Keep Calm and Clinic On: Managing Nerves During Clinic Season
Presented by Hylofit
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The oncoming winter means one thing: it’s clinic season! While many upper level professionals are giving their competition horses some lighter time off, many of them fill their calendars with clinics. This means it’s a great time of year to hone in on some trouble spots and get a head start on your training for the upcoming year.
But there’s just one tiny issue: clinicians make you nervous!
No, you aren’t weird for having some butterflies at the thought of taking a lesson with Boyd Martin or Laura Graves. Most of us do! The key is learning how to stay on top of those nerves so that you can get the best out of your rides.
Do Your Homework
Sometimes it helps to just be well-prepared. Instead of sliding into your lesson with the tack you cleaned at the last minute and the horse that barely got pulled out of the pasture in time to get on the trailer, take the time and prepare.
Watch videos of the clinician teaching or do a search on some forums or social media for testimonials and experiences from other riders. Chances are, someone out there has ridden with the clinician you’re about to take a lesson with.
Preparation can do a lot to battle nerves, so start early. Maybe the clinician seems to have a favored exercise — gymnastic work or lateral work perhaps — so spend some time practicing some of that. Remember: the purpose of going to a clinic is to learn, not to be perfect, so don’t worry if you don’t feel “ready”. That’s what the clinician is there for!
Practice Putting Yourself Under Pressure
Some riders don’t perform as well under pressure, and that’s perfectly normal. But you can get better at this! Just as with any other skill, it just takes a bit of practice.
And our nerves sometimes get the best of us, causing us to forget how to listen or follow instructions. It’s frustrating, but it is fixable with a bit of mental fortitude and a lot of repetition. So practice putting yourself in some “pressure cooker” situations.
Set a timer and do a run through of your dressage test or jump a simple course with the clock running. Take lessons with an unfamiliar coach, perhaps another coach at your barn. Try shortening or lengthening your stirrups or riding without a stick to give your leg more practice — change something so that you can get used to being uncomfortable. This will make you ride better in unfamiliar or uncomfortable situations.
Monitor Your Heart Rate
Heart rate can tell a story about our nerves as riders. If you were to strap on a heart rate monitor before a competition round, what would it show you? If you tend to be more on the nervous side, chances are that your heart rate will increase as your anxiety does.
By checking in on your heart rate in these situations, you can better identify what causes your nerves to spike. Perhaps it’s when your coach puts the jumps up a hole or when your horse spooks at the letter in the corner of the arena that it’s seen a hundred times. Maybe you only get nervous when other people are watching you ride. But having that data to observe trends and make adjustments can be invaluable for helping with nerves.
In identifying your nervous “triggers”, you can more proactively work through those scenarios. It may seem silly, but practicing your breathing and paying attention to the moment can go a long way in helping ease the pressure that nerves put on.
Looking for a unique, easy way to monitor for those pain points? Check out Hylofit’s wireless heart rate monitor designed for both horse and rider. Using this information can help you see where you and your horse display tension so that you can make adjustments accordingly.
Remember Not to Be Perfect
Wait, what? Yes, we mean it! Clinics are about learning, not showing off your riding. If you were to ride perfectly and error-free in your lesson, how would the clinician help you improve?
So while you should be as prepared as you can, don’t worry so much about looking good or impressing the clinician. They want to help you work through any issues and leave the lesson with more tools. Remember this, and the pressure you feel may be less crushing.
Clinics are intended to be fun and educational. While it’s much easier said than done to tame your nerves, simply acknowledging them and making a proactive plan to work through them will serve any rider well as they gear up for a learning experience of a lifetime.
About Hylofit: The Hylofit System is a heart rate monitor for horse and rider that provides real-time feedback and post-ride insights for both athletes. With wireless hardware and an intuitive app and web platform, Hylofit provides insights into the emotional and physical state of your horse. For more information, head to www.hylofit.comÂ
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