Promoting Positivity in Equestrianism

There has been a lot of vlogs and blog posts going around lately in relation to riders and their mental health. In Charlotte Dujardin's latest book, "The Girl on the Dancing Horse", she discusses her mental health challenges after competing at the Olympics but it was fellow bloggers Natalie (Inside Track Eventing) and Tina Wallace (Life on the Left Rein) that really brought the issue home and made me realise that I'm not alone and that you don't have to be a high-level athlete to get discouraged or disheartened.

I've had to deal with some unpleasant people in my life, and unfortunately, a few of those have been in the horse world. I work so hard not to let them drag me down, which is far easier said than done.

I stand by a few little tips to keep me motivated and focused. Life is too short for bad vibes and to worry about stupid things. So get out there, enjoy every minute with your horse and keep smiling.

Turn those Negatives into Positives
I've been around people who tell me that I'm a crap rider and that my horses are rubbish; it's so hurtful and slowly chips away at your self-confidence. Poor Oz seems to take the brunt of it with one person, in particular, telling me that he's useless. Okay,  he's never going to be jumping 1.10m courses, but anything I've asked him to do, he does, and he does it pretty well! He's a little dinger and that kind of negative opinions towards him make me only want to do bigger and better things with him. Their hurtful words spur me on, any day I feel like not riding, I think of those people and get in the saddle. It's like a massive 2 fingers up at them when he does well :)

Don't Take it Personally - Some People are just A**holes.
I had to learn that when someone was mean and rude to me, it wasn't because there was something wrong with me and I don't need to be changing myself in order to try and get their approval. I've learned that these kinds of people tend to be cynical about all those around them, rather than pick on specific individuals.

Concentrate on You!
Why do we let what other people think of us, affect us so much? I've been mocked and teased on multiple occasions for having a blog; but I don't let them discourage me. I cannot understand why some people feel the need to put you down, should we not be encouraging people to try new things and keep doing whatever makes them happy? I'm never going to please everyone and there are always going to be people who try to suppress you. You need to learn to just ignore them and let their insecurities and negativity go elsewhere.

Remember WHY you started horseriding 
I don't understand why we put so much pressure on ourselves as riders. 99% of us do this as our hobby. This is meant to be something that de-stresses us from our daily lives, not be the cause of it! We all strive to be the best we can, but it's only natural that we have crap days. Realistically, who remembers how you got on in that competition six weeks ago? Everyone is so involved in their own lives that, bar giving you a quick like on Facebook or Instagram, they don't really think much more of it. So give yourself a break and take the pressure off yourself, remember to just enjoy it!

There really is no escaping some people and the horse world is notoriously small! I actively try to avoid those people with bleak and pessimistic outlooks on life and keep focus on remaining positive. It's so important to remember to love yourself, you are worth it! 

No comments:

Post a Comment