Bodyzone

THAT SINKING FEELING CAN EASILY AFFECT RIDERS AND CAN SPOIL YOUR ENJOYMENT AS WELL AS LIMITING WHAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE. ANDREA OAKES LOOKS AT HOW TO ENJOY THE ‘JOURNEY’ AS WELL AS THE END GOAL.

When Sophie Palmer was producing her young horse, she found herself suff ering from an unexpected form of anxiety. “Not only was he the youngest horse I’d ever owned, but I’d never before had a blank canvas,” explains Sophie, who bought Moylaw Alawhatsit, known as Goose, as a four-year-old. “Previous horses had been ‘readymade’ and I just had to learn to ride them. I was so worried about ruining Goose or doing too much, too young, with him. I was afraid of letting him down.”

Fear of failure can take many forms, from the sense that you’re squandering a horse’s potential to the feeling of disappointing owners, coaches or parents. You may even be afraid to compete in case you fail to meet your own exacting standards.

According to chartered sport psychologist Jo Davies (jdpsychology.co.uk), this mindset can arise under the pressure of expectations that we consider greater than our capabilities or out of our control.

“We often use the word ‘should’: we own a smart young horse that should do well, for example, or we’re riding a schoolmaster that should be winning at a certain level,” she says. “But there’s danger in measuring success through things we can’t control, such as placings or percentage scores. It’s a slippery slope to set these expectations for ourselves, or others.”

Signs that indicate a fear of failure include a lack of self confi dence, a reluctance to try new things or a tendency to switch to autopilot under pressure and ride ineff ectively. ou might procrastinate or start to self-sabotage, where you worry so much about something that you decide not to do it at all.

What’s the solution?

“Our relationship with failure can depend on our upbringing, education and experience,” says sports psychologist Jo Davies. “Some people see failure as feedback and the chance to learn and progress. Others have a less positive approach and view it as proof of not being good at something.

“Think about how you deal with failure and whether you regard judges’ comments as criticism instead of useful feedback,” she suggests. “Base your goals on processes rather than outcomes. If you aim for rhythm throughout the test, for instance, and put all your effort into that, you can’t fail.”

LEFT: TRY KEEPING A DIARY, JOTTING DOWN A BULLET POINT OR TWO ABOUT HOW YOU’VE PROGRESSED.

“ tart by asking yourself why you ride and compete, and what you want to get from the sport, says o. “This could be en oyment, learning or achieving harmony with the horse. The downside of expectation is that it can undermine what’s really important, such as the sense of personal progress.

“ e ect on what you consider as success or failure. she continues, pointing out that there’s more to life than win or lose. “ any people view it as black and white, but there may be more personal measures of success that you can take care of.

“ y focusing on outcome based goals, are you setting yourself up to fail nstead, identify some process goals’ that you can look after to ride a good test such as maintaining a good rhythm in the trot work, for example, or keeping the horse more through’. These goals are best set in con unction with your coach and should be shared with your support team, so everyone is aware of your aims and you don’t have to worry about impressing people.

“ ou’re not sacrificing your end goal, because you may still be able to achieve that good percentage, adds o. “ ou’re ust looking after what you can control. The nature of dressage means that you’re ultimately working towards certain scores for ualification. ronically, you may need to take the pressure off the score to focus on the ingredients that make a great test.

any of us are affected by our own inner critic’, a characteristic of perfectionism.

“We all have some traits of perfectionism but certain people have a more all or nothing’ rigidity to the idea of success, explains o. “They tend to be results driven, setting themselves high targets and feeling a greater sense of failure if things don’t go to plan.

“ t can help to review training and competing in a more constructive way that recognises the positives, she adds. “Try keeping a diary, otting down a bullet point or two about how you’ve progressed or a nugget or advice from your trainer. This not only helps learning and focus but boosts confidence and the belief that you’re progressing along a tra ectory.

“Think about how to evaluate progress or performance, perhaps by running through a video so your coach can offer feedback, says o. “ aybe something felt like a failure in your mind, but by unpicking it you can identify and develop areas for improvement.

While homework can bring about a longer time change in mindset, old habits can pop up in the heat of the moment.

“The mind can focus on distracting thoughts or take us to the uncontrollable elements, says o, who adds that the warm up ring is typically where fear of failure makes an unwelcome reappearance. “Asking yourself What can take care of ’ is usually enough to bring your focus back to the here and now and restore cool, calm collection.

“I was so worried about teaching him the wrong thing,” Sophie Palmer says. “I tried to stay true to my convictions and take things at our own pace, with arena hires and unaffiliated shows, but the fact that people were questioning my training methods fed my own doubts.” Dipping her toe in at a BD flatwork camp gave Sophie the courage to try affiliated dressage, and Goose, now seven, is winning at novice. He will make his British Eventing debut this season. “Taking up groundwork lessons with Ali Khan from A2i Natural Horsemanship was a big help,” says Sophie, who turned to the trainer last year when she felt that she and Goose lost confidence in one another after a jumping fall. “Ali coached me through the dark times, focusing on small achievements and teaching me to manage Goose’s reactions as well as my own. Step by step, we got there.”