Ah Stressage! Help please armchair psychologists!

D

DonskiWA

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 April 2013
Messages
229
Visit site
I'm off to do an 80cm. ode this weekend. We can do lovely work at home and in lessons, but once it comes to the actual test, or even practising a test - disaster.

I just put way too much pressure on myself to do well, so I ruin it by trying to too hard. I want every thing to be perfect, so I guess I tense up and lose the feel and get frustrated. Then, as soon as it starts to go wrong, it's just a downward spiral.

What are some strategies or things I can tell myself not to fall into this trap each time?
 
I'm not sure but I'll be reading replies with interest! As soon as I trot down the centre line I try far too hard, completely change how I ride and poor Indio gets completely confused.

I'm trying to get out to more competitions to see if that helps. I've done some test riding clinics and I seem to be improving in those. It's as if I get to the test and completely forget how it should all feel so I just tense up and kick him into a contact instead.

My other horse just ignores me and carries on around the test regardless ;)
 
The first thing is to make sure you know the test to the point where you can ride rather than spend time thinking of where you go next, I rarely ride or train people through a full test but will do it in parts, often starting with a mid point, taking a break, riding the finish then the start so you learn to ride each movement almost independently, we do loads of centre lines without halting so the start of each test is at least as accurate as it can be and the rider sets off purposely knowing they can ride a straight line without trying too hard to maintain the straightness.

If when you are practicing you lose the feel you want then repeat the last stage until you get it back before continuing with it getting worse, or go away and do something else to find it again, there is no point when schooling in doing any movement for the sake of it if it is not going well.

At the competition warm up with the main emphasis on relaxation, the horse going forward and listening to you, don't try and replicate the test but do run through any parts that you think need a bit of help, ride to the arena with purpose, often people ride there on a long rein, panic, pick them up and the horse senses nerves setting in, if you keep going in the same frame you warmed up in there is less chance of the tension starting when you pick them up, ride around the arena doing something, so often people trot round with nothing really happening so the horse switches off or looks for something more interesting, do some transitions, have a short canter, change direction, do some leg yielding to keep them set up and ready to enter.

Finally try and enjoy it, dressage is not that bad really, the judges are not ogres, most want to give good marks, once it is over you can do the fun things and the better the test the more chance of a frilly to take home, good luck.
 
DonskiWA said:
I'm off to do an 80cm. ode this weekend. We can do lovely work at home and in lessons, but once it comes to the actual test, or even practising a test - disaster.

I just put way too much pressure on myself to do well, so I ruin it by trying to too hard. I want every thing to be perfect, so I guess I tense up and lose the feel and get frustrated. Then, as soon as it starts to go wrong, it's just a downward spiral.

What are some strategies or things I can tell myself not to fall into this trap each time?
Click to expand...

I am impressed you have found an ODE that is running! Good luck and thanks for asking the question as I need this advice too! I'm at Kelsall ODE next weekend - weather permitting.
 
Add 'and breathe' to every movement.

A enter at working trot, proceed down the centre line without halting....and breathe
C track right...and breathe
B 20m circle right in working trot....and breathe

and so on.

Try to leave each movement behind you. You might enter with the most wonky, zig zag centre line ever - but once you reach C, there is nothing more you can do about it. Leave it behind and ride the next part.
 
Oh I like these, thankyou all so much.
After my wine, I will ride with purpose to the arena, breathing and leg yielding the entire time!
Thanks particularly be positive, loads of good stuff in there
 
If I feel nervous I pretend in my mind I am someone else, really take on the role of riding like I am them, someone who I look up to -there are many options! I instantly ride differently and feel different like I want to show off what I can do rather than just get it over with! I used to do it when I showjumped aswell, when I mentioned this to someone else apparently its a common thing used in sports psychology and I am not a raving loony which is good! Anyway its helped me loads so might be worth a go ;)
 
Not much to add as above replies are good for riding the test. All I can think of for ODE (that really helps me) is take each section as it comes. Don’t worry about your jumping until your dressage is over. Pretend you are just going to school for a bit. Then when SJ comes just think about how you are going to ride a lovely, flowing and schooling round. Then cross country don’t think about how well or bad the previous sections went, just focus on the task in front of you and riding each line how you want.

Someone once told me if you can’t imagine it, it won’t happen! Ride the test in your head and imagine each movement being exactly how you’d like, how the horse will feel bending or trotting across the diagonal, I personally find that helps too. Learn your test, but don’t necessarily practice the whole thing at home. In the warm up don’t practice the bits you find hard, it’s too late for that and will confuse both of you. Get your transitions between and in the paces and both of you nice and relaxed.

What’s the worst that can happen?
Horse misbehaves? Oh well, there’s another day for that.
Bad score? Easier to beat for a personal best next time.
Fall off? Unlikely, even less likely to end in injury. Meh, more likely to trip down the stairs.

Smile coming down the center line, smile when you get that nice moment, smile when you wobble in a transition (and tut in your head about how much better you can do it at home) and you might just find you enjoy it :D
 
Last edited:
ruth83 said:
Add 'and breathe' to every movement.

A enter at working trot, proceed down the centre line without halting....and breathe
C track right...and breathe
B 20m circle right in working trot....and breathe

and so on.

Try to leave each movement behind you. You might enter with the most wonky, zig zag centre line ever - but once you reach C, there is nothing more you can do about it. Leave it behind and ride the next part.
Click to expand...


this is brilliant, as someone else who tenses up and forgets to ride as soon as enters at A, will give it a try!
Tomorrow in fact, we have two tests to do :-) and will report back
results !
 
Hi Donskiwa!!

Allow me to share what is advice, but wrapped in a short story.

I'm a long time eventer and I love to play golf. Now the golf part has come to help the riding part. The two sports to parallel one another in a lot of ways. Back a ways I used to ride around the dressage ring before the bell thinking about how I wanted to WIN!! Emphasis on WIN. And inevitably with that much pressure I crumbled as you have described. In golf I used to stand up at the tee and say to myself "I want to smack this thing 300 yards and birdie this hole" and I would swing with all this emotion and top the ball and it would go maybe 15 yards either to the side or even once, behind me. :)

What changed was when I learned to ride one movement at a time. In dressage, ride the center line STOP thoughts. Then ride the turn and the next circle or diagonal and STOP. And carry on this way so you work on the mechanics of how to ride through and connected with the horse and ensure that his bend and its gait are correct. When the minor steps of how to ride took over I rode much better. And likewise on the golf course, when I eradicated the emotion from my desires and replaced it with thinking where is my balance, where is my arm, what are my feet and knees doing, where are my eye looking, am I breathing? The dynamics of how to hit the golf ball allowed me to enjoy the game more as I was able to make it work correctly devoid of my egotistical thoughts.

I agree with what Monte1 said. Incorporate the breathing but only work on whats right in front of you. You know how to prepare for the next move but at the .80 level you don't have to ramp up for a canter tempi series or a zig zag half pass. Enjoy the simplicity and do the basics well.

Emily
 
Lots of good advice above. Here are some other self-talk strategies:
"Gosh, I'm certainly not going to worry about ambling round a rectangle for 5 minutes at walk trot and canter. I do it all the time. Of course, I might not do well enough to win, but I'm not going to worry about how well I do until I get to Badminton/Olympics [delete one]."
"Who cares if the dressage doesn't go that well today. I'm more worried about that big ditch/oxer/water complex [delete one]. After all, its not likely that I'll fall off or anything"
"So long as my horse enjoys him/herself then its a good test. My role is to make sure s/he has a nice toddle round the arena so that s/he has loosened up the muscles for the cross-country. I'm just going to focus on making sure s/he is swinging along and has the correct contact so s/he's ready to jump"
"Who cares. It's only the dressage part. It's the jumping that's fun"

[and from the horse's mouth] - "Never understood why these silly humans want to go round and round a tiny bit of field anyway. Let's just get it over with so that I can have a bit of a graze and then a hoon over some jumps. Now that IS worth doing!"
 
Ha, these gave me a laugh.
Well, streesage done and dusted.
I walked purposefully to the arena . Tick, this helped. No wine unfortunately as I'm having a dry April as punishment for having gone too hard in March.
I think I breathed once or twice, but still no where near enough.
I did pretend I was Charlotte and this, as well as envisaging riding in my arena at home definitely helped. No, you're not crackers. I often pretend I'm Eddie the Eagle when going xc.
I also made myself think differently about the people in the warmup. Normally I'm a bit tense and frustrated and silently curse them under my breath for 'getting in my way' and making me alter line. This time I made myself smile at them and give compliments and it altered my whole state of being.
I'm not even game to look at my marks, but I don't care, I feel I made some mental progress thanks to you all.
Golly, it's such a 'head' sport, isn't it.
 
I was late to this thread, but I do have thinking strategies for dressage, and the other phases...

I am proud to be sitting on my Horse. I want my horse to have the BEST day.

I warm up to show my horse how relaxed he can be. I may help him balance, and help him navigate the other competitors. I do admire the other competitors and tell him how lucky he is to be there at a party.

In the ring I try to show him the way and show him what a lovely time he can have. I help him stay straight, help him navigate the corner. I help prepare him for the corner so it doesn't catch him out. I help him rev up ready to canter, allow him to express his canter, help him to be prepared to trot again.

It is all about him and making it nice for him.

If there is a quick transition, such as canter the diagonal, trot at quarter marker and walk at A (for instance) I will deliberately come early back to the track (just a touch) to the track to make it nice for him.

Once it is all about him then I don't feel any pressure.

Also, my horse is the most relaxed in the arena. I do be more demanding in a schooling session, but at a competition we enjoy the fruits of the labour rather than strive for whatever.
 
Red-1 said:
I was late to this thread, but I do have thinking strategies for dressage, and the other phases...

I am proud to be sitting on my Horse. I want my horse to have the BEST day.

I warm up to show my horse how relaxed he can be. I may help him balance, and help him navigate the other competitors. I do admire the other competitors and tell him how lucky he is to be there at a party.

In the ring I try to show him the way and show him what a lovely time he can have. I help him stay straight, help him navigate the corner. I help prepare him for the corner so it doesn't catch him out. I help him rev up ready to canter, allow him to express his canter, help him to be prepared to trot again.

It is all about him and making it nice for him.

If there is a quick transition, such as canter the diagonal, trot at quarter marker and walk at A (for instance) I will deliberately come early back to the track (just a touch) to the track to make it nice for him.

Once it is all about him then I don't feel any pressure.

Also, my horse is the most relaxed in the arena. I do be more demanding in a schooling session, but at a competition we enjoy the fruits of the labour rather than strive for whatever.
Click to expand...

Lovely post!! :)
 
I had a dreadful habit of trying too hard and, I think, riding a bit differently as a result. I’d feel the Diva underneath me backing off as if saying “what the hell are you doing up there??”
At home, if I trot a centre line and it gets a bit wiggly, I didnt worry about it because I knew I could go and repeat it again (and inevitably get it right second time) but in a competition I started trying to make adjustments to sort stuff out as I knew it was only a one shot only situation. My adjustments would confuse the Diva, or stifle the energy, or I’d find myself getting too handsy...

Then I started writing for judges and my perception really changed. It really doesn’t matter if you mess up a movement, there are plenty of others and the judge really does want to give you the marks. Just ride every movement the best you can but if you mess one up, it’s no problem, just put your full attention onto the next one. Try to visualise you are at home in your arena.

Plus, it never looks as bad as it feels! I’d come out if tests laughing my head off at how bad it felt, then I’d watch the video back (if I’d persuaded a parental or friend to come) and be actually really quite surprised at how good it looked!

What’s also helps me- smile! It really does relax you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top