meardsall_millie
Well-Known Member
Well, Horsemad12 and I went along to Vale View EC last night and braved the cold for a couple of hours to listen to a Yogi Breisner lecture
.
Firstly, I have to say that he is a completely riveting speaker. Completely inspirational - the kind of person you could sit and listen to for hours. He thinks about many things from a completely different angle and his attention to detail is second to none. It's no wonder the British Eventing Team is in such good shape
.
So, in true HHO fashion, we've compiled a list of the key points to share with you all. I'm sure there's much we've missed, and for that we are sorry, but it was too flipping cold to take notes, so these are from memory!
· Pressure is what you put on yourself or allow others to put on you. Analyse how you react (be honest with yourself) and learn/develop your own coping mechanisms
· Plan set short, medium and long term goals, relevant to each horse, which are realistic and achievable no dreaming here
· Prepare well to be able to perform well mental and physical
· Keep depositing into the Confidence Bank you need lots of good experiences, once / if you start to go into the red, it can go down and will do so rapidly, take it back to basics and build it up again can be done!
· Rider fitness good basic level but also fit for purpose
· Rider position is crucial
· Mental fitness recognise what you need to succeed (including support from your team and getting rid of negative vibes) but this is individual some people thrive on being negative, some like to talk, others quiet, some to go first, others last
· Try to prepare for every eventuality so you then have the capacity left to think on your feet and deal with the unexpected
· Horse fitness introduce short sprints into fast work to cope with modern XC courses, dont stick to one pace canters, etc
· Develop skills through good basic training using one method in the first instance then once established move into specific training, using different trainers/methods if necessary
· Have a mentor and a trainer (dont need to be the same person)
· Practice makes permanent stupidity is doing what youve always done and expecting different results. If its not working change it.
· Top eventers can be made out of average horses (unlike dressage and SJ where exceptional horses are needed) its all about consistent, effective training methods
· When training the horse repetition of correctness not repetition until you get it correct dont stop when you do get it correct as a reward (except with youngsters) practice the correct way otherwise you have practiced 5 wrong ways and 1 correct with the same emphasis.
· Practice dressage tests inc the full test, if the horse anticipates they are not correctly on the aids. Also ride sections of the test. This has really helped the British Team improve marks.
· Training the horse stages
o FUNdamental young horse, learn to go forward and have fun, hacking, hunting, etc
o train to train the horse needs to learn how to settle into consistent training sessions
o train to compete more specific work for the intended role
o train to win the finishing touches
o compete to win lots of red rosettes!
· After a competition, analyse what worked well and why and take this forward to the next one. Dont dwell on what didnt go well (identify it, deal with it and move on) BUT FOCUS ON THE POSITIVES
There were also a few witty anecdotes about team members at various championships - but he wouldn't name names!!
Hope this has been helpful.......
Firstly, I have to say that he is a completely riveting speaker. Completely inspirational - the kind of person you could sit and listen to for hours. He thinks about many things from a completely different angle and his attention to detail is second to none. It's no wonder the British Eventing Team is in such good shape
So, in true HHO fashion, we've compiled a list of the key points to share with you all. I'm sure there's much we've missed, and for that we are sorry, but it was too flipping cold to take notes, so these are from memory!
· Pressure is what you put on yourself or allow others to put on you. Analyse how you react (be honest with yourself) and learn/develop your own coping mechanisms
· Plan set short, medium and long term goals, relevant to each horse, which are realistic and achievable no dreaming here
· Prepare well to be able to perform well mental and physical
· Keep depositing into the Confidence Bank you need lots of good experiences, once / if you start to go into the red, it can go down and will do so rapidly, take it back to basics and build it up again can be done!
· Rider fitness good basic level but also fit for purpose
· Rider position is crucial
· Mental fitness recognise what you need to succeed (including support from your team and getting rid of negative vibes) but this is individual some people thrive on being negative, some like to talk, others quiet, some to go first, others last
· Try to prepare for every eventuality so you then have the capacity left to think on your feet and deal with the unexpected
· Horse fitness introduce short sprints into fast work to cope with modern XC courses, dont stick to one pace canters, etc
· Develop skills through good basic training using one method in the first instance then once established move into specific training, using different trainers/methods if necessary
· Have a mentor and a trainer (dont need to be the same person)
· Practice makes permanent stupidity is doing what youve always done and expecting different results. If its not working change it.
· Top eventers can be made out of average horses (unlike dressage and SJ where exceptional horses are needed) its all about consistent, effective training methods
· When training the horse repetition of correctness not repetition until you get it correct dont stop when you do get it correct as a reward (except with youngsters) practice the correct way otherwise you have practiced 5 wrong ways and 1 correct with the same emphasis.
· Practice dressage tests inc the full test, if the horse anticipates they are not correctly on the aids. Also ride sections of the test. This has really helped the British Team improve marks.
· Training the horse stages
o FUNdamental young horse, learn to go forward and have fun, hacking, hunting, etc
o train to train the horse needs to learn how to settle into consistent training sessions
o train to compete more specific work for the intended role
o train to win the finishing touches
o compete to win lots of red rosettes!
· After a competition, analyse what worked well and why and take this forward to the next one. Dont dwell on what didnt go well (identify it, deal with it and move on) BUT FOCUS ON THE POSITIVES
There were also a few witty anecdotes about team members at various championships - but he wouldn't name names!!
Hope this has been helpful.......
