Mental Skills Training

So often when we are riding, we are balancing our thoughts and our feelings to find a connection with our horse, to manage our emotions and understand how our horse is feeling and what they are offering. As Trainers we discuss the elusive feel which can be difficult to teach and to practice. Often over thinking can interrupt our connection with the horse and distract us from what is happening in that moment. To ride well, I need to be in a frame of mind that is allowing me to work with my horse. The same can be said for competing where I need to be in the moment to allow me to perform well. 

It is important to recognise that this centrered, high performing zone is not activated with a flick of the switch. It is a process and a skill which needs to be learnt and practicised. 

I have always loved competing. By the Autumn of 2000 I was tired and in pain and worried that my dreams and hopes were blurred and settled in a place almost out of reach. I was browsing in a book shop in Taupo on a rainy afternoon and Zinzan Brooke's book Competitve Edge ( by Lee Parore ) called me over. I am so thankful for that purchase. I hadn't really any understanding of his fitness regimes and training goals but several messages offered me a chance to rediscover my self belief and to take action. The book described the importance of mental and emotional training, finding balance in the body, seeking a postural assessment and training for core stability. There were many poignant moments for me reading the book including a description of postural imbalance that helped me to understand that I was feeling trapped by my own posture and that there were ways ( and physios ) who could help. Zinny was adamant that injury was not the end but that a player ( athlete ) must put their needs first to be able to offer anything to their team mates. He said about Injury, FIX IT. There was brilliant advice too on goal setting and I have used the Goal Staircase ever since. 

In 2014 I was coming to terms with the impact of injury again, ( happily two years on from the incident I was back competing and posting PBs ) once again I was feeling tired and the book that called me this time was An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. This book was perfectly timed to motivate me to work problems, to accept challenges and to prepare for life's adventure by acquiring and mastering skill. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Space Missions, the training and attention to detail that gave the team their best chance of survival.

A few months on I was asked to review a Perfect Mind: Perfect Ride by Inga Wolframm. I was excited to discover and reaffirm the importance of preparation, visualisation and reflection in an Equestrian Context. It was a timely reminder that it's important to understand yourself and the actions you can take to manage, accept and ultimately integrate the stresses that could impact on performance. Whilst I realise that it's unlikely that I and my fellow riders might play International Rugby or Command a Mission to the International Space Station I would recommend reading these books to better understand yourself and to enjoy your time in the saddle. 

You can read my Book Review here http://www.hay-net.co.uk/member/haynetadmin/blog/8363/perfect-mind-perfect-ride-an-equestrian-book-review

I also wrote a recent Blog post about how I prepare and centre myself through kit organisation here http://www.solitairedressage.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/organisation-is-key.html

Solitaire Today

I'm pinching myself that it's August and that I have started to form new partnerships with some new horse friends. My good friends recognised that it was a good idea for me to start riding again and generously offered me the ride on some of their horses. I began again with Sebastian and once I stopped feeling tense ( a trip round the gallops and an impromptu schooling session when I hid indoors from the rain removed all my doubts ) it was time to move on to Independence. Indie is by Free Spirit by Jumbo so there is a family connection and to begin with I had moments where I mistook her for Jack. This surprised both of us but did wonders for finding a way to understand each other. For all the times I dreamt of finding an 8 year old Jack,  now I have those prayers answered. Indie is a delight and has quickly taken me under her wing and accepted the fact that my right arm does not work and my left is limited so self carriage is kind of up to her and steering is sometimes by necessity voice activated! We rub along very well together and I'm excited by the idea of competition. 

Indie's stable mate is Wilhemina. I have wanted to ride her since she arrived and happily taught her encouraging my friend to be brave and ride more forwards from the safety of the ground. The day came when it was my turn and it was a delight to discover she is not as fragile as she looks though her power level is unlike anything I've ever experienced. After a short time in walk I was beaming and so excited to be discovering a new horse's way of going. Trot was breathtaking and canter? Well let's just say when I'd recovered I'd resolved this was a horse worth going to the gym for. 

The other horse is my life lives in a different county and takes my breath away too! He is called Hortelano and is an Andalucian working at medium. When I first rode him I was grinning even whilst wondering if I could cope with such a big horse, several circuits later and I recognised I would never forgive myself for not learning to. So we really are starting a new chapter. I rode him past some pigeons last week expecting the sky to fall and we continued calmly around the arena. That felt like a sign of approval. A new era. 

Organisation is key

I was reminded recently that we only regret the rides we didn't do. Last December I was sitting in my kitchen in the haze of a migraine anxiously aware of the ticking clock and the deadline of my training session. It was not really a question of sucking it up and getting a move on rather I was trying to streamline my thoughts to a cohesive action plan that would make it possible to drive to the horse box hire company, return, pack and load and arrive at training in good time to present myself and my horse. I knew I had to wipe all thoughts worries and anxieties from my pounding head if I had any chance of being on time and being in the zone to learn and improve. 

One step at a time I reviewed the challenge and we hit the road. Smooth turn around some 50 minutes later and on the return journey I thought about packing the gear and loading my horse. We were all aboard in under ten minutes, largely because all my gear and my horses essentials for travel are packed into bags. I did not even need to check the contents as since I discovered Kitbrix my gear has been ready when I am. So now the journey to training. I taped my wrist and concentrated on thinking about tacking up and riding into the arena on time. I did not allow any of my usual brain chatter room as the headache was all consuming. 

This turned out to be one of the best training sessions I have ever experienced, I arrived calm and followed my coaches plan and suggestions and a break through riding the canter half pass pattern from M75 gave me the best moment in the saddle ever. I felt the ease of the movement, I realised we would hit our marker in balance and with a good rhythm as we crossed the 3/4 line. I grinned at Emile I felt overwhelming pride and happiness and in that moment Jack looked back at me and shared the most incredible connection I have ever felt. I will never forget that moment or what it took to get there. We went home happy, my headache an irrelevance and the memory of riding through, of being oranised enough to cope is a lesson I hold on to.

Expert Panel

I have recently been asked to answer reader queries about training horses for fun and competition by Horse Magazine and Your Horse Magazine. I enjoyed responding to the questions and offering suggestions about ways to approach the challenges the riders were facing. It's always interesting to take a step back and consider a training issue and work out some solutions. As a coach it's good to think about different exercises and the reasons for including them in training as well as ways to introduce them to a horse & rider for the first time. 

I have also enjoyed acting as a product tester and can report that the cooler rug is still going strong and deserved it's Best in Test! 

The Last Ride

I saw a pin reading "Please God let me never know when is my last ride". It resonated as I recalled the joy of my last training session with Emile Faurie in January when Caviera Bedding visited to take photos behind the scenes. It was a memorable session with Jack and I wearing borrowed tack and taking a little time to adjust. The tension was largely mine and as we warmed up the familiar routine and exercises allowed me to focus on the quality of the work Jack and I were producing and to delight in the feeling of connection that Emile had taught me to recognise and develop over the past year. 

There was a moment when suddenly the top end of the school appeared caught in a wave and a noisy ripple of sound and a shaking mirror rolled towards us. I thought a large plane must have appeared in our sky overhead and turned in confusion to Emile, Jack and I had frozen for a moment not knowing which way to turn. In the moment before Jack might have bolted Emile said relax and ride forwards (always forwards!) and Jack responded to my mind before I had put my leg on and was responsive to my next half halt allowing us to resume our rhythm and continue with the exercise. I was delighted and the scary moment passed. I did not think about it until later when I heard of the earthquake activity and remembered that it had felt similar to tremors in New Zealand. That moment really sums up for me what it is to ride in the moment, to move on to the next job and to be at one with your horse. Encouraging and maintaining a connection not only for safety and sanity but for the sheer joy of feeling the paces become expressive and adaptable. It is a feeling of security, of time dilation to steel the cliche it's a harmonious partnership. That sense of working harder than you thought possible to do very little and to share each footfall. Words fail me to describe such a partnership and explain how I reached that level of dressage except to say that Emile gave me the gift of understanding Jack that celebrated and built on the years we had spent learning about dressage together.  

Special Legacy for a new chapter

They say there is no time limit for grief. I lost Jack in February and have struggled to blog about the everyday happenings at Solitaire Dressage since. The trouble is I haven't felt able to write an obituary or visit this page which I created to celebrate the adventure I began when I met Jack. The story of my time with Jack did not end in November when I last blogged about riding him at YHL or in January when I last rode him at training and wrote an article about his daily routine for CTR Magazine. In many ways it didn't end with our last goodbye as I shared my grief with his companion Marmalade and later cried long stinging tears into the warm comfort of Sebastian's mane. I pulled myself together enough to go on with the daily routine and was grateful to teach a lesson later that week and to connect with the combination enough to enjoy the magic of a horse learning. Grief is a personal experience that bites at many different and unexpected times and to write about it without crying is still impossible. Still I have happy and sad times I need to write about and today is time to face the tears again without fear as the emotions remind me of what a special and lasting bond we have. I write with conflict over using the present tense yet I still feel his influence. 

My return to riding Sebastian was bittersweet as I remembered there were other horses to share time with, to look forward to meeting to enjoy getting to know at home and in the competition arena. Sebastian a horse who Jack loved is my comfort blanket, I have ridden him many times, never fallen off him and would always wish to be on him in a tense or tricky situation. I was as relaxed as I could be hacking on a cool spring evening. When we met a pigeon, I lost my balance falling into a ditch. Bruised but not battered my pride took the worse of the tumble. I was relieved to not injure either arm (they already have many rehab hours to record) but that was the day I decided to get fit emotionally and physically to ride again. More importantly I suppose it rekindled the I am rider flame that never really goes out!