Taking care of yourself is essential for equestrians, who often face physically and mentally demanding situations. Here are some of my tips to help you practice self-care…
1. Physical Fitness
While this may not be something I’m that great at, it is something I know the importance of and need to get better at fitting into my daily routine. Being fit isn’t just about being able to go for a ten-mile run, or lift 70kg, it’s about your body’s wellbeing. One thing that is important for all athletes is stretching, stretching will help to keep you supple, especially when riding, it also prevents injury. But the main reason I think it’s important is that it releases endorphins that make you feel better.
You also need to make sure that you’re giving your body the correct fuel, we burn a lot of calories just looking after our horses, not to mention riding them. You wouldn’t give your horse a rubbish feed and expect them to perform at their best. So why does it to yourself? Making sure you’re eating the right number of calories and getting the right nutrition is so important! And making sure that you keep hydrated! This will also help your skin look great!
2. Mental well-being
Have you ever noticed that on the days you’re ‘really not feeling it’ that your horse feels that way as well? Our mental wellbeing is so important, and I think that this it is even more for equestrians. We have to deal with so many highs, lows, setbacks, achievements, we need to make sure that we are able to deal with these.
Some things that I do include taking a break, if I don’t feel like riding, then sometimes I don’t. It would do no good for me to ride Rupert if he knew I didn’t want to be there, we would fall out! Don’t beat yourself up for not riding, or not spending as much time there, guaranteed, your horse is going to be happy as long as they are warm and have food in their bellies. If you need to have an early night or get on top of things away from the yard, do it! You’ll feel so much better when you go there the next day well rested and on top of things, and you’ll be able to enjoy the time you spend with them.
3. Emotional care
As I said before, equestrianism is full of highs and lows, make sure you surround yourself with people who genuinely want the best for you. Someone who will be happy for you if you beat them at your local dressage, someone who will help you if you need a rest day. These are the people who will be there when you need them, and all they would want in return, is to know you feel that way for them. Good friends are hard to come by, especially in this industry, but they’re out there!
Another point on this is to stop beating yourself up and worrying what people think, if someone goes out of their way to make you feel bad, it says more about them than about you! Celebrate the small wins, its great that your friend is out show jumping every weekend, but its equally just as great if you’ve just mastered your rising trot, or your green horse has collected for 2 seconds! Everyone if on a different path at different times, the less you compare yourself to others, the more you’ll enjoy the journey you’re on.
4. Set realistic goals
This is something I struggled with a lot last year! I wanted to start competing the prelims with Rupert and we had a good go, but we have more work to do. I haven’t competed once this year and have really taken time on just enjoying riding again. Mine and Ruperts bond has never been stringer and we’re both really enjoying. Our improvements are small and slow, but there’s no rush. As long as he’s happy, so am I.
5. Dealing with horse-related stress
Rupert causes me more stress than anything ever has before, he breaks his fence, chucks me about, basically wherever Rupert is, there’s a path of destruction behind him. I used to get so worked up about it and would lose sleep just wondering if he was still where I left him. But why? What would laying in my bed worrying about it do. I’d still have to fix the fence in the morning whether I’d worried about or not?
This also goes for other stresses, if they’re eating enough, if they’re fit enough, if they are happy. If you are doing everything you can to provide the best care for them and they have food and somewhere to sleep, they will be happy. You’d know if they weren’t, they have a pretty good way of telling you!
6. Gear and comfort
This is where I can help you, one of the main things that helps me feel better is having clothing that fits me well and aids my riding for the days I’m not quite feeling it. I live in my leggings! They’re comfortable to wear for day-to-day activities and keep me firmly in the saddle when I’m riding. I also wear my jumpers and base layers all the time, they make me feel like I look smart when I’m riding, which definitely makes you ride better, and they’re comfortable. When designing these products, I wanted to make a great quality product that makes you look and feel great, without breaking the bank!