ride, you need to make the best of the sessions you do. These sessions can be on your own or when you are having instruction. Try to enter each session with a positive frame of mind. It’s all too easy to inwardly groan as you have to do some more flat work with a horse that really isn’t playing ball today. Try not to beat yourself up if it goes wrong, it doesn’t matter that much. Remember, we are the only sport that works with two brains so not only do we have to be on form, but so does our horse! Taking the good bits and re-enforcing them is what we’re aiming to do this winter.
Think back to your favourite professional rider and how their horses go. The dressage test that you ride in your BE100, they will ride four or five times at one competition. That’s half your season to ride five tests! They know it instinctively & can then use that to their advantage to show their horse off to its best. By practicing dressage tests at home, they become easier for both horse and rider and you will start to be able to work on instinct.
Sir Clive Woodward once said (I like my rugby, apologies) that if the England Rugby team lost a match, that was the time for them to go and have a drink and forget about it, not beat yourself up about why it all went wrong. However, when they won – that was when they analysed everything they had done to see exactly why it went so well.
‘Muscle memory’ is really important for both horse and rider, making the job at hand easier for those important competitions so you are ready
when it counts. Do keep in mind that the action performed need to be positive and correct – muscle memory works in both ways, incorrect training can lead to the horse instinctively reverting back to what he knows.
By using the winter to your benefit, you can come out in the spring and be ready to show all the positive re-enforcement you have achieved, regardless of what you have focused on. This could be more accurate dressage test riding, your horse working in a better outline, your personal fitness levels improved. Choose what direction you want to take your riding and strive to be better. This might not win you the next Olympic Gold medal, but it will give you more purpose and direction with your horse. This can only benefit both of you and you never know, you might be surprised at the results.
Photos courtesy of MDR Photo www.mdr-photo.co.uk or author’s own.
Final Thoughts
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48 December 2013, Issue 3 www.everythinghorseuk.co.uk www.everythinghorseuk.co.uk December 2013, Issue 3 49