United States Eventing Association

Part Six - Mental Toughness: Changing and Learning en Route to Your Three-Day

In this series Ashley Adams, assistant trainer to Bonnie Mosser at Point Above Farm, offers advice to riders preparing for their first three-day event. Ashley is currently preparing her Thoroughbred gelding Vaunted for their second time competing at the Rolex Kentucky three-day event.

Your schedule is set. Your gallops have started, your vet and farrier have been in cahoots, and you have done your first few events of the season. Everything you have been planning thus far is leading up to a larger goal, the three-day event. Your horse trials are the same as usual, and it is important to remember that each competition is important for a reason: each one is a building block, if you will. These blocks will eventually build your wall of success at your three-day event.

Most people make phone calls on the way home from events to tell everyone what happened. I find it helpful to write down what happened at the event: what the dressage score was and what the judge’s main comments were; maybe what my horse took an extra look at on cross-country. Another thing that I might make note of is my personal competition. Did my nerves get the best of me somewhere? Was I under-prepared for something? How was my warm-up program?

I also try to make small goals for each event leading up to the three-day. While I am sure that none of us really enjoyed school, I do look at the horse trials as quizzes leading up to the three-day, which is the final exam. Setting small goals from horse trial to horse trial is a good way to judge your progress, take it back to your coach to work on, and carry it forward.

Think “forward” – don’t dwell on dropped rails too long… but learn from your mistakes, and remember all of the success that you and your horse have accomplished.

Bonnie has a great phrase for describing this: “thinking forward”. For example, at Vaunted’s last outing he was drifting a little and his footwork in the water jumps was not where I would like to have it. So at his next horse trial I am going to use the tactics that Bonnie and I discussed to address those issues. You have to continue your mental conditioning at all stages of the game. Dare to make a change! Remember that you are looking to create an equation, and the result is to equal a successful three-day. Every extra kick or half-halt could lead to something bigger. I can speak from personal experience here: having had Vaunted since he was four years old, I have had to change a lot!

Also be sure that you let go of mistakes as well as remember your successes. Everyone has bad days and everyone makes mistakes. It is in our nature to want to hold on to these mistakes and “harp” on them. If you cannot get a negative thought out of your head then you are doomed to repeat it. Remember that while the horse trials are important and necessary for qualification purposes, the end goal is the three-day. If you have a hiccup or two at a horse trial, make a plan with your coach, find a solution, try out the solution at home or schooling, and move on.

Mental toughness plays just as large a role in your road to a three-day as your vet and coach do! After all, you are the captain of this ship. If you ask many of the top riders they can tell you their greatest moments as well as their less than stellar performances. However, in the same story they are also able to tell you the lessons that they learned from those less than desirable situations.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to you and your horse… you’ve both worked so hard to prepare for that moment. Take it all in.

I personally find it so very hard to put that desire to be perfect behind me. While to a certain extent it is what is driving me to Kentucky, it may also keep me from doing my best. Allowing myself to set realistic goals and expectations is going to keep me from getting inside my own head. We have all heard someone say, or we have said to someone, that “you are your own worst critic”. Striving for mental toughness is different for each person just like each horse’s game plan is a little different.

Having a good pre-game ritual is a key component, and visualization is also a useful tactic to add to your mental conditioning toolbox. When I am walking my courses, thinking about a lesson, or during my pre-game ritual I use visualization. Visualizing yourself achieving success and attaining your ultimate goal will allow you to trust your instincts and perform based on your knowledge and the hours of practice and hard work that you have already put into your preparation.

It is important to remember that when you are competing you are putting to use what you already know at that moment. Someday you will be able to use the knowledge from that moment for your continuing education, but at that moment you are reacting to what you know now. Remember that at the end of the day it is just you and your horse in that ring and on that course, so go get ’em!

Photos of Ashley & Vaunted at 2009 Rolex Kentucky taken by Emily Daily