United States Eventing Association

Daniel Stewart's Tip of the Month: Zone Out

You've undoubtedly heard the term, "Get in the Zone," but just what is the zone and how in the world do you get there?

An important requirement to riding well is staying focused on the present and positive - rather than on the past and problems. The reason "being in the zone" is so important is that this happens automatically when you're in the zone.

The term "the zone" is actually an abbreviation for Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (IZOF for short) because there's a unique zone of mental arousal for each of us where we function optimally. When you're in this zone you:

• Believe you have the skills to match any challenge
• Feel completely mentally and physically absorbed in the ride
• Receive immediate, real-time feedback to adjust your tactics
• Develop lazer-like focus
• Lose any and all doubt and self-consciousness
• Feel time slow due to being totally focused on the present

In order to get in the zone you must first create something called a flow state - a sort of subconscious rhythm that changes your thinking from forced, mechanical or over-analyzing, to automatic, confident and un-rushed. There are two common ways achieve this kind of subconscious rhythm:

1. Targeting

Target your focus on a rhythmical sound like your horse's breathing or hoof-falls (elite skiers focus on the sound of their skis, elite sprinters focus on the sound of their breathing).

2. Cadence Training

Create your own rhythmical sound by repeating (whispered or out loud) a cadence like 1,2,1,2 or a motto like "be strong push on" or "keep calm ride on" or "rock, roll, relax".

Each of these simple techniques create the kind of subconscious rhythm - that creates the flow-state - that creates the zone.

There's one final benefit of being in the zone and when it comes to our sport, it's perhaps the most important of all. It's called the autotelic experience and it means that we're massively and confidently motivated to succeed - but not by ribbons and results - but instead by the simple fact that:

The love of the ride is all the reward we really ever need!