August 10, 2016 
You may have heard the expression “practice makes perfect.” You may have also heard this clarified to mean “perfect practice makes perfect.” In other words, you have to watch carefully what it is you practice every day, because you may well be training yourself to do the wrong thing. You may be putting in hours of sweat-inducing, mind-bending practice but if it’s not correctly targeted, your effort will be for naught.
Jill is a rider who discovered she was guilty of this. She practiced and practiced a lot. However, she was an unfortunate master of rehearsing the wrong things. For example, every time her horse challenged her authority she would get angry with herself and simply stop riding. This would create more ‘horse related’ problems which then spun out of control. She was repeatedly teaching herself that she could not take charge or claim leadership. She was conditioning herself to quit.
So Jill decided to try a new practice. Every time she felt challenged by her horse she took a huge breath, let it out and said to herself “step up.” To her, this meant step up and be a leader, even if you make a mistake. It took some time, but she began to go through the tough times instead of slinking away from them. And yes, her confidence grew.
So the first step in deliberate practice is to come up with a process. When things happen that you don’t like, that frustrate you and turn your brain to negative mush, how will you cope?
Especially when you are beginning to try something different with your thinking, the best first step is to find a way to pause. As soon as you find yourself having that familiar “I want to give up” feeling, find a way to mentally stop yourself. It doesn’t have to be a long pause, but simply to acknowledge you recognize what’s happening and know you’re about to steer yourself in a different direction. If appropriate, you could stop your horse or take a deep full breath in and blow it out.
A pause can also come in the form of containment. Try visualizing parking the error or negative thought in a stall or container. The message to you: put it away and take it out for understanding purposes when it’s more appropriate.
Flickr/Rayand
This first part of the process is crucial because it effectively interrupts your usual response—your habitual thinking. Once you have derailed your usual process, you can then make way for something new.
The second part of your process has to do with refocusing your thoughts, and ultimately, direction. Here you need to decide what your ‘new thinking’ will involve. Will you encourage yourself to look for the opportunity? Will you boost your positivity by saying something like “you can, you go!!”? How about directing yourself back to the job at hand by naming what you want to attach your brain to: “Straight horse, eyes up, even pace.”
Lastly, give your new process a name. It’s an important part of a new skill set and one that will ultimately change the way you (and others) see yourself as a rider. Call it the ‘turn-around’, the ‘reboot’, ‘reset’ or even the ‘comeback’. Jill called hers ‘the bulldog’. Call it whatever you like, as long as you know what it means and how it’s done.
Make sure you practice your process. Teach it to yourself. Make it so familiar it doesn’t require much conscious thought. Create a new habit that becomes part of your repertoire. Before long, others will most surely say “Wow, there she goes again. She really turned that situation around. But that’s just the kind of rider she is.”
About the Author
April Clay is a rider and sports psychologist in Calgary, Alberta. Want to learn more about show preparation and mental toughness? Check out the Resilient Rider Online Course and the Confidence Factor at www.outofyourmindcourses.com.
