Have you ever been consumed by thoughts about everything that might go wrong during your ride? For example: What if my horse spooks? What if I fall off? What if I‘m injured?
When Your Mind “Bolts”
Anxious thoughts have been one of my biggest struggles since my accident two years ago, when I had a traumatic brain injury after my horse bolted. I have mostly recovered and I’m riding a good horse. But my mind can still get stuck in that moment years ago, when I realized I was on a runaway animal. It’s always downhill from there. What begins with “what if my horse spooks?” quickly progresses into a worst case scenario. The idea of a spook leads to worry about an injury I won’t recover from this time. In a way my mind will “bolt” on me, spinning through a series of “what if’s” as soon as I swing my leg over.
Of course this in turn leads to my feeling anxious. Which makes me tense. Which makes my horse tense. And that makes it more likely that one of those imagined scenarios about will happen.
Not a great combination wouldn’t you agree?