Last November, I had the opportunity to show my horse, Lyles Al Lie, at the World Show in Amateur Hunter Under Saddle. If you have not seen the article, you can read it by clicking here. If you are short on time, or don’t dwell on the past, I can quickly summarize it for you–I choked in the finals. Yes, choke is a technical term that Sports Consultants like to throw around, along with things like Visualization and Arousal Control (which relates to nerves in case you were thinking of something else). During the finals, I had several transition issues, and on top of that, I was posting so high that my back got jammed, and for a quick second I thought I was going to fall off. Like I said back then, “I didn’t have my A-Game today.”
After the finals in 2010, I vowed to myself, my family, and anybody who would listen, that I would learn from that experience, and hopefully I would get qualified for the Select World in 2011 and put my crash course from the school of hard knocks to the test.
A new strategy
‘The mindset of–be present, expect the unexpected and successfully ride through it” was the condensed version of what I learned in 2010, and this was my game plan for the Select World Show in 2011, and it turned out to be a very good strategy.
Be Present
Ahh yes! Be present. Be in the moment. Focus. Serenity Now. Whatever. I have a dozen t-shirts that say things like this, but the problem is, when you are wearing the shirt, you can’t read the writing unless you are looking in a mirror, and then the actual sentence is backwards. If you need external triggers to remind yourself to be present, chances are, you are someplace other than Presentville. When you are truly focused on the task at hand, it would take a stick of dynamite to break your concentration. For many of us, this is a very difficult thing to do since we are used to so much input from external sources like Blackberries, iPhones, iPads and mobile phones.
One of the things that I did to practice this type of relaxed concentration was to get a baseline on how long I could focus on something simple like counting my inhales when I was doing something boring like running. At first, I would start focusing on my breathing, and within about 45 seconds, I was thinking about something else, and forgot that I was supposed to concentrate on my breath. I figured that I would need to concentrate for at least 20 minutes straight, so I spent a few months working on this one. I can honestly say this made the biggest difference in my riding. I was able to ride every stride, and make minor adjustments because I was able to pay attention to what was important and ignore the rest of the static.
Expect the Unexpected
At home, it is important to prepare for things like getting cut off, having to maneuver around a naughty horse or recovering from a break or incorrect transition. I am not suggesting that you turn your Saturday group lesson into a roller derby rink, but you can accomplish this by practicing a lot of ‘handy drills’ like side passing and lengthening and shortening of stride at each gait. Riding in a crowded, chaotic warm up pen will also give you the experience you need to ride through different situations while maintaining your focus and concentrating on keeping your horse moving correctly. The more you trust your horse and know you can get them through, around or away from a bad situation, you will be able to ride decisively and with confidence.
It Almost Happened Again
I had great rides in the preliminaries, but we had two days off between the prelims and the finals, which isn’t always the best thing for me. When I trotted down the center of the arena, I could feel the buzz in the arena, which was not really present for the preliminaries. I don’t know if they add it to the dirt when they drag, but there is something in the air, and Lyle and I could feel it. When we started the class at the walk, I could sense he felt a little more fresh than he did outside (probably because it was 120 degrees outside and 59 degrees inside the arena) and I thought, “Oh great, this is what happened to me in Oklahoma, here we go again” but I remembered to breathe, relax and focus on each and every stride. I took a deep breath, and it was uncanny, but Lyle did too, and from then on, I focused on my pace, rhythm and creating my path. Before I knew it, the class was over, and we were standing in the line-up.
A Different Result with the Same Ending
When you are standing waiting to hear the final placing of the class, it gets a little interesting. No matter what the judges thought, I was happy that I had an uneventful and what felt like a nice ride and that is all you can hope for, the rest is just icing on the cake. After they announced the finalists, I was happy to be in the Top Ten. My parents come to shows like this, and I love being able to get my dad a jacket that I don’t have to pay for, so another goal was accomplished. Then, they called out the next five places. I thought, “Wow, this is awesome. Top Five. Three more places were announced and then Kerry Pappendick I were the only two left.
At that moment I realized how grateful I had the ride that I needed to have last year in order to have the ride I needed to have this year. I can honestly say that and know for me it is what made the biggest difference. I am sure I will have other ‘learning experiences’ from time to time, but as long as I know I can learn from them and get better, it may be easier to handle them.
There was one thing that was the same this year and last year. I came out of the arena with tears in my eyes but this year, they were the good kind.
Kirsten Farris is a regular contributor to GoHorseShow.com and a Certified Sport Consultant, Certified Equestrian
Fitness Trainer, and the Author of The Workbook for the Equestrian
Athlete – A Guide to Showring Success. For more information contact her
at: kirsten@equestrianathlete.com
© 2011
