26/ AUGUST 2023 THE RIDER Confident Horsemanship:


with each passing minute. You might feel that you’re the


only one experiencing this. But this type of anxiety, especially for adult riders, is actually fairly common. Can you relate to this story? As


Emily drives to the barn, she suddenly gets that horrible feeling in her stom- ach. Her thoughts race with all sorts of catastrophic possibilities. She won- ders if she should cancel riding. The more Emily worries, the


By Anne Gage, The Horse Riding Confidence Coach When you are a nervous rider, it


takes almost nothing for you to start thinking the worst. Your mind spins. Soon, you’re frantic with fear and panic as you believe the worst is going to happen. Your thoughts feel out of control and your tension escalates


Canadian Dressage Team


Continued from page 25


Dressage is exactly what we had hoped for – it is so amazing to see we are com- ing together as a sport and making a difference for the future of Dressage in Canada.” Established in 2014,


Nexolia Dressage is Lavoie’s passion venture where she has combined her love of dressage with her business acumen to become an owner and breeder of world-class horses. She is a highly successful entrepre- neur and the founder and CEO of Nexolia, a company focused on industrial acqui- sitions and sustainability. She splits her time between her breeding and training fa- cility in Magog, Quebec,


Lindsay Kellock (right), also part of the 2019 Pan Am team rides Floratina (Fidertanz x Rubin Royal) owned by Chloe Gasiorowski to a 73.147 test score that helped Canada secure the top spot on the podium. Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley


and Wellington, Florida. With Paris 2024 on the


horizon, donations that are now coming in beyond the $60,000 initial goal will go towards meeting the Cana- dian dressage team’s needs for the Olympics next year, which also requires addi-


LongRun’s TB Star of August


career. Retired at the end of 2021, Hitter has been with us looking for a permanent home ever since. He is such a terrific looking boy with a loving personality to match, but his arthritic ankles preclude him from being ridden. He thrives on interac- tion with people and would make a lovely companion or therapy horse. If you're interested in meeting Hitters Park please contact LongRun!!


Hitters Park is a 10-year-old gelding who was an accomplished racehorse, winning close to $295,000 during his 5-season


tional support from the com- munity. There are many ways to donate including online, in person or contact- ing Christine Peters directly. All donations received di- rectly by EC over $20 are eligible for a charitable tax receipt.


ANCASTER AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY EVENTS


August 16 - Hunter Show August 17-20 - Ontario Reining Horse Association August 20 - Hunter Show August 20 - Western Dressage August 23 - Hunter Show August 24-27 - Ontario Show Horse Classic August 25-27 - Northeastern Rein- ing Cowhorse Show (NERCHA) August 29-Sept. 3 - Ontario Quarter Horse Association Summer Finale September 6-7 - Ontario Friesian Horse Association September 9-10 - Ontario Paint Horse Club September 10 - Western Dressage September 15-17 - Ontario Cutting Horse Association September 17 - Ancaster Saddle Club


October 5-8 - NBHAC Finals October 14-15 - Hunter Show October 20-22 - Octoberfest Hunter Show October 27-29 - Triple Crown Draft Classic


November 11-12 - High School Rodeo


November 17-19 - Clinic November 25-26 - Hunter Show December 8-10 - Winterfest Hunter Show


December 16-17 - Hunter Show ANCASTER SADDLE CLUB


Sept. 17. For more information visit ht tps : / / anc a s t e r s addl e c lub. weebly.com/


ANGELSTONE EVENTS 2023 Gold Series Show Dates Angelstone Tournaments


8720 Wellington Rd 50, Erin, ON 4. August 16-20 / Major League Show Jumping CSI5*/CSI2* 5. August 30-Sept 3 / Labour Day Classic


6. Sept 6-10 / Hunter Spectacular Indoors At


Caledon Equestrian Park


200 Pine Ave, Palgrave, ON 3. October 10-15 / Ontario Hunter Finals 4. October 17-22 / Ontario Jumper Finals


Caledon Equestrian Park


200 Pine Ave, Palgrave, ON 7. Sept 20-24 / The BFL Caledon Cup CSI2* 8. Sept 27-Oct 1 / The Outdoor Fi- nale


Visit the website at http://an- gelstone.ca/tournaments/


BURFORD SADDLE CLUB August 19, Sept. 16. For more information visit www.facebook.com/groups/367855 040053305/


CHESLEY SADDLE CLUB


August 2 to 6 - Wiarton 5 Day Ride August TBA - St. Mary’s September 15 -18 - Dufferin For- est/Mansfield Tract September 22-25 - Dufferin For- est/Mansfield Ride For more information visit https://chesleysaddleclub.ca/


KAWARTHA HUNTER JUMPER ASSOCIATION


Call (416) 675-3993 ext 3440 www.longrunretirement.com • info@longrunretirement.com


August 26 -New Beginning Equine Stables September 16 - Endless Journey Farm Visit us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kawarth ahja


MEADOWLARKE STABLES


ONTARIO PAINT HORSE CLUB


September Spotacular, September 9/10, 2023 Visit www.ontariopainthorse.ca/


ONTARIO QUARTER HORSE ASSOCIATION


August 30-September 3, 2023 - OQHA Summer Finale, Ancaster Fairgrounds. 5 Judges: Kathy Boggetta, Derek Hanscome, Robin Griggs-Clarke, Gretchen Mathes, Kim Myers. OQHA Summer Finale Page


-


https://oqha.on.ca/pages/summer-fi- nale-show


ONTARIO REINING HORSE ASSOCIATION


Tentative Show Dates:


August 18-20 - Steel City Spin An- caster


Sept 15-17 - ORHA Grande Finale Fletchers Horseworld


ROCKTON SADDLE CLUB


Sept. 9. Shows start at 10 AM Rock- ton Fairgrounds. Email questions to R o c k t o n s a d d l e c l u b 2 0 2 2 @gmail.com


ROCKWOOD TRAIL RIDERS


Trail Horse Trials: - September 10 (Rain date: September 17) https://www.rockwoodtrailriders.ca


Summer Competition Series 2023 Monday, September 4, 2023 Finale – Monday, October 9, 2023 Entries via: horseshowsonline.com


MID-WESTERN HORSEMAN’S SOCIETY


September 16 - Seaforth Fair MWHS Show. Seaforth Fairgrounds September 23 - Forest Fair MWHS Show. Forest Fairgrounds September 24 - Stratford & District Fair MWHS Show. Stratford October 7-8 - Brigden Fair MWHS Show. Brigden Fairgrounds Visit https://www.midwesternhorse- manssociety.com/


ONTARIO BARREL RACING ASSOCIATION


August 25-27: Sherwood Farms, Lyn ON September 2-4: Paris Fair ON September 15-17: Clinton ON (Sponsored by the Crane Family) September 23-24 - Forest Fair October 13-15: 2023 OBRA Finals, Clinton ON Visit http://www.obra.ca/


RAM RODEO SCHEDULE 2023


August 19-20 - New Liskeard Ram Rodeo August 26-27 - Purple Hill Ram Rodeo


September 2-3 - Tweed Stampede September 16 - Binbrook Ram Rodeo September 19-23 - International Plowing Match October 13-15 - Ancaster Ram Championships Nov 12 - Toronto Royal Winter Fair V i


s i t https://www.ramrodeoontario.com/


TRI COUNTY CARRIAGE AS- SOCIATION EVENTS


August 18-20 - Metamora, Michi- gan August 19 - TCCA Social Fun Drive - Cross Country, Cones & More, Meadowrock Farm. Judi Morris August 26-27 - Ontario Horse Clas- sic (Multi-Breed Show), Ancaster Fair Grounds Jerseyville, ON August 27 - TCCA Day of Tradi- tional Day of Driving Stonehaven Farm. Port Perry, ON September 2 - OCDA Cone Palooza. Windy Knoll Farm, Ariss, ON September 9 - Arthur Fair - Open Pleasure Driving Classes, Diane MacDonald, Arthur, ON September 10 - TCCA Social Drive, Westfield Heritage Museum September 16-17 - CDE Becan- cour, Becancour, QC September 23 - TCCA Social Drive Freestyle Fun & Cross Country, Meadowrock Farm October 21 - TCCA - Barrel Race, Meadowrock Farm


TRIPLE CROWN DRAFT CLASSIC


Oct 27-29th. Ancaster Fairgrounds, Ancaster, ON. Visit www.triple- crowndraftclassic.com/


Send us all your show dates for our next issue! Deadline is August 28th.


more her body tenses and the less clear her thinking is. She worries that her horse might spook, she’ll fall off, she’ll look foolish and be laughed at. She worries that she’s not good enough (and never will be). She won- ders if she should just give up riding altogether. Emily is future thinking - a think-


ing pattern that creates a belief that a situation is more dangerous than it re- ally is. And you’re not even in the sit- uation yet!


How to STOP Thinking The WORST About Riding


By projecting an imagined future,


your brain reacts as if it is happening now - because your brain doesn’t know what is real and what is imag- ined.


Even if you’ve had this thinking


pattern for a long time, it can be changed by following this four-step process. 1/ Identify your thoughts You


can’t change what you’re not aware of. Notice what that voice in your head is saying and what you’re think- ing when you worry. If you have trou- ble identifying the thought then notice how you feel to find clues. What am I thinking that is making me feel anx- ious? What am I believing about this situation that is causing my body to feel tense? What am I expecting to happen? 2/ Challenge the thoughts - Fu-


ture thinking is guessing not fact. We tend to overestimate the bad and un- derestimate the good. For each


thought, ask yourself “is it true?”. Re- alistically, what’s the chance that pre- dicted situation will happen on a scale of 0-10? If it’s 1-3, it’s not very likely to happen, so there’s no need to worry, is there? 3/ Examine the evidence - If wor-


rying thoughts are true predictions of the future then there will be evidence to support it. If the predication can’t be supported then it isn’t a fact. It’s re- ally an opportunity for you to choose a different way of thinking. What’s the evidence it will hap-


pen? What’s the evidence it won’t happen? What could be different? 4/ Updating the Odds - Using the


scale of 0-10, rate the realistic odds of this situation occurring. If you’ve done the previous steps, the number is lower than the number from step two. Changing your thoughts and perspec- tive is the only difference. So what happened with Emily? Once her automatic thoughts of pre-


dicting bad things were triggered, she considered canceling the ride and then worried that her friends would hate her for pulling out at the last minute (again), and that they’d probably stop inviting her on rides. But this time, Emily challenged


those thoughts. She had a plan. And, she reminded herself that her friends support her and will avoid putting her in situations she can’t handle. They want her to have fun and enjoy riding with them.


Author Bio: Anne Gage, The Horse Riding Confidence Coach, shares ad- vice and tips for horse riding women of a certain age. From managing rid- ing nerves and anxiety, understanding your horse's behaviour, building a deeper partnership with your horse, and more. Whether you're a lifelong horse rider, just coming back to riding after time off, or just starting out, learn more at www.rideconfident.com


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