About me
Never turn your hobby into a job...
I obeyed that rule for about 30 years…. I am a Consultant Chartered Clinical Psychologist and I recognised that skills that I was teaching others in therapy were hugely helping my riding and other sports.
Positive reframing, supportive self-talk, attentional focus, resilience and visualisations are skills and strategies that readily transferred across to horse riding and general wellbeing. They work!
I had a phobic fear of jumping following a rotational fall in a cross-country riding lesson. I used my skills and knowledge to deal with it effectively and realised how quickly even paralysing fear can be overcome with the right support.
Psychologists, like any other human beings, can be prone to self-doubt, anxiety, stress, negativity and depression. I am no exception. I had developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following a life-threatening accident, which was undiagnosed or treated for years, during which I also became anxious and depressed.
I eventually got the specialist treatment I needed, and also turned to Zen mindfulness and other practices from the Buddhist tradition, which blended very well with my therapy. I then realised that not only did my mental health dramatically improve, but also these approaches are fantastic for maintaining emotional balance, so useful for working with horses. I did a course in Sport Psychology, and a diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy.
Dr. Krissie Ivings
Krissie & Lottie
In the meantime I was a life-long student of the horse, qualifying in Equine Assisted Therapy, studying for BHS exams, attending demos and clinics, reading widely and training with a variety of approaches. Then I did a course in Sport Psychology & qualified as a Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapist with a focus on Sport.
My first client/friend had tried having lessons before she asked me for help. She could not even get on the horse without sobbing and hyperventilating, even at halt on a lead rein. She spent the first 30 minutes of our session telling me she was never going to ride again. She ended that first session happily trotting around the arena, off the lead rein, with a massive beaming smile on her face, shouting “KRISSIE I’M RIDING, I’M ACTUALLY RIDING!”.
Eventually I accepted that there was simply no separation between me the psychologist, me the athlete, me the rider, the horse trainer, the instructor, the confidence coach, the hypnotherapist and me the human being trying to muddle my own way through life and be happy.
30 years after deciding that working with horses was a hopelessly impractical dream for a novice adult who had never owned a horse before, I set up my initial rider confidence camps and started operating commercially. Aspire Equestrian was born.
Riding Camps
Aspire Equestrian Riding Camps deliver a holistic approach to riding, combining a focus on mindset and sports psychology with fantastic coaches, insightful demos and a fun, friendly and supportive learning environment.
1:1 Hypnotherapy Sessions
If you’re struggling with riding anxiety, would like to address those self-limiting beliefs that are holding you back, or would like to unlock your peak level of performance at competitions, hypnotherapy could be the solution.
Buy the Book
Dr Krissie Ivings latest book, Tame the Chimp, Shoot the Parrot & Silence the Mouse, is now available to buy. The mind management book that every rider will wish they read years ago!