I think no one would dispute that riding is a 'thinking' sport. Unlike sports like weight lifting or shot put, where the act is one of sheer power and force, riding is about strategy. You have to delicately balance the demands of the course, your horse and yourself. Often, however, we may lose sight of just how important a tool our brains are, and become entrenched in self-defeating patterns.

So what distinguishes a thinking rider from well, a non-thinking one? To begin with, a thinking rider is a mindful rider. Mindfulness, according to psychologist Ellen Langer, is a state of mind in which we are in the present, actively drawing distinctions, generating options and asking questions. In other words, when we are mindful, we are alert and focused, challenging incoming information to see whether it can help us to solve problems or improve our skills. Professional riders are thinking riders. They can't go into a competition thinking "I sure hope this works out today". They have to have developed a strategy from the knowledge of months or years of training and be prepared to carry it out. Thinking riders also take responsibility for their own progress, and have developed a problem solving orientation. They are constantly evaluating and reevaluating the merits of their plan or strategy to see whether they are meeting their goals. Further, they realise that there is always more than one way to accomplish an objective, and welcome creative options.

If thinking riders are mindful, then non-thinking riders are certainly guilty on occasion of 'mindless' behaviour. Mindless behaviour involves taking in information uncritically, making assumptions from past experiences and operating from a single, often closed perspective. The latter often translates into the axiom: "but this is the way it's always been done before!" How often have you been frustrated by someone with this belief, wanting to scream "but why! It doesn't work anymore!" Mindless behaviour can also involve becoming glazed over through the repetition of a task, something which we all know as 'being on automatic pilot'. Have you ever been guilty of mindless behaviour? Well, lets see, have you ever: come out of a round thinking "what did I just do?", gone off course, assumed that you could not do something (a course, a skill, a jump) because in the past you were unable to do it, make the same mistake again and again, assume there was only one solution to a problem, or done something because it was the 'way somebody else did it'?

Even if in the past few minutes you have judged yourself to be guilty of mindless behaviour, take heart. Here are some ways you can become a more thinking rider, or if you are a coach, encourage the development of thinking riders:

1. TAKE STEPS TO INCREASE AWARENESS: Mindless behaviour is characterised by a lack of awareness, or when you are just allowing things to happen. Remember that awareness is the essence of mindful behaviour. One easy way to increase your personal awareness is by asking yourself, or if you are a coach, asking your students questions which provoke thought and challenge self knowledge. When I was teaching riding lessons, it suddenly dawned on me that here I was saying "put your heels down", "don't let him drop his shoulder in that corner" and 'do this exercise" and my students didn't really know why in a lot of cases I was asking them to do these things. They were just mindlessly following my instructions and getting through the lessons, sometimes things would work out, sometimes not. After I realized this, I began to teach quite differently. I wanted them to think about why the exercises and skills I asked them to practice were important, and in what other context they could use this knowledge to solve a problem. So I began asking questions to test their knowledge, and using exercises in one part of the lesson that could be used in another portion of the lesson to help solve a problem. I also left time at the end of lessons specifically for questions, encouraging their queries as much as I could. The effect of this approach was that everyone stopped ridding around in a daze and were a lot more alert. They also became more interested in their riding. The questions I asked about riding skills and exercises were designed to promote physical or technical awareness and knowledge, but I also asked questions to increase psychological awareness. For example, I might say "you did that last exercise really well, how did you prepare yourself mentally, and what helped you to concentrate so well that time?"

2. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY: Thinking athletes are responsible athletes. Riders who take responsibility for themselves are the kind of riders who know that their progress is dependent upon themselves, and not a trainer or coach. They keep track of their goals and are able to ask for feedback when they need it. They are continually working towards knowing how to take care of their own needs, whether this involves being able to look after oneself at a horse show in the absence of a coach or trainer, or taking note of what kind of feed seems to work best for their horse at a competition. In short, thinking riders are in charge of their own riding career.

3. LEARN TO BE A PROBLEM SOLVER: Think of a problem you have with respect to your riding or some other area of your life. Have you begun to brainstorm about possible solutions or are you just hoping that it will somehow work itself out? Problem solving involves generating options and taking action . In order to become a proficient problem solver, you must be open to different and creative possibilities. Remember that 'mindless' problem solving involves stubbornly sticking to one solution, even if it doesn't appear to be working. If you watch the professional riders, you will notice that all of them will attack the same course in a very different manner. Part of the reason for this is the restriction of different horses, but in large part they differ because problem solving is an individualized process. It takes time to develop confidence in your own decision making and problem solving ability, so don't be too harsh on yourself if you don't think you have yet developed this skill. If you are a coach, you can encourage the development of problem solving ability in your riders by allowing them to generate their own solutions to a problem, and by allowing mistakes to occur when necessary.

If you can learn to become more of a 'thinking rider' the rewards are many: increased feelings of self-esteem, a reduction in stress, and feeling more in control. A natural by-product of participating in sport is that it can promote self-awareness and responsibility, two skills which are as invaluable in life as they are in sport. Possessing awareness and accepting responsibility translate into solving problems, into being in charge of your own physical and mental training, and of course, into being a thinking rider.
*copyright 1997, April Clay

1. Ability to visualize a winning performance: It is very true that you cannot do what you cannot see in your mind's eye. Some may think of imagery as 'just an exercise', but this is far too simple a description. Imagery reinforces the memory responses that you will need when you engage in your sport - it also sets up the proper physical responses for your muscles to follow - it helps to "groove" the correct performance. Studies have repeatedly shown that practising in your head can be just as effective as actual physical practice. Many athletes use visualization programs because they cannot afford financially or do not have the time to train enough physically.

2. Ability to relax: Good athletes know how to regulate the state of their body. Contrary to what some may think, relaxation is a skill that must be developed through practice. That's because relaxation is more than unwinding in front of the TV. Real relaxation involves a different physiological state characterized by a reduction in heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, analytical thinking, and skeletal muscle tension. So why learn how to relax? I know you may be asking yourself this question, because relaxation is perhaps the most underrated skill among recreational and amateur athletes. Elite athletes, however, know of the value of this skill. They understand that relaxation is the foundation of all other psychological skills, such as imagery, concentration and arousal control. They also know that every change in their emotional and mental state is accompanied by a change in their bodily state. In other words, we think with our entire body, and it makes sense to learn how to regulate our own system. For riders, the most important benefit that comes from learning the skill of relaxation is the improvement in the feel or connection with your horse. Excess tension in your body acts as interference in the communication between you and your horse. To communicate clearly, you need to remove that interference, which can be accomplished with regular practice of relaxation strategies.

3. Ability to recognize and use emotions: Strong emotions are a part of life and a part of competition. Effective athletes are 'emotionally smart' people. Among other things, emotionally smart individuals know how to control their emotions, get along with others and delay gratification. Top performers have these skills, and also know how to use and learn from their emotions. They expect that in the course of training and competing they may have to deal with fear and doubt, are not afraid of them, and can even use them to create energy. Whereas, our society seems to sometimes suggest that so called 'negative emotions' are bad (depression, anger, fear etc.) and to be avoided. We sometimes become 'stuck' by the experience of a difficult emotion in our day to day lives, rather than searching for its message or use. Elite athletes know how to use and take cues from their emotions-negative or not. They also know that they can experience an intense emotion like fear, and still perform.

4. Ability to communicate: Communication problems are not uncommon in the world of sport. When you are involved in a sport it means you are involved with people. Athletes communicate with coaches, parents with athletes and coaches, and parents and kids etc. In other words, there are all kinds of potential for misunderstandings and hurt feelings. More importantly, communication problems can really hinder your performance. Communication has the potential to effect your confidence, motivation, concentration and capacity to learn. If you can effectively communicate with those around you, chances are it will help you to learn better, stay more positive, and in general be more "free" to expend your energy on your performance.

5. Self knowledge or awareness: Any change begins with knowing yourself and being aware of where you are right now. It is important to be aware of your strengths and limitations both physically and mentally. Know yourself, and you can better be equipped with solutions to challenging problems.

6. Mental toughness: In other words, athletes should love a challenge. Most of us, well we usually say we do, but because challenge usually means change sometimes we avoid rather than embrace new experiences. Effective riders see the bumps in the road as challenges to be overcome, not obstacles to be avoided.

7. Ability to set realistic and achievable goals: Some people shy away from goal setting because they are afraid they will not be able to measure up to those standards when all is said and done. This is a very real and valid concern, because when you think about it-goals will be the measuring stick for failures and successes. That is why goal setting is a process which must be carefully thought out, or else it does have the potential to be harmful rather than helpful. For example, if you consistently set yourself unrealistic goals, or goals which are too broad in nature, you may see yourself racking up a lot of failures when in fact you could be progressing at an acceptable rate. Remember: how you set your goals will determine how you perceive yourself as an athlete/competitor.

8. Ability to recognize and defeat negative chatter: How athletes 'talk to themselves', not surprisingly, is directly related to their confidence level. We all spend vast amounts of time talking to ourselves, and much of the time we are not even aware of what we are saying to ourselves. Nevertheless, these thoughts effect our feelings which in turn effect our actions. Confident riders monitor the content and frequency of their thoughts. They know how to shut off negative internal dialogue and replace it with positive statements. In effect, they have been able to 'train' themselves to think in certain ways that encourage success. This is not to simply say that they repeat "I think I can" over and over ad nauseam. Good self talk involves thinking constructively, positively and realistically.

9 Ability to concentrate under pressure: Concentrating means focusing, not forcing your attention on a particular task while not being distracted by irrelevant stimuli. We can be distracted in two basic ways, either internally by our thoughts and feelings ("I'm so nervous today") or externally by occurrences in the environment (a noisy crowd or an unsportsmanlike opponent). The challenge in the sport of riding is that you do have a lot of different cues to attend to: the feel of your horse, your position, the demands of the course. It can very easily become confusing as to what to direct your attention to. An effective rider knows what to draw their attention to and when.

10. Problem-solving ability: Think of a problem you have with respect to your riding or some other area of your life. Have you begun to brainstorm about possible solutions or are you just hoping that it will somehow work itself out? Problem solving involves generating options and taking action .
*copyright 1998, April Clay

But what about how you use your body from the neck up? Is it desirable to attain a greater level of emotional control, to learn to cope with competitive pressures, to problem solve effectively? And if this is important to your sport goals, then do these tasks not take a certain amount of commitment and practice as well? Shouldn't you put effort into training mentally the way you train physically? If you would like to become a complete athlete, and have a considerable edge in competitive situations, the answer has to be yes.

So why don't more athletes put the time and effort needed into the psychological aspects of their training? I think its because the field of sport psychology or the idea of mental training has become confused with 'psyching up' or being motivated enough, and of course most athletes think they have enough motivation. So this definition is far too simplistic-its kind of like saying all there is to being a superior athlete is repeating 'I think I can, I think I can' over and over. So why should you look at the psychological aspect of your training more closely? I'll give you three solid reasons to consider:

1) You are what you think: this can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the nature and quality of your thinking. You can start by asking yourself: what is your vision of yourself right now? Is it one of being strong and competent? Is it possible to see yourself winning at this time? Or when you conjure up an image of yourself competing do you see yourself falling apart, choking? This is an incredible indication of where you are right now -because it really is true: you cannot do it until you see it happen in your mind. Many, many people deep down believe that they don't deserve to win, and they won't, until that belief is changed.

2) Because you can be the best physically on that particular day and still not win because you were not mentally prepared: psychological readiness is what sets athletes apart. Consider the Olympics, all the best in the world are there, and all physically well prepared. What then separates the truly superior athletes is mental fitness. Consider Ian Miller, some believe that his mental abilities come naturally to him and that may be true. What is indisputable is his ability to focus, which was reportedly in the 99th percentile when he was tested by a sport psychologist not long ago. Ian's skills are attainable to others, however, they can be learned through education and practice.

3) Because mental training is something you are already engaged in everyday: either you do it ineffectively or you do it effectively. Think about it- everyday you are "training yourself"-you are giving yourself certain messages about the kind of athlete you are or about how to interpret that nervous feeling in your stomach. Some people choose to utilize this information and some do not. Those who do make a choice to be aware of what is happening 'from the neck up' are mindful of the messages they are giving themselves and the emotional reactions they are experiencing. A good analogy to think of is the training of your horse. Everyday you teach your horse something. It may be you are teaching him to move off your left leg better, or because you are unaware of proper technique, or unaware in general, you could be teaching him to be unresponsive to your left leg. It is the same with your mental training, if you don't get educated and aware, you may be ingraining harmful or counterproductive messages into your head. What's more, you'll have no idea why things go right when they do and therefore make it more difficult for yourself to replicate that performance state again.

If I could leave you with something to think about in terms of your own training it would be this: you know that in order to develop physically as an athlete you need to first become aware of your physical abilities. In other words, to make corrections and improve physically you first have to have an awareness of the mistakes you are making. The same principle applies to mental training-in order to begin to develop psychologically as an athlete, you first must develop an awareness of your psychological state. So make a commitment to begin to develop that awareness, to become mindful, and that can be your first step in utilizing the other half of your resources (those from the neck up) to achieve your sport goals. *copyright 1996, April Clay

Hey-blame it on our inherent genetic design. The 'alarm' reaction we experience is normal and functional. Your heart rate speeds up because in order to flee from a potentially dangerous situation, our body needs blood rich in oxygen to work the muscles most effectively. We get those 'butterflies' because blood is being pumped in the direction away from the stomach and head to our muscles for immediate use. You may feel a need to run for the washroom because your body wants to er, um 'evacuate' in order to be as light and nimble as possible to face the impending danger.

But how do we end up interpreting such sensations? Most people would say they were experiencing feelings of intense anxiety. However, as you can see, there are some functional aspects to those physiological reactions that can help to mobilize your body to compete at its best. So both conclusions could be correct.

The difference lies in perception, and knowing the difference between feelings of anxiety and the physiological reactions one has during anticipation and excitement. Although many athletes think that feelings of anxiety and arousal are the same, there is a difference between feelings of nervousness and those of arousal or anticipation, Anxiety actually has more to do with negative self talk and feelings of doubt and worry whereas arousal has to do with physiological responses to stress. There are times when being anxious can help to solve a problem and improve performance, however it usually only leads to more and more negative thinking.

Perception is a very integral component in the experience of nervousness, and other emotions. Suppose I asked you to walk across a board on the floor, measuring 1 foot wide. You would probably do so without thinking much about it. If I now suspended that board 100 feet in the air and asked you to do the same, you would immediately become more anxious not because the task had changed, but because your perception of the task had changed. Another example would be: say you are out for a hike one day, walking along this 'black spot' appears in your peripheral vision. Your mind immediately screams "bear!", your body goes into overdrive, getting itself ready for what is commonly called "flight or fight"response. Now, suppose there really is no bear, that the black spot was a garbage can kicked over on its side? You would probably feel foolish, thinking "what did I get so worked up about?" The point here is that even though there was no real threat, there was a 'perceived threat' and that was enough to mobilize your body and mind into emergency mode.

So what can you do to make this system, as there is surely no escape from it, work for you instead of against you? Learn to monitor your experience of stress, how much it is made up of anxiousness and how much is normal physiological changes which will mobilize your body to perform. Then you can learn strategies to manage both these experiences to hopefully arrive at an optimal level of stress that will allow you to compete at your best.

1) Manage those changes in your body: the best way to do this is to learn the art of relaxation. If you can learn to truly relax, you can effect your heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension and quiet your analytical thinking. One of the most effective ways to relax is to learn to breathe properly. If you breathe properly, you breathe from your diaphragm, or the thin muscle that separates the lung and abdominal cavities. As you inhale, you should notice that your abdomen pushes out. During inhalation the diaphragm moves down slightly and this is what pushes your chest area out. As you are inhaling, it may be helpful to imagine that you are filling up three separate sections of your lungs. First, concentrate on your abdomen, making it expand with air, and next fill the middle portion of your lungs by expanding the chest cavity and raising the rib cage and chest. Finally, allow the upper portion to be filled and you will notice your upper part of your chest expand and your shoulders raise slightly. Hold your breath for several seconds before beginning the exhalation. Begin to exhale by pulling the abdomen in (which pulls the diaphragm up), and you should notice your shoulders drop, as well as your upper chest, as the air begins to leave your lungs. Make sure the exhalation is complete, forcing all the air out and letting go of all muscular tension as you do. (Say this silently to yourself on the exhale: "As I breathe out I let go of all the tension in my body"). The best part of this exercise is that as you become more practised at it, you can do it anytime, anywhere.

2) Manage your anxiety: The most effective way to manage your anxiety is to monitor and change your perceptions appropriately. First consciously make an effort to become more aware of your cognitions (self talk), you may want to do this by keeping a notebook and after training writing down some of the negative thoughts you were having. Next look at what form of distortion that negative thought has. An example of a distorted way of thinking would be looking at everything in black and white terms, ie.: you either are a 'loser' or a 'winner'. Another example of a thought distortion is overgeneralizing, where you see one event as a never ending pattern of defeat. Most negative self talk is distorted in some way, and may be refuted logically. Ask yourself what evidence you have for making the statement you did, (usually you will find little or no evidence) and then consciously replace the distorted negative thought with a positive one.

In closing, remember that you do need a certain amount of arousal in order to perform at your best. That is why sensations such as increased heart rate and muscle tension can be a positive signal that indicates you are ready to compete at your best. If you were too relaxed, your reaction time would likely be too slow. If you were overly anxious, things would likely appear to be speeding by too fast for you to do anything about them. Not surprisingly, the optimal amount of stress (some would call it a 'good nervousness') you should have is somewhere in the moderate range. It is also dependant on the type of sport you are involved in, and upon your personality. It will take some time to find what the right level is for you, but you will discover it if you persist and notice when things are going right and what you did to get there. So remember, next time you notice with alarm that your heart is beating rapidly, instead of panicking, try saying to yourself "that is my signal that I am focused and ready to perform at my best". And oh, a little trip to the 'you know where' first doesn't hurt either...
*copyright 1998, April Clay