Have you ever been in the ring and avoided going into a particular corner because you’d been bucked off there, or have you passed on going for a solo hack because your horse got spooked by something? According to Megan Pinfield, those are trauma responses.

A woman standing in a stall with a horse.

Megan and Tilly.

Megan has her PhD is a therapist and the owner of Pinfield Counselling Coaching Consulting in British Columbia. She’s been working with equestrians for more than 20 years, helping them deal with the riding fears they have and understanding where they come from.

The topics we cover are deep, talking about how she prefers terms like Acute or Chronic Trauma, that a rider’s fears have more to do with who they were before the event than most realize, overcoming the stigma of asking for mental health help, and the keys to self-compassion.

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