feel like you’re doing ‘something’, I happen to have two things that will help you!

1. I ran a lovely 2 hour Goal Setting for Equestrians Workshop last night to help you set aligned goals for the coming year with your horse, if you’d like to grab your copy of the recording, drop me an email at info@idyllwildhorsemanship.com and I’ll send you the payment details and the link! (recording priced at £12)
2. For some more ideas of things you can do this winter with your horse in short sessions to add more variety to your routine, I have some Winter PDFS you can download for just £5.55! Click the link for more info! https://www.idyllwildhorsemanship.com/product/12-winter-training-ideas-digital-guide/

Otherwise, I’ll see you back here soon with another blog, and the good news is, the days will keep getting longer from here on out, and hopefully, the weather will get better too!

Happy New Year All!

Kim 🙂