Rise Again Equine Therapy Appointment Request Horsewomen Who Rise Up & Ride Community

Parenting

Horses: Hope or Hopelessness?

Fingers grasp the cool doorknob; one boot hits the step, then the other. The door closes firmly behind me as I push back, ensuring it’s latched.

A deep breath of cool fall air fills my lungs. I pause. I hear my kids inside playing with the sitter. A smile tugs at the corners of my lips, slowly making way for a big toothy grin.

It’s time! My time!

I bounce down the steps with the giddiness of a child and heave open the heavy tack room door to quickly grab my favourite blue halter and lead.

As I walk out to the pasture, my gaze turns skyward as a flock of geese honk overhead, they’re flying low to the ground, and I know they’re heading to the water across the road. I close my eyes with the sun on my face and take another deep breath.

Freedom.

Ace isn’t far now. His head rises from the grass as his ears prick in my direction. Hey buddy. Warmth fills my heart, it quickly spreads through my whole body, and I feel like I’m walking in an orb of warm golden joyfulness.

I’m home.

Touching his neck, breathing deep into his shoulder and getting the biggest dopamine kick from his scent.

This is tranquillity.

Ace sidesteps over to the fence to let me slide onto his back. We casually walk away from the herd, listening to the leaves fall gently to the ground while others crunch under hoof.

Deep inner calm.

Sitting on Ace, I can’t believe I almost said no.

I almost allowed guilt, shame, overwhelm and stress to keep me trapped, small, exhausted and defeated.

Proud.

Good boy, Ace. A gentle, loving rub on his damp neck as we finish our ride. Gratitude fills my heart as I see how far we’ve come.

Connection.

Believing in myself. Connecting to my heart to know what I need. Trusting my soul to lead the way. Feeling more trust and connection to my horse than ever before.

Partnership.

With peace in my heart and a gentle smile on my face, I grasp that cool doorknob once more and know in my soul I made the right decision.

It's my heart's prayer that you get to feel fulfilled and at ease with your time with horses, overcoming your struggles.

Looking to connect with other horsewomen who are daring to Rise Up & Ride?

See you inside.

How To Deal With Missing The Old You

Finding freedom feels impossible; independence? What’s that! This child needs me 24/7. Flexibility vanishes and is replaced by structure, nap times, play dates, sports, school and more. It’s exhausting to simply not go crazy and manage everything the family needs. You feel endless guilty for wanting a bit of the “old you” back when the decision to ride or not was entirely up to you, and it didn’t require endless planning and rescheduling to make happen.

From Confident To Cautious...My Journey With Horses Alongside The Difficulties of Becoming A Mom

I was that girl who would ride any horse, anywhere. I didn't care if I knew I was likely to get bucked off; I was determined, brave, and thrived on the challenges of a difficult horse. Then, everything started to change...

I can remember it like yesterday. I felt the excitement of pregnancy, all the ideas, visions, and promises I made to myself before I had my first child. I’m not going to stop being me; I’m not going to let my baby needy, so I can’t go anywhere alone. I’m still going to ride a lot, not as much as now, but a few times a week will be easy. Our baby will go everywhere with us so that we don’t have to be isolated, restaurants, play days, coffee dates, travelling to see my parents or for holidays. There’s no way in hell my girl will sleep in our bed, this is my bed, and she will learn to sleep alone right away. We will be a family who still rides and rodeos! I never imagined it would be my last summer to rodeo.

I can’t help but laugh at my naivety. The second my first daughter was born, every preconceived notion I had, every plan, evaporated like the morning mist. Perhaps you can relate? We have this idea in our heads for how life will be like once we become a mother; I can guarantee we were all in for the shock of our lives.

Should I be a leader or partner to my horse?

Ace, Leader, Parenting, Partnership
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Now that I am aware of my previous training methods' errors, it's becoming a little difficult to balance sometimes knowing what role I should be in. Previously, I was all leader, more so a dictator. What I wanted to happen happened; it didn’t matter much if the horse wanted to or not...Now that I don’t want to be a dictator, I also want to avoid becoming too passive with my horse so he is walking all over me physically, or that I am avoiding every situation that makes him nervous. It is a fine line that seems so complicated at the start. Then I realized... - click to read on.

WHEN MY EMOTIONS STARTED TO TAKE CONTROL OF MY LIFE, I KNEW I HAD TO TAKE ACTION.

WHEN MY INTERNAL CHAOS STARTED TO BURN MY LIFE TO THE GROUND,

I KNEW SOMETHING HAD TO CHANGE.

Are fear, anxiety, stress and negative self-talk hindering your connection with your horse? Do you find yourself easily angered and frustrated in life? Do you feel like your emotions are controlling you? I am here to help you with just that. How? Because I have been exactly where you are.

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