Jumping to Conclusions

I witnessed a very interesting phenomenon recently and while I've seen this to some degree previously, I've never seen it happen in such a fascinating manner. My daughter rides horses and we were at a show. Her event wasn't until later so while she was warming up, I was watching a different event. The event was a pony hunter jumper competition and most of the participants were tween and teen girls. My daughter's trainer had warned the girls that due to the recent lack of rain, the ground was hard and the girls would really need to communicate with their ponies that they wanted them to jump.

The first rider's pony stopped at the very first jump, so the rider turned around and tried again. The pony refused again. On the third try and third refusal, the rider and her pony were excused from the ring. The second pair entered the ring and they, too, stopped at the first jump. On the second attempt, horse and rider completed the first jump, but the pony refused the second jump twice and this pair was excused from the ring. Several riders and ponies completed the course, but many of the courses were riddled with repeated refusals. What was happening here? It's not uncommon to see the same horse and rider stop at the same jump multiple times, but this seemed to be spreading like a virus.

Like many animals, horses are very receptive and reactive to our body language and emotional state. Having your pony refuse a jump is startling and precipitates a cascade of anxiety and panic and the horse feels every bit of it. The pony's refusal triggers the rider's sympathetic nervous system. Her heart rate increases, her respiratory rate increases, her body temperature increases and her muscles tighten. The horse senses every one of these changes and responds by feeling unsure and anxious, as well. The next rider then responds to the previous rider's experience with an activation of her sympathetic nervous system, thereby alerting the pony that there is something to be worried about. This rider-pony connection is almost like a big biofeedback loop. The pony's behavior is essentially telling the rider to calm down.

So, how do we teach our girls to respond to this? Like any situation that triggers a sympathetic response, the rider needs to find a way to quickly activate their parasympathetic nervous system. Activating the parasympathetic nervous system will drop her heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature and muscle tension. For the rider actively in the ring, there is only a brief amount of time to do anything before her next attempt. One strategy that works quickly is paced breathing, which involves taking a few deep breaths in which you make the exhalation significantly longer than the inhalation. The slow controlled exhalation activities the vagus nerve and promotes relaxation almost immediately. A common example of this is the 4-7-8 technique, where you breathe in through your nose for a count of 4, hold for 7, breathe out for a count of 8, hold for 7 and repeat the pattern. Three cycles should start to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and calm both you and your pony. For the rider still waiting her turn, I would recommend the above breathing strategy, along with drinking something cold and performing a quick body scan. All of these strategies will help calm the rider and reassure the pony.

These strategies are not limited to equestrian activities, but can be applied to any stress inducing situation, including other sports, giving a performance or taking an exam. It is also extremely helpful to practice these and other calming strategies on a regular basis, so it can be easier to implement when you need them.