MEET THE EXPERT
Stephanie Brooks is an accredited Centre10 Advanced Coach with a professional background in coaching, mentoring and people management. She offers one-to-one confidence sessions and group workshops for riding clubs and yard clinics. To find out more, visit equivie.co.uk
IN THE SMALL recreation room at Boyton Hall Equestrian Centre in Ipswich a group of riders nervously gathers together. On today's clinic agenda: crack their hacking fears and leave this clinic with the confidence to venture outside of the arena with their horses.
“‘Happy hacker’ is a bit of a derogatory term,” says Stephanie Brooks, an accredited Centre10 Advanced Coach, as she starts the talk. “Hacking well and with confidence takes as much skill as dressage or showjumping. You have to be aware of yourself, the horse and the environment. It's not a small thing.”
Let's switch up that mindset
Switching up mindset isthink less of themselves for not feeling confident to do it, but as Stephanie points out it still requires plenty of skills in the saddle. Just because you aren't trotting down the centre line or flying over obstacles doesn't mean that you can't feel nervous, but it's still important to learn the skills to master your nerves for yours and your horse's safety.
