The Connection Between Breathing and Riding Confidence

It is something I notice almost every time I work with a nervous rider. Before we even begin to talk about horses, anxiety or confidence, I ask them to take a breath. And almost without exception, that breath is shallow, tight and held somewhere high in the chest. It tells me a great deal.

In over 25 years as a clinical hypnotherapist and psychotherapist — and as someone who has spent a large part of my life around horses — I have come to understand that breathing is not just something the body does automatically. It is one of the most powerful tools a rider has. And most nervous riders are completely unaware of what their breathing is doing in the saddle.

What Your Horse Already Knows

Horses are extraordinarily sensitive animals. They have survived for thousands of years by reading the emotional state of those around them — and they are very good at it. Long before you are consciously aware of your own anxiety, your horse has already picked it up. Your breathing is a significant part of that signal.

When you are anxious, your breathing becomes shallow and rapid. Your body tightens. Your horse feels the change in your seat, your hands and your energy — and interprets it as a signal that something may be wrong. In response, many horses become tense, unsettled or unpredictable. Which of course makes the rider more anxious. And so the cycle continues.

I have worked with clients who were convinced their horse was the problem, when in reality the horse was simply responding to what it was feeling from its rider.

What Happens in Your Body When You Hold Your Breath

This is something I explain to almost every nervous rider I work with. When anxiety takes hold, many people do not just breathe shallowly — they actually hold their breath without realising it. Perhaps on the approach to a jump, or when asking for a transition, or when another horse comes too close on a hack.

Holding the breath triggers the body's stress response. Cortisol rises. Muscles tighten. Reaction time slows. The very things you need most as a rider — a soft seat, quiet hands, clear thinking — become harder to access.

And all of this happens in a fraction of a second, before the conscious mind has even registered that anything is wrong.

Learning to Breathe Differently

The good news is that breathing is one of the few automatic body functions we can consciously control. And with practice, that conscious control can become a new automatic response — even in the most challenging moments in the saddle.

Here is what I recommend to my clients:

Breathe out first Most people think of a calming breath as a big inhale. In fact it is the exhale that activates the parasympathetic nervous system — the part of your body responsible for rest and calm. Before you mount, try a long slow breath out, letting your shoulders drop as you do. Notice the difference it makes before you have even left the ground.

Breathe in rhythm with your horse At walk, try to synchronise your breathing with the natural rhythm of your horse's movement. This is something experienced riders often do instinctively. It creates a sense of connection and flow that both you and your horse can feel.

Use a breath as a reset Whenever you feel tension creeping in — on a hack, in the school, approaching something that makes you nervous — make a deliberate slow exhale your first response rather than your last resort. Think of it as pressing a reset button that is always available to you.

Practise on the ground first I always encourage my clients to build their breathing practice away from the horse initially. Spending even five minutes a day practising slow, diaphragmatic breathing — breathing deeply into the belly rather than the chest — begins to retrain the nervous system so that calmer breathing becomes the default rather than the exception.

How Self-Hypnosis Can Help

Conscious breathing techniques are genuinely valuable, but in my experience they work best when combined with something that addresses the deeper roots of riding anxiety.

This is where self-hypnosis comes in.

In my work with nervous riders I have seen time and again that anxiety in the saddle is rarely just about the horse or the riding itself. It is rooted in deeper patterns — memories of falls, a loss of confidence after a difficult experience, or simply years of anxious anticipation that have become deeply embedded in the subconscious mind.

Self-hypnosis works at that deeper level. It helps to gently release those patterns and replace them with a calmer, more confident automatic response — so that when you are in the saddle, your body's default is ease rather than anxiety. And when the body is at ease, the breathing follows naturally.

I am co-author of Ride With Confidence and have developed a range of self-hypnosis and guided meditation downloads specifically for nervous and anxious riders, available at www.confident-rider.co.uk. They are designed to be used in your own time, in the comfort of your home, and many of my clients find them a natural and very effective complement to their riding practice.

A Final Thought

The next time you are in the saddle and you feel the first flutter of anxiety, I want you to try something before you do anything else. Just breathe out. Slowly. Fully. Let your shoulders drop and your hands soften.

You may be surprised at what your horse does next.