Dressage competing thoughts

[Ceifer]

I competed for the first time this year. Just a small UA. The last BD competition we did in October last year I retired mid test deflated.

Since October we have found a new trainer who really transformed us. My horse is very hot and coupled with my competition nerves, it can lead to a bad test.


We got a first with 63% at medium which is an improvement. We still have a long way to go but I feel I rode him a lot better - as in I actually rode rather than froze and let him get hotter.

I reviewed the video and agreed with the judges comments so lots to work on - I lost marks for straightness, which at this level I really shouldn’t be.

I really need to get to grips with the mental side of things. I had a session with a mindset coach but didn’t feel it helped - they seemed to keep asking me if I am nervous of my horse - which I’m not.

But I’m now wondering if maybe I need to try again with another coach?

 

[JGC]

Do you know what it is that gives you competition nerves if it's not your horse? Asking as it might help with recommendations. I have anxiety about being watched (a thing since I was a small child and in all areas of my life, not just riding), and that used to hinder competitions, so I had CBT for that specifically.

 

[Ceifer]

As a child I used to love to compete and had a real competitive streak. However when I started working in the industry I worked at a dealers yard and took a horse to a dressage competition for them.
It was a complete car crash and my employers were horrible about it, complained that they had wasted diesel
Money and if people saw that I was a rider for them with that performance they’d lose business and that everybody had been watching me.

Even though I know that actually the horse was as green as grass and had probably never been in an indoor before and that my employers weren’t very nice people. I’ve let that effect me ever since.

 

[humblepie]

How would you be if you competed more often, or perhaps go to a test riding clinic, where you ride a test, then chat to the judge and then ride it again. I know that isn't sports physcology but just wondering if the getting out and doing it more will help, and if you do some test riding clinics then you will probably be the only one there. I think the other thing is that at most dressage competitions there are very few people watching and if they are, they are probably running through their own test in their mind and not really watching you.

 

[JGC]

It sounds like you might want to look for someone specialized in performance anxiety in athletes/sportspeople rather than horse-specific? I don't have a recommendation, but hopefully someone will soon!

 

[Ceifer]

How would you be if you competed more often, or perhaps go to a test riding clinic, where you ride a test, then chat to the judge and then ride it again. I know that isn't sports physcology but just wondering if the getting out and doing it more will help, and if you do some test riding clinics then you will probably be the only one there. I think the other thing is that at most dressage competitions there are very few people watching and if they are, they are probably running through their own test in their mind and not really watching you.

I think that would be a good idea.
I am a bit remote so the regular ones are 1.5 hours away but maybe worth doing

 

[SEL]

I'm a much better competitor now than when I was younger because I've stopped caring about results so much. If I ever get to the stage where I start caring then I'll probably be back being a useless lump of jelly in the dressage ring

E-riders has been great for me from a confidence perspective. Knowing how well I can ride at home means that I'm not going to external venues with that little voice in my head telling me I'm a failure.

 

[eggs]

I used to take a swig of Bach Rescue Remedy before getting on to warm up for a competition. May just have been a placebo but I did feel calmer. I got more nervous when I knew the horse I was riding was more than capable of winning. My main horse now is never going to trouble the top of the leader board and I find it much less stressful

 

[Orangehorse]

I was never nervous of the competition as such, but I was always worried that I would forget the test. In my mind it was simply go into the arena and do walk, trot and canter, at whatever level required and something that had been practiced at home.

 

[Goldenstar]

I think you need to get between the boards more in fact as much as you can .Pros get more practice than the one horse rider .
Things that help think of owning the arena watch on you YouTube riders that do well CHJ and IW have this in spades .
Riding in a bubble just you and the horse and the line you are riding on I used this when younger it work really well .
Knowing the test really well and learning it while imagining the feeling you want in each movement the aids you will use how you sit how it will feel .
Have a plan for everything how you will work in how you round the arena
All these things help you to be on your game in the moment when the bell rings .
There’s a book that helped me when I was young it’s That winning feeling by Jane Savoie you will find a copy on eBay it helped me so much , another good one is Bounce by Matthew Sayed
I read That Winning feeling I was a house wife who had taken over a wild hunter from her husband the horse so talented I read the book three years later we went round Bramham .
Change like this comes from within .
Once you really realise that it get so much easier .

Many people are held back by what I visualise as my losers limp syndrome that winning feeling deals with dealing with that well.

 

[tristars]

i used go in not caring a shite! mainly because i did not really want to compete just went because i had a good horse

some of the others would look at me with admiring eyes, and say you won! while i was just too busy being blxxdy amazed

seriously though practice, exposure is a great one, go more, tell yourself you are there to take it steady and get round, to train the horse in ring craft, at lot is positioning your horse, setting it up to succeed

 

[sbloom]

Do you have a good "why"? Why you compete? I think a lot of people do it without knowing why, and often it's because it's "what you do" with horses. If you find your good, strong why, then that's a good start. I would definitely suggest working with a mindset coach if you definitely want to keep doing it, possibly even if not as you'd work through what you really want to do with your horse.

 

[Ceifer]

Do you have a good "why"? Why you compete? I think a lot of people do it without knowing why, and often it's because it's "what you do" with horses. If you find your good, strong why, then that's a good start. I would definitely suggest working with a mindset coach if you definitely want to keep doing it, possibly even if not as you'd work through what you really want to do with your horse.

Tbh I want to do it to be a better rider. Test riding is a skill that I’ve never mastered.
I’ve been a ‘works rider’ in the past. I’ve schooled for good riders when I was a groom - including an Olympic dressage rider but my competition nerves always held me back.
Even when I did my BHS stages back in the day I struggled. I did my stage 3 at the training centre where I was working and the chief instructor took me aside and said I needed to pull myself together as I looked like a deer in headlights.

 

[LEC]

Charlotte DJ says in her autobiography that when in the biggest competitions of her life she is just at home and going through the test as mistake free as possible. I would look to improve your test riding at home with a trainer and then work hard on your mind set that it’s just another arena but the same values as what you were working on at home. I always see dressage as a test of where I am in my training and if I can put it all together. Never get particularly stressed about it Because if it doesn’t go right, go home, try again. Always another day. I also think if you set yourself a performance goal for that day it helps. Mine might be maximising the short sides more and if I achieve that then great and something else will need working on and might then be the next goal. It’s always about marginal gains. I just see the judge as someone who is ticking off my training progress like a coach but more direct feedback.

 

[sbloom]

Tbh I want to do it to be a better rider. Test riding is a skill that I’ve never mastered.

You don't need to complete to do that. Test riding is the teeniest skill if it comes to riding a horse correctly and isn't necessary to being a better rider. Just trying to give food for thought. I think a lot of people do it "because it's there". and somehow it's become the main way of judging our progress. There are lots of other ways of judging progress, but that may need different trainers/approaching to training.

 

[ihatework]

I can relate to what you have written and from my perspective it comes from a deep rooted fear of failure / perfectionism / confidence / doing what is expected type of mental issue.

I’m actually a reasonably ok rider it turns out (who knew!!! I certainly didn’t!) BUT as soon as there was any type of competitive expectation then I fell apart a bit.

Eventually I gave up. I realised I was not enjoying it one little bit, the rare highs were not worth the far more common lows.

Having accepted that, it’s like a straight jacket has been lifted off.

Not saying it’s the same for you, but it’s quite possibly in your head and might be worth therapy outside of riding. Everything is generally inter connected.

 

[Squeak]

It might not be the answer for you but at the moment I'm trying to get out to lots of dressage tests to try and make me ride better in a test and worry about it less. I'm lucky that I've never had serious issues with competition nerves but since eventing less I've definitely felt that my test riding has declined and I get more nervous and don't ride as effectively. So far I think it is working, if nothing else it's really allowing me to goal set, see where I'm consistently making mistakes and work on those. I'm also getting less worried about the tests. It might be worth a go for you too?

 

[SEL]

Tbh I want to do it to be a better rider. Test riding is a skill that I’ve never mastered.
I’ve been a ‘works rider’ in the past. I’ve schooled for good riders when I was a groom - including an Olympic dressage rider but my competition nerves always held me back.
Even when I did my BHS stages back in the day I struggled. I did my stage 3 at the training centre where I was working and the chief instructor took me aside and said I needed to pull myself together as I looked like a deer in headlights.

E-riders has been fantastic for me for the "nerves in public" reason. Proper judges and good feedback. I did my first test with them last Oct and wish I'd started earlier. My biggest issue is getting my OH to video.

It also means that if we fall apart in public (pony being a bit sharp over winter) then I know my ability to ride a 20m circle isn't the issue it's getting the hooligan to pay attention in busy environments. In the past I'd have been my own worst critic.

Plus no need to be clean for e-riders which is a huge bonus right now!!

 

[Ceifer]

You don't need to complete to do that. Test riding is the teeniest skill if it comes to riding a horse correctly and isn't necessary to being a better rider. Just trying to give food for thought. I think a lot of people do it "because it's there". and somehow it's become the main way of judging our progress. There are lots of other ways of judging progress, but that may need different trainers/approaching to training.

I think for me though it is a good push forward. To be more disciplined. I know it’s easy to say just be more disciplined in your day to day riding, but I don’t.
I do like the focus it brings my training and there is really nowhere to hide.
Generally with my tests and looking at the videos I do agree with the judges. It’s just getting out there and doing it.

I know I’m not a pro but I look at my trainer who is a brilliant rider and her focus, discipline and skill it amazing and if I could get halfway to being like her I’d be extremely happy.