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Boost your confidence in the saddle with these 6 steps to channel focus and shake off the nerves
If your confidence in the saddle has taken a knock, there are ways to get back on track. In the first part of this exclusive series on rider confidence for H&H subscribers, we take a look a six steps to help boost your self-belief and get you on target to achieve your goals
Successful riding has never been simply about talent of horse and rider. Ability and even sound horsemanship can only take you so far. One of the fundamental keys for riders is to build confidence to enable them to fulfil the potential of both sides of the partnership. Naturally, confidence is essential in the horse as well, but a positive and assured approach from the person in the saddle is a large part of the equation.
Whether your confidence has been shattered by a bad experience such as a fall, a string of poor results or an inappropriate horse, or you have felt out of control for whatever reason and unable to enjoy riding at all, there are measures you can take to get back in the saddle, so to speak.
6 steps to build confidence for riders
1. Set goals for every session
Equestrian mindset and confidence coach Debbie Hill of Ahead for Life, who works with riders across the disciplines and levels and includes Olympic dressage rider Abi Lyle among her client base, encourages riders to have something to aim for every time they ride.
“We need to set goals because they give us direction,” explains Debbie. “If you went down a football pitch and there weren’t goal posts at either end then you wouldn’t know what it is that you’re trying to aim for. Approach each session by thinking about what you would like to achieve, and what you need in order to do this.
Channel your focus: approach every training session with a goal of what you want to get out of it.
(Image credit: Lucy Merrell)
“When setting a long-term goal think about working backwards from it; think about where you are now and where you need to be a year from now, six months from now and three months. This helps you to feel that you have control and allows you to think about what you’re doing now, and what level you need to be at to achieve your goals.”
2. Use cue words
Changing Minds senior sports psychologist Dr Chris Beaumont says the key to confidence is in the three Ps; preparation, plan, and process – and using cue words as reminders.
“Be really clear on your preparation and what you need to do to be as successful as possible, that could be your warm-up for example. Then think about your plan, what is it you’re trying to achieve? Next think about the process to reach that, what are the fundamental things in your control that you need to execute? This gives people something concrete to put their energy into,” he explains.
“Part of this is also having reminders to keep you focused on what you need to do, and in psychology we talk about them as ‘focus cues’. They can be short, sharp, punchy phrases that remind you of your processes, those things you are in control of.”
3. Keep a journal
Equestrian mental performance coach Poppy Blandford, who works with top riders around the world including Jodie Hall-McAteer, recommends writing your thoughts and feelings down.
“I ask all the riders I work with to keep a journal, and it’s something Jodie is passionate about. It gives you the opportunity to sit down and reflect, but in a structured way. Often when we try to reflect our thoughts are spinning and there’s emotion there and we fall into attack mode and judge our ability,” says Poppy.
Making a journal, with goals and reflections will give you both focus and feedback.
(Image credit: Philip Barker)
“When doing this I ask people to write down three skills that did work in that experience, because there’s always positives to take away, and then you have feedback to build improvement on. That’s how you build a champion’s mindset, by letting go of the judgement and really disciplining yourself to stay focused on the skill itself.”
4. Breathing basics
BHSI and UKCC level three coach Tina Canton of Tinderbox Sport Horses is an Centre 10 Advanced Coach, having completed an applied psychology course in equestrian coaching. Tina recommends focusing on breathing at set points.
“I ask riders to take a big deep breath down into your tummy whenever they cross the centre line. This can be especially useful in a dressage test in a long arena when someone has a medium trot across the diagonal, and it can feel like they’re going on forever. Or when you’re jumping and you’ve got a longer corner take that conscious deep breath before the approach to the next fence,” she says.
“Taking a breath before any kind of transition is also useful, it’s like a reset for your body and in that moment it allows a little bit of preparation time for the transition.”
5. Un, deux, trois
Tina also recommends polishing off your singing voice – or counting in French.
“I once did a grid lesson where we had the riders count in a different language, so they had to be very cognitively aware as they were jumping the fence. It was amazing that those who were quite tense about the jumping really relaxed when I said you’ve got to jump down the grid counting one to five in French,” explains Tina.
Can you go down a jumping grid counting to five in French? It could help you relax.
(Image credit: Lucy Merrell)
“Verbalising something when you are riding can be really helpful so there’s a bit of cognitive awareness going on and you’re not getting tunnel vision. That can also be singing a song, or talking to your horse. I usually have riders sing something like Nellie the Elephant, because it’s a great canter rhythm song.”
6. Channel your inner Ros Canter
Tina says the art of mimicry can be another way to boost confidence.
Ros Canter, the picture of concentration en route to her 2024 Burghley win.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
“I get riders to do impressions of riders that they really admire. I’ll ask them how would Ros Canter ride this line, or how would Becky Moody work this change? Then I get them to do an impression and it’s like it gives them permission in their head to develop,” she says.
“With some of my clients I’ll call them that name for the rest of the lesson. I’ll say ‘Come on Ros, we’re going to jump this fence now’, and they completely change their body language and it becomes a little bit of fun, and suddenly they realise that they can perform in that way.”
Did you find this article useful? This is part of a series of articles to help riders improve their confidence, whether they want to hack around the block or compete at the highest level, so keep visiting for more expert advice to help improve your riding life.
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
