The document provides information from a workshop on overcoming nervousness when riding horses. It discusses defining goals using the SMART framework, understanding how logical levels relate to nerves being taken too personally, and practical techniques like positive language, breathing, mental rehearsal, and anchoring to build confidence. The workshop covers the physical and mental symptoms of nerves, setting clear and achievable riding goals, and how to address nerves by improving skills, managing the riding environment, and maintaining a positive attitude.

1. Nervous Rider?
A workshop presented by Ken Scott
Ashes NLP Coaching
ken@ashesscott.com
www.ridingconfidence.co.uk

2. About me
Rider/Personal
Coach/Hypnotherapist/Geek
 Nerves used to floor me in a lot of
areas
 NLP techniques helped me!


3. NLP? What‟s that?
Neuro-Linguistic Programming
“Changing your actions by changing the
way you think and changing the words
you use”

4. What we will cover
 What
are nerves?
 Goals and how to set them
 Logical Levels and SEA
 Practical Techniques to
help

5. What are nerves?
over to you!

6. What are nerves?
Not all nerves are bad!
 Good nerves give you the edge, help
you perform at your best
 Getting a bit nervous means you care
and want to do well – your body‟s way
of preparing you for excellence
 Examples?


7. Bad Nerves
When nerves stop you from
functioning
 When your performance is impaired
 When you 'go to pieces‟
 Your body‟s way of „protecting‟ you
 Examples?


8. Physical symptoms of nerves
Increase in heartrate and BP
 Short of breath
 Headaches
 Clammy palms
 Dry mouth
 Cold sweat


9. Mental symptoms of nerves
What ifs - worrying what might happen
 Gloomy thoughts
 Mental fog
 Inability to concentrate
 Sleeplessness
 Forgetfulness


10. Previous bad experiences
can cause apprehension
It's going to happen again
 You imagine it happening
 Your tension = horse imagines it too!
 Easy to fix with NLP fast Phobia
technique


11. So how can we overcome „bad‟
nerves?
Goal setting
 Taking Stock of our skills
 Putting things in perspective with
Logical Levels
 NLP Fast Phobia Techniques
 Other practical techniques


12. Goals – what do you do with
your horse?
 Exercise 1
 'what do you do with your
horse?‟
 Write 5 or more postits or use
your workbook
 5 - 10 minutes in pairs or
groups

13. Goals – what do you WANT to
do with your horse?
 Exercise 2
 'what do you WANT to do with
your horse?‟
 Write 5 or more postits or use
your workbook
 5 - 10 minutes in pairs or
groups

14. Obstacles to Achieving Goals
So what stops you getting to do what
you want to do?
Some common ones
 Time
 Motivation
 Skill
 Equipment or facilities
 Nerves

15. Know what you want to do
In order to turn this „want‟ into an
achievement you need to know : Precisely what you want
 When you want it
 If it is reasonable
 If you can commit 100% to it

16. Making a SMART Goal
Goals are not wishes or affirmations,
they are contracts with yourself and
your horse
 Goals must be so real you can see,
hear, feel and even smell and taste
them!


17. What are SMART Goals?






Specific. Goals need to be very detailed imagine a legal contract
Measurable. You must be able to clearly
demonstrate you have achieved it
Achievable. Set a goal that is possible
for you and your horse
Realistic
Timebound. It must include 'by x date‟
I always add F - First step to the goal
(some call it Take Action)

18. Example of a SMART Goal
“by March 2014 I will have
competed in 4 Prelim
dressage tests and scored
above 62% in at least one”

19. SMART Goal Writing
Exercise 3
 In small groups
 Pick one of your 'want to do‟
 Turn it into a smart goal - 10
minutes
 TIP – make sure everything in
the goal is under YOUR
control

20. Feedback on goal setting
Common problems
 Goal not specific enough
 Goals too big
 Not under your control e.g. win x
competition
 No time specified
Remember – you need to be able to
„taste‟ it!

21. Summary so far
We have covered : Mental and physical symptoms
of nerves
 What you do vs what you want
to do
 Goal setting

22. Next – not taking it to heart
Logical levels are the layers that make up
our personality
 Spirit (deep beliefs)
 Identity (core values) - who I am
 Beliefs and values - my personal 'code of
conduct‟
 Skills/abilities/capabilities
 Attitude and behaviour - mental and
physical
 Environment - horse! weather, others

23. Logical Levels

24. So how is this relevant to my
nerves?
When things go wrong we tend to take
it at too low a level
 e.g. horse naps and spins round and
stands looking, rider thinks 'I cant ride‟
 Rider has taken this at Identity level
whereas it was actually at
environment – she is a capable rider
and it‟s just a plastic bag flying past on
windy day!
 Can you think of an example?


25. All at SEA
The three most easily
changed levels
 Skills
 Environment
 Attitude

26. Skills
Rider
 Do you know the aids?
 Can you carry them out competently?
Horse
 Does your horse understand what you
are asking?
 Is he capable of doing it at his level of
training?

27. Skills
Do you have the skills currently to
achieve your goal?
If not, how can you build those skills?
 Lessons
 Practice
 Watching Videos
 Reading books and magazines
 Youtube?!

28. Environment
This includes: The horse – is he fit enough, warmed
in correctly, does his tack and saddle
fit?
 The rider, bad day at work?
 The weather!
 Schooling/riding facilities
 Time
 Other pressures e.g. family

29. Attitude
This includes: Motivation
 Commitment
 Patience
 Resilience (there will be setbacks)
 Positive mental attitude
◦ Do you really believe you can?
◦ Do you really WANT to?
Shameless plug – NLP and hypnosis can
help!

30. More work!
Skills Audit
Exercise 4
 In pairs or groups, list your strengths
relating to your chosen goal THEN
 List what you and your horse need to
learn to achieve the goal
 5 - 10 minutes
 Feedback

31. Rate your Goal
The final part of Goal setting is to rate 1-10
on how much you want to do it and how
much you believe you can (1 = no hope,
10=Absolutely)
TIP – less than 10, forget it!
So how do you rate your goal?
What do you need to change to make it a
10

32. Goal Setting Summary
We should now have: A SMART goal
 A list of your skills
 Areas to improve
 A rating (10?) of how motivated you
are to achieve the goal
 Steps to improve the rating if not 10

33. Practical Techniques to Try
Now we have our goal, what practical
things can we do to „Take Action‟?
I will take you through the following NLP
: Using positive language
 Breathing
 Mental rehearsal
 Anchoring

34. Using positive language
Often we we use the words
 I can‟t jump 70cm
 I can‟t canter out on a hack
Try reframing these to
 I can jump 60cm and am training to
jump a little higher
 I enjoy a small canter in the school
and I am building up to a small canter
on a safe track

35. Positive Language
What if?
 My pet hate!
 How many things you think „what if‟
about ACTUALLY happen?
Try What if not?
 What if he doesn‟t shy?
 What if he does jump that fence?
See the difference

36. Positive Language and
Others
Avoid negative people if you can
 Tell your friends and family about what
went well
 Wear a badge saying “Only positive
words accepted”
 Being really nice and positive to
people you don‟t get on with really
annoys them!


37. Worry about what went well
Spend as much time “worrying” about
a clear round or a nice hack as you
would about things that didn‟t go so
well
 Celebrate the smallest step forward
 Keep a success diary
 Be easy on yourself


38. Breathing
When we are nervous, we take
shallow breaths
 A lot of the symptoms of nerves are
made worse by lack of oxygen
 Correct breathing oxygenates the
blood, clears the head and focuses
the mind


39. Breathing Technique
Tummy Breathing
 One hand on chest
 One on tum
 Breathe in and only allow the tummy
hand to move outwards
 Count to 4 as you breathe in
 Breathe out to count of 5
 Keep chest still and only move tum

40. Breathing
If you have a medical condition, check
with your GP before trying breathing
exercises
 How did it feel?
 Were you able to think of anything
else whilst breathing?
 You can use this anytime when you
get nervous: Interviews/dates/giving presentations
:-)

41. Mental Rehearsal
Also known as visualisation
 Your unconscious mind can‟t tell the
difference between a mental rehearsal
and reality
 Micro-muscle movements have been
recorded when subjects visualise
carrying out an action
 Check out “18 holes in my mind”


42. Mental Rehearsal
The key to successful visualisation is to
“be there”
 Use all the senses
 Be realistic but stretching
 Really dream it
 Don‟t worry if you can‟t get a crystal
clear picture – few people can!
 Ken and Riley at Epworth XC

43. Anchoring
What is an anchor?
 The phone rings and you pick it up
 A traffic light turns red and you stop
 You put your leg aid on and your
horse responds!
 An example of a Classically
Conditioned Response – “Pavlovian”
 Works just as well on your
unconscious!

44. Anchoring
How does it work?
 Think of at least 3 really positive
experiences
 Relive them as vividly as you can one at
a time
 As you experience the great feelings,
touch your finger and thumb together
and hold it till the feeling fades
 If you repeat enough times, just touching
finger and thumb will bring the feelings
back

45. Anchoring
Would you like to have a try?

46. Anchoring and Riding
Before you ride
 Before you tackle something tricky or
new
 Use like a “half-halt” on your self!


47. Summary
We have covered
 What are nerves
 Goals and how to make them SMART
 Logical Levels and Skills, Environment
and Attitude
 Practical Techniques
And you can use your workbook at home
too!
Book plug – “How to Become a Confident
Rider”

48. Thank You
Ken Scott
www.ridingconfidence.co.uk
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