We’ve all been there. One moment, you’re cruising through a pretty perfect dressage test, and the next moment you’ve lost all focus and have no clue where you’re piloting your horse next. No matter the distraction that throws you off your game, there are a number of surefire strategies that can help keep you on test and prevent competition jitters and other distractions from interfering with your performance.
1.) Know thy arena letters well! Ensuring you’ve mastered the placement of arena letters is key to navigating an accurate dressage test. So, if you’re new to the sport or need a refresher, be sure to brush up on your letter expertise.
2.) At the beginning of each year, check for any new movements in the tests you plan to ride and learn the tests months before your competition.
3.) Practice any new movements and then put them together to ride the complete test several weeks before your event. Then, run through it multiple times during the week leading up to your competition. This can also help your horse relax, because he’ll learn what’s coming next.
4.) Once you’ve committed the test to memory, mentally practice picking it up from any movement. You should be able to recite the rest of it easily. It’s like knowing the alphabet so well that you can remember what comes after L without starting at the beginning.
5.) Everyone has a different ideal way of learning, but try drawing the test on a piece of paper. The process of mapping it out by hand will help you commit the test to memory, and you can keep it on hand to study as you have time.
6.) As you study the pattern on paper, face the arena and pretend you’re riding the test perfectly. Think of how you’ll prepare for, ride and finish each movement, not just where you’ll do it. For example, “Enter at A in a big, forward, balanced trot … asking my horse to be light in the bridle and lift his shoulders … then I take a deep breath, make a half-halt and … three, two, one … halt.” Visualize changing gaits with ease and attempt to feel the sensations you’ll experience in the saddle.
7.) Pay attention to the directives. It’s imperative that you also understand the specific quality expected in each movement in order to put all the movements together for a harmonious test.
8.) Even if you’ve ridden a test many times, solidify it in your mind the week before your event with a visualization refresher. Find somewhere quiet to sit in a very relaxed state with your eyes closed. If you rush through the visualization, you’ll rush when you ride the test. Instead, go through it in real time, imagining every moment. If the estimated time to perform your test is five minutes, it should take you five minutes to visualize it from beginning to end.
9.) Walk the test on foot, just as you would a jumping course, to help orient yourself in the arena. Mentally associate each movement with the surrounding visuals—the judge’s booth or trailer, woods, cornfields or barns on either side of the ring, etc. When you visualize the test again later, just before your ride, you can incorporate that data into your inner dialog. For example, “I’ll pick up my right-lead canter in the corner by the woods.”
10.) Prepare yourself to handle any possible distractions. If your horse spooks or cuts a corner, imagine yourself reacting smoothly and efficiently, fixing whatever the problem is while staying on track—or getting back on track—to the next movement.
11.) Use your warm-up time wisely. In the last few minutes before your ride time, try to keep your mind clear. Now is not the time to wander around the ring chatting with friends. Focus simply on your horse and the course at hand.
