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!
One of my passions is continuing to be a good student, because I think no matter how old I get, there are multiple reasons learning new things inspires me. First and foremost, it helps me be a better rider and trainer, so my horses benefit. Second, it helps me be a better teacher by exposing me to different ways to have a relationship with a horse or a student.
This month we’re going to begin a three-part series on how to create positive riding experiences by making sure the words you say to yourself and the thoughts you think to yourself are positive. Referred to as self-talk, internal dialogue, or brain babble; the words you say to yourself can have a huge impact on your performance. In fact, your thoughts and voice are actually considered behaviors, and just like how positive physical behaviors (i.e. a balanced transition) can create success, your verbal behaviors can also accomplish the very same thing. So let's spend the next few months talking about how to talk to yourself!
Being spontaneous has paid off for Kevin Keane and Sportsfield Candy. “I bought him on a Wednesday and showed him on a Thursday,” Keane recalls about his first event with his Irish Sport Horse gelding, then 9 years old, at Plantation Field Horse Trials (Unionville, Pennsylvania) in September 2016. “I owned him for part of a day, and the next morning I showed up at a CCI and jogged him up for a two-star, and we went clean and clean and clean.”
THANK YOU to everyone who has already entered the USEF/USEA Recognized CDCTA Spring Horse Trials scheduled for Sunday, April 9 in Berryville, VA. We will continue to take late entries through Friday, March 24 using USEA’s Xentry system. If you still want to come compete, please enter! The late fee has been waived through Friday, March 24.