Sep 29, 2024

Pressure Proof with Daniel Stewart: Feedback Rehearsals

USEA/Lindsay Berreth photo

Last month we discussed flooding and exposure therapy, two techniques that help us overcome things that overwhelm us. While both are very effective, there are two unfortunate problems with them: (1) some of the things that overwhelm us require more practice than we’re able to give while in the saddle (like twice a week) and (2) some of the things that overwhelm us aren’t exactly the kind of things we want to practice (like falling or reacting to a spook). I suppose falling or spooking over and over is one way to get better at them, but there has to be an easier way of solve them than practicing them, and that’s where this month’s Pressure Proof tip comes in.

Fortunately there’s a third stress management tool that’s just as effective as flooding and exposure therapy, but what makes this technique so unique is that we can actually practice it without even riding, or practice it when working to overcome unsafe fears like falling, bucks, runaways and spooks. This technique is called Feedback Riding Rehearsals (FRR) and it works in five stages.

STEP 1: We begin by identifying a fearful or frustrating stressor that we’d like to overcome. Is it riding in front of crowds, overcoming a bad fall, or a fear of failure?

STEP 2: We identify the way that the stressor makes us feel. This is called the “stress-response,” and it can include everything from holding our breath and clenching our jaws to pulling on our reins and tightening our muscles.

STEP 3: Once we’re familiar with our typical stress-responses, we actually practice them until we can re-create them on-demand (meaning we actually practice holding, clenching, pulling, and tightening).

STEP 4: We now create several “skill-responses” to eliminate our “stress-responses.” These are productive actions like taking a deep breath, sitting-up tall, and relaxing our hands and legs that help us eliminate our destructive stress responses. When used together, these productive skills improve our courage and confidence because they stop our destructive stress responses.

STEP 5: This is the most important step and the real secret sauce to FRR’s. Here we (1) close our eyes in a quiet, non-mounted location and visualize the stressor (say riding in front of a crowd) and then (2) purposely recreate the negative stress responses that we actually feel when riding in front of crowds (meaning we purposely hold our breath, clench our jaws, and tense our muscles). Once we’ve created the unwanted stress responses, we spend a few short seconds getting to know them and how they make us feel and act. After these few mindful seconds we take a deep breath and begin replacing them with our positive skill responses from Step 4. It’s now that we breathe deeply, relax our jaws, supple our hands, and relax our leg.

The key to this technique is that we aren’t just using feedback from the challenge itself, but using biofeedback from our own bodies to solve it. It’s very important to remember, however, that the key to FRR's isn’t creating the negative stress responses, but learning how to recognize and stop them using our learned skill responses. We simply train ourselves to identify any negative feedback from our bodies as a way of triggering our minds to stop them by using our new skill responses so that if they ever happen again (for real) we’ve already practiced how stop them!

The idea behind FRR’s is that you get better at whatever you practice, so this month why not use FRR’s to get a little better at recognizing which challenges create your negative and destructive stress responses, and then learn how to stop them by using your positive and productive skill responses! Just pick your challenge. Is it the nervousness caused by judges, spectators, losing, failure, mistakes, spooks, or falling? Once you’ve found it, feel it and fix it!

I hope you enjoyed this month’s Pressure Proof tip and are looking forward to more in the future. If you’re a trainer or upper level rider and would like to take the Pressure Proof Coaching Academy’s instructor certification course on equestrian sport psychology please let me know. The course is online and self-paced so you can binge it in a month or take your time. For more information visit https://pressureproofacademy.com/certifications/

Dec 21, 2024 Education

3 Ways to Help Eventing Thrive in 2025

With the start of the New Year just days away, now is the time to consider how your actions can have a positive impact on the sport of eventing in 2025. Each and every member of the eventing community has an important role to play in ensuring the sport continues to grow and thrive. From fostering educational opportunities to supporting grassroots initiatives and participating at all levels of the sport, there are so many ways to get involved.

Dec 20, 2024 Sponsor

“Happy Horse Equals Happy Judge”: Ask An Expert with Dressage Judge Peter Gray, Brought to You by Ride iQ

Ride iQ’s popular “Ask An Expert” series features professional advice and tips from all areas of the horse industry. One of the most-downloaded episodes is an expert session with Peter Gray, an accomplished dressage judge and Olympic eventer. He has recently judged at events like the five-star at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, and he served on the ground jury at the 2022 FEI World Eventing Championships in Pratoni, Italy. His background as a competitor in the Olympic Games riding for Bermuda and as a coach and selector for the Canadian eventing team adds depth to his understanding of the sport.

Dec 19, 2024 Volunteers

The VIP Volunteer: Cathy Hale Has A Thirst for Adventure and a Love for Volunteering

With a total of 382 volunteer hours in 2024, Catherine “Cathy” Hale not only topped the USEA Area III VIP Volunteer leaderboard, but she also ranked fourth out of all eventing volunteers across the country. Hale (The Villages, Florida) has worked as a travel agent for over 30 years, a career that suits her love of travel nicely. At the time of being interviewed for this article, Hale was passing the equator on a cruise to Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia.

Dec 18, 2024 Association News

USEA Office Closed for Holidays

The USEA office will close at 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, and will reopen again on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. The USEA staff will return emails and phone calls when the office re-opens on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 or at their earliest convenience.

Official Corporate Sponsors of the USEA

Official Joint Therapy Treatment of the USEA

Official Feed of the USEA

Official Saddle of the USEA

Official Equine Insurance of the USEA

Official Forage of the USEA

Official Supplement Feeding System of the USEA

Official Competition & Training Apparel of the USEA

Official Horse Boot of the USEA

Official Shockwave of the USEA

Official Horse Wear of the USEA