How to Stop Feeling Nervous When Schooling Your Horse
Schooling your horse should feel like one of the safer and more controlled parts of riding. You're in an enclosed arena, you know where you're going, and there are none of the traffic or unexpected situations you might encounter while hacking.
Yet for some riders, the school is exactly where their nerves appear.
Perhaps your horse becomes spooky or distracted in one particular corner. You worry about asking for canter. You feel uncomfortable when other people are riding in the arena. Or you become so concerned about getting things right that an ordinary schooling session starts to feel like a test.
You may even find yourself making excuses not to ride unless your instructor or somebody else is there.
As a clinical hypnotherapist and an experienced horse owner and rider of more than 30 years, I know that riding confidence isn't always logical. Feeling nervous in an arena doesn't mean you're incapable of riding your horse. The important thing is to understand what's making you anxious and begin rebuilding confidence from there.
Why Do Riders Feel Nervous When Schooling?
There are many possible reasons.
You may have experienced a frightening moment in the arena, such as your horse spooking, bucking, rushing into canter or becoming difficult to stop.
Perhaps you're riding a new horse and haven't yet developed complete confidence in the partnership.
Sometimes there hasn't been a particular incident at all. Anxiety can gradually develop until you start anticipating problems that previously wouldn't have concerned you.
Common worries include:
asking for canter
riding in a busy arena
horses passing closely
your horse spooking
riding in windy weather
particular corners or areas of the school
feeling watched by other people
making mistakes
losing control
riding without an instructor present
Once you identify the particular situations that make you nervous, the problem becomes easier to work on.
Make Sure There Isn't a Genuine Problem
Before treating everything as a confidence issue, consider whether your horse's behaviour has changed.
If a previously settled horse has suddenly become tense, reluctant, difficult in transitions or unusually reactive, there may be something that needs investigating.
Pain or discomfort, tack, teeth, changes in management, fitness and training can potentially affect behaviour.
Similarly, if you're struggling with a particular movement or transition, it may be a training issue rather than something you simply need to become braver about.
Appropriate help from your instructor, vet or another relevant equine professional can help you distinguish between a genuine problem and anxiety about what might happen.
Stop Treating Every Schooling Session Like a Test
One reason riders become anxious in the arena is that schooling can start to feel like something they have to get right.
You may think you should be achieving something every time you ride.
Your horse should be working correctly.
Your transitions should be perfect.
You should be progressing.
But not every ride needs to demonstrate improvement.
Sometimes a useful schooling session is simply twenty minutes of relaxed, comfortable work in which you and your horse finish feeling better than when you started.
Take some of the pressure away.
Confidence often grows more quickly when you stop continually testing it.
Start With What You Know You Can Do
If you're nervous before you begin, don't immediately tackle the thing that worries you most.
Start with something familiar.
Walk around the arena. Let yourself settle into your horse's movement. Change the rein. Ride some large circles. Introduce a little trot when you're ready.
Give your mind and body time to realise that you're riding and everything is currently fine.
Once you begin feeling more comfortable, you can gradually ask for more.
The aim isn't to avoid difficult things indefinitely. It's to approach them from a calmer starting point.
What If You're Nervous About Cantering?
Canter is a common confidence problem.
Perhaps your horse becomes faster than you'd like, the transition feels unpredictable or you've had a previous experience when you felt out of control.
Don't make every ride about whether you're brave enough to canter.
Work first on feeling secure and confident in walk and trot.
When you're ready, you might ask for only a few canter strides before returning to trot.
Choose the part of the arena where you feel most comfortable and make the exercise straightforward.
As those few strides become ordinary, you can gradually ask for more.
If there is a genuine problem with the transition or your horse becomes difficult to control, work on it with an appropriate instructor rather than repeatedly frightening yourself.
What If Your Horse Spooks in the Arena?
Some horses seem to have a favourite spooky corner.
Perhaps there's a doorway, shadows, equipment outside the arena or something beyond the fence that repeatedly attracts your horse's attention.
Once you're expecting a spook, you may become tense before you even reach that part of the school.
Your horse looks towards the corner.
You tighten.
Your horse feels the change in you and becomes more alert.
You interpret that alertness as confirmation that something is about to happen.
Try to respond to what your horse is actually doing rather than what you're expecting.
Keep riding. Keep breathing. Give your horse something simple to concentrate on.
If there is a persistent behavioural or training problem, get appropriate help rather than turning every approach to the corner into a battle.
Feeling Nervous When Other Riders Are in the Arena
A busy arena can feel intimidating, particularly if your confidence is already fragile.
You may worry about getting in somebody's way, another horse coming too close or your own horse becoming excited.
You might also find yourself comparing your riding with everyone around you.
If possible, initially choose quieter times while rebuilding your confidence.
Then gradually introduce situations where one or two other riders are present rather than immediately choosing the busiest session of the week.
Knowing basic arena etiquette can also help because you'll feel more certain about what other riders are likely to do.
Most importantly, remember that the other people in the school are probably concentrating far more on their own horses than they are on you.
Stop Worrying About Being Watched
Some riders are comfortable alone but become tense as soon as someone stands by the arena.
Suddenly every mistake seems important.
You become conscious of your position, your horse's way of going and what somebody else might be thinking.
This can happen even when the person watching isn't remotely critical.
Try shifting your attention away from the observer and back to your horse.
What rhythm are you riding?
How does your horse feel?
Where are you going next?
What are you asking for?
The more attention you give to the actual riding, the less mental space remains for imagining what somebody else might think.
Use Simple Exercises to Keep Your Mind Occupied
An anxious mind loves empty space.
If you're simply riding around the arena waiting for your horse to do something, it's very easy to start monitoring every movement.
Give yourself a job instead.
Ride circles, changes of rein and transitions. Use poles if they're appropriate for you and your horse. Pick markers around the school and ride accurately between them.
It doesn't need to be complicated.
A simple plan gives your attention somewhere useful to go.
Instead of thinking, “Is my horse going to spook?”, you're thinking, “I'm riding a twenty-metre circle at C.”
That change of focus can be surprisingly helpful.
Notice What Anxiety Does to Your Riding
When you're nervous, your body changes.
You may:
hold your breath
grip with your legs
tighten your lower back
raise your shoulders
become rigid through your arms
shorten your reins
tip forward
give less clear aids
Your horse may respond to those changes, particularly if they're sensitive.
Then you feel the horse change underneath you and become even more nervous.
Periodically check your body while you're schooling.
Let your shoulders drop.
Unclench your jaw.
Notice your breathing.
Feel your weight in the saddle.
Soften your hands where appropriate.
You don't need to force yourself into complete relaxation. Simply reducing unnecessary tension can interrupt the cycle.
Don't Ride the Next Problem Before It Happens
An anxious rider can spend an entire schooling session preparing for things that haven't happened.
You're walking but worrying about the canter you'll ask for in ten minutes.
You're at one end of the arena but thinking about the spooky corner at the other.
Your horse is completely settled but you're wondering when that will change.
Bring yourself back to what is happening now.
What is your horse doing at this moment?
What are you asking for?
Where are you riding?
Deal with the next transition when you reach it.
Deal with the corner when you get there.
You don't need to ride the entire session in advance.
Give Yourself Permission to Get Off
Knowing that you can stop can sometimes reduce anxiety.
You aren't trapped in the saddle.
If either you or your horse becomes increasingly tense and the session is deteriorating, there is nothing wrong with deciding you've done enough.
That doesn't mean getting off every time you feel slightly nervous. Some manageable anxiety is often part of rebuilding confidence.
But there is a difference between gently stretching your comfort zone and continuing until you're frightened.
Ending on a reasonable note can sometimes be more useful than pushing until everything goes wrong.
What If You're Nervous Riding Without Your Instructor?
Some riders feel completely comfortable during lessons but lose confidence when schooling alone.
The instructor has become part of what makes the situation feel safe.
If that sounds familiar, gradually give yourself more responsibility during lessons.
Ask your instructor for two or three simple exercises you can practise independently.
Then when you ride alone, you already have a plan.
You might initially school while someone is nearby, before gradually becoming comfortable riding without that reassurance.
The aim is to transfer the confidence you experience with your instructor into confidence in your own decisions.
Set Small Goals for Each Ride
Don't begin with:
“Today I'm going to be confident.”
That's difficult to measure and puts enormous pressure on how you feel.
Choose something specific instead.
Perhaps:
“I'll ride for twenty minutes on my own.”
“I'll ask for one calm canter transition on each rein.”
“I'll ride past the corner without anticipating a spook.”
“I'll concentrate on breathing whenever I notice myself gripping.”
Those are things you can actually do.
Confidence often follows action rather than arriving before it.
Use Mental Rehearsal Before You Ride
If you regularly imagine your schooling sessions going badly, you're already using mental rehearsal — just not in a helpful direction.
Try deliberately changing what you picture.
Imagine entering the arena and settling into the ride.
See yourself walking and trotting calmly.
Picture a smooth transition.
Imagine your horse looking at something and you simply continuing to ride.
Picture yourself finishing the session feeling pleased.
You're not trying to convince yourself that nothing unexpected can happen.
You're giving your mind an alternative to continually rehearsing problems.
Can Self-Hypnosis Help With Nerves When Schooling Your Horse?
Self-hypnosis may help when you have the riding ability to school your horse but anxiety, physical tension or anticipation is interfering with what you can do.
Hypnosis combines relaxation with focused suggestion and mental rehearsal. It can provide an opportunity to imagine riding in the arena while feeling calmer, more focused and more comfortable.
This can be particularly useful if you repeatedly worry about particular situations before they happen, such as cantering, passing a certain part of the arena or riding when other people are present.
I created Flatwork Schooling with Confidence specifically for riders who become nervous or tense when working their horse in an indoor or outdoor arena.
The aim isn't to make you ignore genuine riding or training problems. It's to help reduce unnecessary anxiety so that you have a better opportunity to ride with the calmness and clarity you're capable of.
What If Your Confidence Problem Is Bigger Than Schooling?
Sometimes nervousness in the arena is only one part of a wider loss of riding confidence.
Perhaps you're also worried about hacking, jumping or simply getting on your horse.
If your confidence has declined more generally, our guide to becoming a more confident horse rider looks at the broader reasons riding nerves develop and practical ways to begin rebuilding them.
If anxiety is strongest before you've even mounted, our guide to calming your mind before you mount may also help you manage the anticipation that develops before the ride begins.
Notice the Rides That Go Well
When confidence is low, your mind tends to remember problems.
You can have a perfectly pleasant thirty-minute schooling session, experience one small spook and go home thinking only about the spook.
Try deliberately noticing the rest.
Did you feel more relaxed than last week?
Was the canter transition easier?
Did you ride alone when previously you needed someone there?
Did your horse look at the difficult corner and then continue?
Those small changes are how confidence grows.
Schooling Doesn't Have to Be Perfect
Neither you nor your horse will perform perfectly every time you enter an arena.
There will be untidy transitions, distracted moments and days when something that was easy last week suddenly feels difficult.
That's normal.
A successful schooling session isn't necessarily one where everything goes perfectly.
Sometimes success is recognising that you became nervous, settling yourself and continuing.
Sometimes it's asking for a little less and finishing positively.
And sometimes it's simply getting on and enjoying riding your horse without spending the whole session waiting for something to go wrong.
The aim isn't perfect riding.
It's to make the arena somewhere you can learn, practise and enjoy your horse again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I feel nervous schooling my horse?
Nerves can develop after a frightening experience, because of a particular difficulty such as cantering or spooking, or simply through repeatedly anticipating what might go wrong. Identifying the specific situations that trigger your anxiety can make it easier to address.
How can I become more confident riding in an arena?
Begin with exercises and situations you already feel reasonably comfortable with, then gradually introduce greater challenges. Having a simple plan for each schooling session can also stop your attention becoming dominated by anxious thoughts.
Why am I nervous cantering my horse?
Canter can feel more difficult if you've previously felt out of control, your horse rushes the transition or you've lost confidence generally. Rebuilding gradually and working with an appropriate instructor can help you distinguish between anxiety and a riding or training problem that needs addressing.
What should I do if my horse keeps spooking in the school?
Consider whether there is a genuine reason for the behaviour and seek appropriate professional advice if it is persistent, unusual or worsening. If anticipation is contributing to your own tension, work on responding to what your horse is actually doing rather than expecting a spook before it happens.
Why can I ride confidently in lessons but not on my own?
Your instructor may have become part of what makes riding feel safe. Gradually taking more responsibility during lessons and practising simple exercises independently can help transfer that confidence to schooling alone.
Can self-hypnosis help with schooling confidence?
Self-hypnosis may help reduce anxious anticipation and physical tension while allowing you to mentally rehearse schooling situations more calmly. It can complement appropriate instruction, training and investigation of any genuine physical or behavioural concerns.
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