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Case Studies

Fear of Riding eliminated

 

A woman in her 20's who had ridden all her life and who was a very competent rider had been bucked off her stallion several times and lost her riding confidence.  The horse had been rehomed and although the family owned another riding horse that the woman had previously ridden regularly she was still fearful of getting back in the saddle several months after the stallion had gone.  

 

The fear did not start until the moment came to mount;  ie putting on riding clothes and tacking up was fine, no negative emotion was felt, but just prior to mounting, the woman felt tearful, shaky and very nervous, even though she knew that this horse was kind and had never bucked in her life.  The fear was initally traced to the saddle - a treeless type that had been used on the stallion.  After several rounds of EFT to remove the 'bad' saddle association, the woman was able to mount, but once sitting in the saddle, the fear returned.  I stood at the horse's shoulder to start with, then as she gained more confidence, walked alongside horse and rider, tapping on all the aspects of the woman's fear, all the time checking for the level of distress and modifying the set-up statements accordingly, such as:

Even though I am so frightened that I'll be bucked off again just like I was before . . .;

Even though I can't stop shaking as I think I'm going to fall;

Even though I've got this sicky feeling in my stomach;

Even though deep down I know Jewel doesn't buck, part of me's expecting to be bucked off again.

etc.

 

Eventually all the negative emotions were tapped away and the woman was able to ride the horse around the field at walk and trot with confidence. Very shortly afterwards she was able to resume riding other horses too and begin to compete at shows again. Five years later, the fear of being bucked off has never returned, even though she has ridden several other horses who have thrown in a few bucks!

 

 

 

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