May 02, 2021

Pressure Proof with Daniel Stewart: Masks Aren’t Just for Covid

©USEA/ Kim Beaudoin

To succeed in riding your focus needs to be as strong as your leg and seat. Luckily your brain works in a unique way called selective attention that allows you to focus on the many important aspects of the ride. From balancing your corners to seeing your distances and remembering your course; your brain knows what’s important and directs your attention towards them. . . That is until your brain gets distracted by things like fears, failures, and freaking out, in which case it directs your attention to them instead! In the end, it’s up to you to select what you’re going to pay attention to. . . The good or the bad, the past or the future, the mistake or the lesson it just taught you. The good or the evil!

So why is it that we so often make the wrong choice and select to pay attention to the negative when we know positive makes so much more sense? Well, believe it or not, the answer lies in human evolution. You see, back in early human development (think cavemen and women) our focus needed to stay on the bad stuff. . . The tigers who were trying to eat us, and the enemies who were trying to kill us. When we focused on the bad, we stayed safe. Enter the survival instinct!

So, while it made good sense to focus on bad things back then, our lives are much safer now (very few tigers and enemies at the barn) yet our survival instinct is still so strong that we often find ourselves selecting to pay attention to bad things, even during good rides.

The good news is that there’s something that can help stop this mental hijack. . . and it's your brain’s inability to focus on more than one thing at a time (you have to select what you’re going to pay attention to because you can only pay attention to one thing at a time). Remember that time when you thought you could focus on driving while also focusing on texting, and then ran over that shopping cart!? Your brain was trying to tell you to put the phone down because it knows you can only focus on one thing at a time (my favorite definition of multitasking is "messing up several things at once")!

With this in mind, one of the most empowering and simple tools you can use to regain control of your focus is something called masking: you select two or three "mental tasks" (“masks" for short) to focus on (remember, when you focus on the constructive you’re incapable of focusing on the destructive)! This is called attention-blindness because when you pay attention to something good, you become blind to the bad! In a way, mental masks protect you just like a real mask. . . They filter out the bad and let in only the good.

So what masks will you use the next time you ride? My masks are (1) balancing my corners, (2) establishing quality canter, and (3) recalling the notes I took during my course walk (sloppy footing, sit-up!). My challenge to you is to find two or three masks of your own (or use mine if you’d like). Write them down, memorize them, share them with your trainer, and then remind yourself to pay close attention to them while riding, so your brain becomes so full of good stuff that it’s incapable of focusing on the bad!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Pressure Proof Tip! If you’d like more empowering tips like these you can order an autographed copy of my new equestrian sport psychology book Bolder Braver Brighter. It’s being released in two weeks and is chock-full of helpful mental coaching tips, tricks, and techniques. I think you’ll love it!

You can order your autographed copy here.

Dec 06, 2023 Convention

Fast Facts: 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention

Welcome to the Show Me state and to Area IV USEA members! The 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention kicks of tomorrow and features four full days of educational seminars, committee meetings, and social gatherings all with one aim—to bring the eventing community together to continue to improve upon and celebrate the sport that we all love. This year’s Convention takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, at the Marriott St. Louis Grand in downtown St. Louis from Dec. 7-10, and we have rounded up everything you need to know to make the most of your time in the heartland.

Dec 05, 2023 Education

Digital Resources to Maximize Education & Access for the Eventing Community

To accompany the 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, USEA Educational Partner STRIDER has prepared Digital Resources to Maximize Education & Access for the Eventing Community. In keeping with the USEA’s mission to expand the sport of eventing, this webinar outlines ways in which digital tools can be leveraged to increase access and education across equestrian opportunities. As part of STRIDER’s popular Professional Development Webinar Series, this presentation aims to provide a quick overview of best practices and digital tools used across the equestrian industry to boost growth.

Dec 05, 2023 Young Event Horse

Young Event Horse Arden Augustus Exceeds All Expectations for Antenucci and White

Every horse who participated this year in the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program has a story—a background that involves a breeder who labored over bloodlines, veterinary care, initial training, and so much more. This year’s highest-placing U.S.-bred horse in the 5-year-old division at the Dutta Corp./USEA Young Event Horse Championships, Arden Augustus, is no exception. His breeder and owner, Anita Antenucci of Arden Farms in Upperville, Virginia, started her program nine years ago and said that the Warmblood gelding was a more emotionally driven breeding for her than others due to his connections with Antenucci’s long-time friend Sharon White.

Dec 04, 2023 Young Event Horse

USEA Podcast #349: All About the USEA Young Event Horse Program

Have you ever wondered why professional riders love bringing their horses through the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program? USEA Podcast host Nicole Brown chats with two of this year's YEH Champions, Caroline Pamukcu who won the USEA YEH 4-year-old East Coast Championship aboard HSH Afterglow, and Andrea Baxter who won the USEA YEH 5-year-old Championship with Camelot PJ, to discuss this year's Championships and all of the great things that the program has to offer.

Official Corporate Sponsors of the USEA

Official Joint Therapy Treatment of the USEA

Official Feed of the USEA

Official Saddle of the USEA

Official Real Estate Partner 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