I have made it no secret that the cross country phase of eventing has caused me serious anxiety in the past.
I legitimately used to walk the course and and convince myself I would not die. There were many times that I would want to run screaming in the other direction. 
Which is a big part of why I stopped trying to event with Houston. Props to the various trainers that have gotten me to the point where I started to enjoy running cross country.
As Annie and I are building a partnership and learning the ropes again together I am finding that I really am not afraid of much at the Beginner Novice level on the courses that I have seen. Thank you CourseWalk for the ability to stalk ALL of the courses.
I still don’t love jumps with cut outs but for the most part at beginner novice I do not get nervous about many fences anymore. Now as we move up I will admit that I am not super excited about jumping corners or hanging things. WHY IS THERE SO MUCH OPEN SPACE… Give me a big table any day people.
But then my BO’s husband was like if you buy the wood I will built it… So enter my own hanging log jump (I will post about that process as it happens).
That is not to say that I am not cautious but I get really excited on course walks now – because it all looks so fun. Guys that is HUGE for me. 
When I started eventing I started blabbering to friends about what a weenie I was and how nervous I am. That was me being stuck in my head. Enter Amanda who is my “cut the bull” friend. Beginner Novice is doable for most horses. Annie takes stuff on with gusto… Now I find myself thinking – hmm… Novice looks pretty doable… I wonder if I could be schooling training next year? WHO AM I??
Have you guys had mental breakthroughs like this? Doesn’t it feel awesome?
My “cut the bull” opinion is that y’all will be schooling Training pretty damn soon. Annie is exactly the right horse for the sport.
Did you like how I gave you the rafiki gif where you hit me over the head?? Haha
Oooo that was for me??? I LOVE RAFIKI!
Haha yeah… Because I know you think about hitting me over the head when I obsess over BN 😜
The right horse for the job makes all the difference. 🙂 So excited for what you two will do together.
It is funny how that can happen. Now I just need to find more time to ride Houston and get him into the dressage ring!
Annie seems like such a perfect horse for the sport, that it makes sense that she’s helping you to feel braver! I do also think it’s important not to get too down on yourself, and friends that (literally or figuratively) hit you over the head when you get in your own head are so great. Can’t wait to see where y’all go together. You’re such a good pair.
Haha yeah I have definitely gotten a lot more confident and friends that help reinforce those thoughts (or beat them into me) help a lot haha.
Overcoming xc anxiety is HUGE! Annie can fly though, so it’s fine 🙂
She is a little beast. So much fun!
This post is so me…but with not with cross country (that will never happen haha) but with cantering my horse that used to buck and driving the trailer. Courtney at aneqlife is my “cut the bull” person, but I have yet to conquer the drive the trailer bit. *gulp*
Annie is so capable. I’m excited your mentality about it is changing!
Driving the trailer intimidates me more because other people drive like idiots. Practice makes perfect though. As I drive more and more its become no big deal.
This is huge! A few sports psychologists I have talked to have pointed out that a major part of being comfortable doing something you’re uncomfortable with is thinking about it less in terms of worst case scenarios (or changing your worst case scenario). So instead of “I could trip and fall into this ditch and break my neck and die” it sounds like you’ve moved to “well, maybe we don’t jump it perfectly but that’s ok!” (though I obviously don’t know exactly what you’ve moved towards in terms of thinking of XC). Which is awesome!
That’s a good tip. I really just find that as I am getting more comfortable and able to trust Annie it all just looks friendlier 🙂
Confidence! There’s nothing better than feeling capable at what you’re trying to do. It’s been awhile since I’ve felt that myself, but it always comes back the more you do it. I’m so majorly impressed by all of you eventers. I would need to change my pants after every jump if I ever was told I had to run cross country! #istayinthering
That’s so awesome! Feeling ready to take on a cross-country course.. and then some is such a great feeling! I used to get very nervous before my XC rides to the point that I wouldn’t even want to leave the start box! After switching trainers… I finally ENJOY cross-country and look forward to it! Y’all will kick butt! And airy jumps still scare me, I’m a solid jump kind of person too 🙂