Nervous Rider/Handler Coffee Mornings?

Naggy

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 September 2008
Messages
84
Location
Berkshire
www.equineequilibrium.co.uk
Hi Everyone,

I am exploring the possibility of starting some kind of coffee morning for those lacking in confidence about any aspect of horses. The idea being that it is like a 'support group' - very informal, relaxed atmosphere with the use of an indoor school / coffee area / horses etc if needed, but I think primarily it would be about starting a little community where everyone has a say as to what they think may be useful, but more importantly that they are not alone!

So, I wondered if any of you would give me your thoughts on this, e.g. what kind of thing would you like, is this something you would be interested in, etc? Just doing a bit of market research really ;-)

I am an Enlightened Equitation Teacher who specialises in nervous nellies and already have a fair few clients with confidence issues who have expressed an interest, but I know that there are far more of you out there than I see, so would like to get a few more opinions if possible.

The idea is that it isn't too formal, so nobody feels under any pressure and I almost don't want to have a 'format' as such as confidence issues are such a personal thing - I believe it should be more a get together to get to know each other and perhaps discuss what people would like to do next time, etc.

Any thoughts anyone? If you would prefer not to 'come out' in public then I am more than happy for you to PM me with anything, so you can remain relatively anonymous! ;-)

Thanks everyone - really looking forward to hearing your views :-)
 
Bump - interesting idea!

Perhaps it might be useful to come up with a focus/theme for individual coffee mornings/gatherings so it would be specific to certain areas/incidents/ where confidence has been lost or it's being found hard to gain it - ie, one session might be for those who've suffered scary falls and been injured and are just getting back in saddle but having fears, another one might be those who are wary of their horse through napping - whether out hacking/running out at jumps, etc. I think if my local coffee shop (handily in the same complex as a garden centre and tack shop!) had a side room where someone maybe once a month ran such a session/organised a gathering for horse types to be able to chat I might go. I don't have any major confidence issues at the moment but it's like when you meet someone at the yard who's gone through what you're now going through, positive stories/ideas are what give you other things to try with your own horse and take heart that with time and patience many things can be sorted.
 
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