Few things will stand between you and successfully training your horse more than you and your thoughts when those thoughts are defeating and doubtful.

Limiting Yourself

Negative thoughts are often called limiting beliefs because they limit how much you believe you can achieve or succeed. It’s not because you’re incapable of successfully training your horse, it’s simply because unintended (and unwelcome) thoughts might convince you otherwise.

For example, there’s little chance you’ll ever be able to teach your horse flying lead changes if you continually tell yourself you can’t and he can’t. It’s not because either of you are incapable of it, it’s because your belief has placed a self-imposed limit on what you and your horse can achieve together.

Tell yourself that you can train your horse to do a flying change (and work hard to make it happen) and you’ll remove the limit that once stood between you and that training goal. In other words, when you remove limiting beliefs, you remove your limits.

I can’t cook. I’m not good at math. I’m not a morning person.

I can’t sit his trot. I’m not as good as everyone else. I crumble under pressure.

Limiting beliefs are common, and it’s possible you’ve even used a few already today. They’re the sneaky negative thoughts you don’t think you’re thinking, even though you’re thinking them!

The good news is that becoming mindful of them is the key to stopping them. Sometimes they’re just hiding in a kind of mental blind spot and need to be brought out into the light.

Your Blind Spot

Blind-spot biases are a unique form of limiting belief that lie just below the surface of your awareness (the negative thoughts you don’t think you’re thinking even though you’re thinking them).

They’re called “blind-spot biases” because, like a car hidden in your blind spot, they pose a threat to you because you’re unaware of them. When a car leaves your blind spot, however, the threat it creates leaves too.

Likewise, when negative thoughts leave your mental blind spot (because you become mindful of them), the threat they create also leaves.

I want to introduce you to one kind of blind-spot bias that can negatively impact your ability to train your horse fairly and successfully. If you are aware of this blind-spot bias, you can work to remove it from your mental blind spot.

Confirmation bias is one kind of blind-spot bias that exists at the barn and when you are working with your horse. It occurs when you form an opinion and then alter your thoughts and behaviors so you can make your opinion appear correct (thereby confirming your bias).

For example, people who believe flying in airplanes is dangerous (even though studies disagree) often spend hours performing online searches of all the airplane crashes in history, and each time they read of another, they confirm their own bias a little more. Not surprisingly, these people rarely search the safety records of airlines because that would contradict their bias.

A Real-World Example

How does this translate to the barn and riding arena?

A rider in a recent clinic entered my arena on a very forward and unmanageable horse. After observing the horse, I asked, “How long have you been trying to slow your horse?” to which she replied, “Four years!”

So, I suggested she try something new. “Instead of slowing your horse,” I said, “Try calming your horse.” After all, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is a bit insane.

I then instructed her to give her horse five calming aids: soften her hands, use a calming voice, relax her hips, use calming circles, and take her weight off his back (she was in a chair seat).

To this, she simply replied, “It’ll never work,” to which I replied, “Never tell yourself what you can’t do until you at least try.”

Unconvinced it would work, she picked up the canter, but as soon as her horse sped up, she thought about it for a second, then abruptly threw her reins away and thrust herself forward, causing her horse to bolt and run away with her.

After a few minutes of leaning back and yanking on her horse’s mouth to bring him back under control, she rode up to me and said the five words I knew she’d say, “See? I told you so!”

Avoiding Confirmation Bias

Moral of the story: This rider had a belief that you can only slow horses by leaning back and pulling, and she confirmed it by acting in a way that would ensure it happened.

But here’s the sad part: When she confirmed her bias, she missed the opportunity to begin to solve a training problem that had plagued her and her horse for years. In the end, her desire to be right was stronger than her desire to improve the relationship with her horse and her horse’s training.

So, what could she have done instead?

You can avoid confirmation bias by reminding yourself that it’s all right to be wrong about the reasons for your horse’s behavior or how to solve a training problem. The next time you’re given the chance to try something new when facing a challenge with your horse, remember that being right all the time isn’t worth making a wrong decision even one time.

This excerpt was adapted from “Bolder, Braver, Brighter: The Rider’s Guide to Living Your Best Life” by Coach Daniel Stewart and reprinted in the October 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine with permission from Trafalgar Square Books. Click here to subscribe!

The post Avoiding Confirmation Bias: An Excerpt from “Bolder, Braver, Brighter” by Coach Daniel Stewart appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

In the fifth episode of The Horse Illustrated Episode of Horses in the Morning, sponsored by Title Sponsor Straight Arrow Products, hosts Glenn the Geek and Sarah Evers Conrad talk to breakaway roping superstar Jackie Hobbs-Crawford about her illustrious competitive career and being a mom, Dwayne Hildreth about his work on the board of Brooke USA, and to international trainer Daniel Stewart about equestrian sports psychology and how to be bolder, braver, and brighter.

Hosts: Sarah Conrad, Digital Content Editor of Horse Illustrated & Young Rider and Glenn the Geek, host of Horses in the Morning

Title Sponsor: Straight Arrow Family of Brands

There’s an App for that!  Check out the new Horse Radio Network app for iPhone and Android. Follow Horse Radio Network on Twitter or follow Horses In The Morning on Facebook.

Breakaway Roping with Jackie Hobbs-Crawford

Twenty-time Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World Champion Jackie Hobbs-Crawford of Jackie Crawford Roping has a lifetime in speed events and roping. She was the Oklahoma High School Breakaway Roping Champion, won her first National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) national breakaway roping title as well as a national women’s team title at Vernon College, and was part of a second national champion women’s team and was Reserve National Champion Breakaway Roper at Tarleton State University. By the time Jackie graduated with her business degree, she had three consecutive NIRA Southwest Region champion breakaway roping titles under her belt.

Since then, Jackie Hobbs-Crawford has continued to excel on the rodeo and roping scene. In addition to training top-level horses, she continues to ride horses for some of the best cowboys in the business. In 2017, Jackie married Charly Crawford, a 10-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in heading. Together they have three children: 16-year-old Kaydence, 4-year-old Creed, and a new baby girl named Journey. Along with balancing being a wife, mother, competitor and trainer, Jackie Hobbs-Crawford has played a key role in the exploding trend of breakaway roping. She continues to further the sport of rodeo by conducting clinics throughout the year and giving private lessons at the Crawford’s training facility in Stephenville.

For the article about Jackie Crawford in Western Life, click here. Purchase Western Life magazine here.

Brooke USA with Dwayne Hildreth

Dwayne Hildreth, is on the board of Brooke USA. He is an owner of two performance Quarter Horses and has been competing in reined cow horse and stock horse competitions for just over a year. The mission of Brooke USA is to significantly improve the welfare of 100 million working horses, donkeys, and mules who are helping to support 600 million of the poorest people throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and the Caribbean. They do this by raising funds and responsibly directing them to the areas of greatest need. But rather than just handing out money and leaving an area, Brooke also provides education, supplies and assistance not only to animal owners, but also to locally based veterinarians, veterinary technicians, farriers, feed suppliers, and those who make and repair tack and horse-drawn vehicles. They have also expanded into university research and community projects, as well as working to influence governmental policy. After all, healthy animals work better, live longer and thus can support their humans in a more sustainable way.

For the article about Brooke and Brooke USA in the July 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated, click here.

Daniel Stewart and His New Horse Book Called Bolder, Braver, Brighter

Daniel Stewart has been an equestrian for more than 35 years and has coached horse riders all over the world for the past 25 of those. Combining his knowledge as an equestrian with a degree in physical education, he created an empowering and inspiring clinic series that helps riders develop equally strong minds and bodies. As the internationally acclaimed author of Pressure Proof Your Riding; Ride Right; and Fit and Focused in 52; he talked about his latest book—Bolder, Braver, Brighter, available through Trafalgar Square Publishing. Daniel Stewart is widely considered one of the world’s leading experts on horse sport psychology, athletics, and performance. He teaches clinics and seminars to thousands of riders each year, including an annual summer clinic tour that includes 50 clinics in more than 30 cities over a span of 60 days. He’s a sought-after keynote speaker, has published countless magazine articles, and is an equestrian sport psychology and rider fitness contributor for many other equestrian associations. A father of two, when he’s not teaching his jumping, cross-country, and dressage clinics; he runs four-day equestrian athlete training camps at various athlete training centers around the country. He also produces weekly mental coaching and rider fitness videos for riders of all levels, ages, and disciplines.

For the article from Daniel Stewart’s book—Bolder, Braver, Brighter—from the October 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated, click here.

Title Sponsor

We want to thank our Title Sponsor, the Straight Arrow Family of Brands, makers of Mane ‘n Tail, Cowboy Magic & Exhibitor’s, with over 100 years of grooming excellence. For more information about your favorite products, please visit www.straightarrowinc.com and find Straight Arrow Products at a tack shop near you!

Premier Sponsor

Farnam is showing you their appreciation with a very special 75th anniversary giveaway. Visit www.farnam.com/75-giveaway for a chance to win a custom, special edition Farnam 75th anniversary John Deere Gator. This Gator is gorgeous, and it is filled with $1,000 worth of Farnam horse care products! Somebody is going to win all of this, so it might as well be you! Farnam, Your Partner in Horse Care!

The post Podcast Episode #5: Breakaway Roping, Brooke USA and Bolder, Braver, Brighter for Sept 28, 2021 by Straight Arrow Products appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.