Walking On Volume 5, Issue 6, June 2018 | Page 10

Back to Basics Conquer Horse Show Nerves By Jane Savoie The following article was in- spired by a rider who told me, “I have a wonderful, talented thor- oughbred. We can do Second and Third level work at home, yet when we compete, we can barely get through a First Level test. The miss- ing link seems to be relaxation. My horse is off the track, and we seem to feed off each other’s tension. How does a normally tense person learn to relax?” This rider is right in thinking that relaxation is her priority. When you’re tense, your work ca