Equimotional Performance Coaching

The media loves a good "everybody panic" headline... 🙈

And whilst it's important to stay informed, creating fear and anxiety doesn't always help people make the best decisions.

When we're stressed, overwhelmed or worried, our thinking can become clouded. We stop responding and start reacting.

The thing is, you know your horses.

You know your yard.

You know your field set-up.

You know which horses cope well, which ones need a bit more support, and what is sensible for your situation.

And let's give horses some credit too.

I regularly watch my horses stand out in the rain when they have trees and shelters available.

I see them stand in the sunshine when there's shade right there.

Why?

Because they have choice. It's when choice is taken away that's when there can be an issue, so awareness of that is key.

Every yard is different.

Some stables become ovens because of their position.

Some fields have very little natural shade.

Some horses are happier in, some are happier out.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer.

I'm actually quite thankful for today's rain. It means the ground, the grass and the horses are all getting a good soaking before the warmer temperatures arrive. Nature has already done part of the job for us.

So if the temperature does reach 30°C where you are, take a breath.

Look at your own horses.

Look at your own environment.

Make decisions based on what is in front of you, not what someone on social media thinks you should be doing.

The people judging aren't standing in your field.

They aren't managing your horses.

And they aren't living your life.

Trust your knowledge.

Trust your observations.

Trust your horses.

And maybe spend a little less time reading the comments section. 😉🐴☀️

🤣🤣🤣

The weather app: "Dry morning. Pleasant start."

Mother Nature: "SURPRISE THUNDER ROUND!" 🌩️⚡🌧️

Meanwhile your dog at 3am:

🐕 "Excuse me. Excuse me. The sky is about to become angry."

You: 😴 "Go back to sleep."

Dog: 🐕 "No seriously. I've checked with the squirrels."

Three hours later...

⚡⛈️🌧️💨

Dog: 🐕 "As I was saying..."

Poor Ramos is now pacing around the house conducting a full storm-risk assessment while looking at everyone as if they're completely unprepared for the apocalypse.

And sleeping through the alarm after being woken at 3am by your four-legged meteorologist seems entirely reasonable. 🤣

Post version:

The weather lied.

It definitely did not mention a storm. Or rain. Or the dramatic end-of-days soundtrack that arrived this morning.

My dog, however, knew.

At 3.30am he woke me up to inform me that a storm was coming.

At the time I thought he was being ridiculous.

Turns out he was 100% correct.

The thunder arrived. The rain arrived. The chaos arrived.

Ramos is now full of storm anxiety and walking around looking like he's personally responsible for monitoring atmospheric pressure across Kent.

Meanwhile, I have managed to sleep through my alarm... 🤣

So today's lessons are:

1. Trust the dog.

2. The weather app knows nothing.

3. Never underestimate a canine weather forecaster.

4. Coffee is now a necessity, not a choice.

Happy Tuesday everyone! 🌩️☕🐕🤣

"I write things on calendars."

I make lists.

I set reminders.

I have a diary.

A wall planner.

A phone calendar.

Sticky notes.

A notebook for the things I forgot to put in the diary.

And yet...

I still have absolutely no idea what's going on. 🤣

Honestly, some days I feel like a highly organised chaos coordinator.

The systems are there.

The plans are there.

The intentions are there.

My brain, however, appears to be operating on a completely different schedule.

I've walked into rooms and forgotten why.

Driven somewhere and questioned where I'm going halfway there.

Looked for my phone whilst talking on it.

Made a to-do list and then lost the to-do list.

And don't even get me started on horse life...

"What day is the farrier?"

"When's the dentist due?"

"Did I enter that show?"

"Why did I come into the tack room?"

It's a miracle any of us make it through the week. 🤣🐴

But maybe that's the point.

Life isn't about having everything perfectly organised.

It's about finding ways to navigate the chaos.

Sometimes that's colour-coded planners.

Sometimes that's reminders.

And sometimes it's just laughing at yourself when you discover the thing you've been searching for has been in your hand the entire time.

If you've ever felt like you're simultaneously the most organised and least organised person you know...

Welcome to the club. ❤️🤣🙋‍♀️ Anyone else living in beautifully planned chaos?

Did anyone else have the worst sleep in the history of sleeps last night? 😴🥴

I'm not sure what was responsible...

The leg.
The heat.
The cat.
The dog, who apparently decided a bag was the perfect place to make a bed.
The summer solstice.
Hormones.
Mercury doing whatever Mercury does.

Or perhaps all of the above in one giant tag-team effort.

All I know is I feel like I've had about 10 minutes of sleep...

Yet somehow I feel surprisingly spritely. 🤷‍♀️🤣

I can't decide whether this is a gift from the universe, leftover adrenaline, or the kind of energy that means I'll crash face-first into a packet of biscuits by 6pm.

Either way, I'm rolling with it.

Anyone else have a completely ridiculous night's sleep but wake up feeling oddly okay? 😅

Some truths are harder to swallow than others.

Not because they're unkind.

But because they challenge the stories we've been telling ourselves.

💊 You can't make everyone happy.

💊 Some people won't like you, no matter how kind, helpful or accommodating you are.

💊 You don't have to be perfect to deserve respect.

💊 Most people aren't analysing your every move.

💊 Not everyone is angry with you.

💊 The right people will love you exactly as you are.

For many of us, these aren't just "nice sayings."

They're things our nervous systems actively struggle to believe.

Especially if you've grown up people-pleasing.

Especially if you've experienced criticism, bullying, rejection or environments where love felt conditional.

Because when you've spent years scanning for danger, your brain can become very good at spotting signs that people are unhappy with you.

A delayed reply becomes rejection.

A neutral expression becomes disapproval.

Someone else's bad mood becomes your responsibility.

And before you know it, you're carrying emotional loads that were never yours to pick up.

Healing isn't about becoming someone who doesn't care.

It's about learning the difference between being kind and being responsible for everyone's feelings.

One is healthy.

The other is exhausting.

So here's your reminder today:

You do not need to earn your worth.

You do not need to shrink yourself to make others comfortable.

And you do not need universal approval to be a good person.

The people who are meant for you won't require you to become someone else.

❤️Sometimes the hardest pill to swallow becomes the one that finally sets you free. 💕

Not the rosettes.
Not the scores.
Not the qualifications.
Not the social media photos.

Just the horse.

The quiet moments when they're grazing beside you.

The soft sigh when they relax.

The warm nose nudging your shoulder looking for snacks.

The way they somehow make everything feel a little less overwhelming.

Don't get me wrong, I love competing.

I love setting goals, training, improving and seeing what we can achieve together.

But some of my favourite memories haven't happened in an arena.

They've happened sitting in a field.

Watching horses be horses.

No pressure.
No expectations.
No agenda.

Just sharing space with another living being.

In a world that constantly tells us to do more, achieve more and be more, horses have a wonderful way of reminding us that sometimes simply being is enough.

And perhaps that's one of the greatest gifts they give us.

❤️🐴The older I get, the more I realise that some days the best therapy isn't riding the horse.

It's just sitting with them. 💕🐴🌿

As I head to bed tonight with an ice pack balanced on my leg, I'm reflecting on just how incredible our bodies really are.

Today was a fascinating reminder of all the ways our minds and bodies work together to keep us safe.

The adrenaline got me home and to hospital.

The shock sent me into hyperarousal, but at the same time there was a shutdown happening too. I was energetic, busy, functioning... yet my appetite completely disappeared.

As I sat with it, I realised something.

Not eating has often been part of my response to shock throughout my life. Sometimes consciously. Sometimes unconsciously. Today, I don't think I even noticed it until I paused long enough to join the dots.

Then there was my leg itself.

The swelling. The cuts. The body's immediate response to protect and repair.

It's actually pretty amazing when you stop and think about it.

Even the tetanus jab made me smile. After years of IVF, needles don't really bother me. I barely flinch anymore. But my body still had its own opinion.

By 2pm I was asleep.

My nervous system simply went, "Right. That's enough excitement for one day."

I've always had a high pain threshold, which means I don't always realise how injured or unwell I am. My husband often says he knows something is genuinely wrong when I'm calm about it.

If something relatively minor happens, I might panic.

If something genuinely significant happens, I seem to become incredibly practical and independent.

It's probably another adaptation. Another way my mind and body learnt to survive difficult moments.

We don't always give our bodies enough credit.

For the coping strategies they've developed.

For the ways they've adapted.

For the alarms they sound.

For the ways they protect us when we're not even aware it's happening.

Sometimes what looks like a strange reaction is actually a very clever nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do.

And honestly?

That's pretty cool.

(I think i styled out the bandage ok 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣)

This morning i had an incident with a barb wire fence whist riding.

I also had my first fall in I don't know how long 🥰 I got catapulted....🫣🫣🫣🫣 not sure how I feel ok and it'll always be a mystery how I got back over this fence.

Horses really do literally ground you ...thankful mine was soft.

Horse is perfectly ok, my leg took the brunt.

Lots of morals to this story ....and learning.

So thankful my friend was the nurse who's seen me 🥰🥰🥰🥰 it's so good to know so many people. 💓

Thank you to all my lovely friends and family 🙏🏽

I've had the "motorbikes are safer than horses" blah blah blah talk....

But when you really think about it, horses have a way of teaching us things that are hard to learn anywhere else.

They teach patience when things don't go to plan.
They teach resilience when we fall down and have to get back up.
They teach humility when our confidence gets a little too big.
They teach courage when we're scared but choose to try anyway.

They don't care about our job title, our bank balance, our followers, or how successful we look to everyone else.

They respond to who we are.

To our energy.
Our consistency.
Our honesty.
Our ability to listen.

Some days they hold a mirror up to our struggles.
Other days they remind us how far we've come.

They celebrate our presence, not our perfection.

And perhaps that's why so many of us find healing, growth and belonging in their company.

Not because horses make us perfect.

But because they help us become more patient, more self-aware, more compassionate, and more authentically ourselves.

Maybe that's what bringing out the best in us really means. ❤️🐴