This month we’ll begin a summer-long series covering four mental-preparation plans to help strengthen your self-confidence while weakening the grip that jitters and fears have on you. The purpose of these plans is to give your brain something it so very badly needs: the perception of control. You see, when your brain feels in control it allows you to control your emotions, but when that perception is taken away, your brain senses threat and stress… which weakens your confidence and strengthens your jitters and fears! This is when your emotions start taking control of you. In the end, you really only have two choices when it comes to riding, (1) control your emotions, or (2) let your emotions control you… and that’s exactly what we’ll be spending the summer talking about.
Even though the four plans function differently, they’re all designed to help your brain experience the same sense of control, which they do by creating a series of predictable and repeatable pre-performance routines and/or pre-ride rituals that reduce the number of things that can go wrong, while also helping you prepare for those things that do. Remember, you can’t always predict when bad things will happen, but you can prepare… and your brain loves that (prepare = control)!
Before I introduce the first plan, let's talk about two common ingredients shared by all four:
Riders never plan to fail, but they do sometimes fail to plan and that’s where our first plan comes in. I like to call this the Plan Plan because it’s the plan that happens when everything goes according to plan! This is how you prepare mentally for an event where everything goes right and nothing goes wrong- no last-minute rain delays, pulled shoes, or loading refusals. As you’ve probably already guessed, this is a great plan but one that doesn’t always happen (that’s why there are three others!).
Here’s an example of a Plan Plan:
While I agree this all seems intensely OCD, if you repeat this plan in the same way before every important ride you’ll begin to create a sort of predictable path to those events, which will ultimately satisfy your brain’s need for the perception of control- and let’s be honest, equestrians can be big control freaks. We’d even control the weather if we could - but we can’t! The only thing you can control is yourself, so the best Plan Plans only focus on things like your health (rested, fit, hydrated?), your horse’s training (peaking at the correct time?), and your mind (excited, motivated, confident?).
I hope you enjoyed this month’s tip and are looking forward to the next three - somewhat more unusual plans. Until then, I’m teaching my first post-Covid instructor certification course next November in Naples, FL. If you’d like to join my coaching team and begin teaching Pressure Proof lessons, seminars, and/or clinics just email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you more info!
Until this past May, qualifying for the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds let alone actually making plans to compete, seemed like a far-off dream. Going into this show season the AEC was a goal I had set in the back of my mind but maybe only said out loud a few times.
The Millbrook Horse Trials kicked off on July 25 with lower level dressage at Riga Meadow Equestrian Center at Coole Park in Millbrook, New York. There are more than 400 total entries competing at Millbrook, from Beginner Novice to Advanced level. Today the upper level horses cantered down the centerline, while the lower levels headed out on cross-country.
The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is thrilled to announce Adams Horse Supply as the new title sponsor of the USEA Adult Team Championships (ATC) at the American Eventing Championships (AEC). The ATC will now be titled “The Adams Horse Supply USEA Adult Team Championships at the AEC.”
The world’s best eventing horses and riders will be first out of the starting blocks when the equestrian action gets underway at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Versailles, France, tomorrow morning with the opening dressage test.