Equine Professional Rebecca Cook Shows Horsewomen How to Tame Fears Around Horses with New Online Course

New Year's is the perfect time for horsewomen to do the groundwork and take personal lessons to tame their horse-related fears. A brand-new online workshop from equine professional Rebecca Cook will help horse owners do just that.

"Why tame your equine fears? Taming your fear will allow you to have a safe and fulfilling relationship with your horse," said Cook, who also noted that horses, as herd animals, are very sensitive to fear.

"Fear invades interactions with your horse and causes the horse to be uneasy or try to take control," said Cook. "This fear can sneak up on you at the worst time—when you are in the presence of a 1500-pound animal. But if you identify the fear you can do something about it before it causes a problem or puts you in danger."

Cook will address four different types of fears in her online workshop. One is “trauma fear,” which is based on a real event that happened in the horsewoman’s past, such as falling off a horse. Another is “threat fear,” which is an in-the-moment fear where survival may be a stake if a horse gets spooked or rears up. A third type is "risk fear," where the horsewoman mires herself in the "what if's." And the last type of fear is "loss fear," a type of self-blame that leads to sabotaging self-talk.

Besides safety, there are several other reasons horsewomen should tame their fears around horses. This is so they:

• Have control of the situation
• Decrease muscle tension (and the resulting aches and pains)
• Improve their horse’s relaxation
• Get better performances
• Learn to de-stress and have fun at the barn

Cook’s course to learn how to tame fears around horses starts Monday January 23, 2017. For more information or to register, go to http://TameYourFear.com

Rebecca Cook is a licensed therapist and certified Fear Releasing Method coach. She specializes in pain and stress release for horse owners and has authored the “Brown Pony Series” and “12 Steps to Integrity With Your Horse.” She can be reached at TameYourFear@gmail.com