By April Clay, Chartered Psychologist & Consultant in Equine Sports Psychology

If you are like many riders, there are times when you wish you could relax on command. Like those times when your nerves are making your head spin and your stomach impersonate a tsunami. Or when your horse is so tense and fresh it feels like he is practically vibrating.

Of course, it’s very difficult to will yourself into a pleasant lull when you most need to.

Fortunately, you can learn how to truly relax your body so you can “push the relax button” in times of stress. It just takes a little, um, work.
continue reading "Learning ‘Chill Skills’"

By April Clay

Question:

My coach tells me I have problems controlling my emotions. She says I get too upset and then everything falls apart.

I would like to learn to be tougher and not let my feelings get the better of me. I especially get upset when I make mistakes and get really hard on myself.

Is it possible to learn to cope differently?
continue reading "Creating your ‘Game Face’"

By April Clay

Question:

I often end up frustrated after finishing with my rounds. I am always left wanting to have done better, but not knowing how. I feel like I am meeting none of the goals I have set for myself.

As you can imagine, this feels awful! Even worse, some people around me tell me my attitude is not that good. They say I tend to look grouchy a lot, and don’t smile very much. I am afraid they are probably right, but try as I may I cannot seem to feel good about the results I am getting. Can you help?
continue reading "Getting “Unstuck”"

By: April Clay

Question:

There are some people, some fellow competitors, who try to ‘psyche me out’ sometimes.

They say these little comments to try and get me off my ride. I find this annoying, and worse yet, I sometimes fall for it!

How can I become mentally tough enough to deal with these kinds of people?
continue reading "The ‘Nasty’ Competitor Comment"

By: April Clay

Question:

I feel I don’t have the time to devote to sport psychology.

It just seems like too much work to me and I am already overloaded with training my horse!

Is there a quick way to train my mind?
continue reading "Training Your Mind"

By: April Clay

It has sometimes been said in the horse business, “Bad warm up, good show.” This can certainly be true, but as anyone with a little ring experience knows, the opposite can also be true as well as a few other permutations and combinations.

So, instead of betting the odds, there are a few things you can pop into your emergency kit just in case you need to shake off a less-than-ideal warm up.
continue reading "Bad Warmup, Good Show?"

By: April Clay

We all worry to some degree or other. But worry out of control can really interfere with your ride. When you are in the grip of worry, you are either locked in the past with things you regret or stuck in the future trying to prevent disaster.

Unfortunately, this means you are not in the one place you need to be for your sport: in the present. In no other sport is this such an intimidating consequence. You are, after all, trying to manage a relationship with a very powerful animal.

Why Worry?
continue reading "Controlling your Worry"