With the competition season in full swing, we wanted to help those of you that suffer with competition anxiety by putting together a few top tips to help you deal with competition nerves…

• Prepare your horse by practising everything you’re planning to do at the show at home. This will eliminate the element of surprise and allow you and your horse to be more confident as you will both know what you’re doing.
• In a similar way, think about what may scare your horse at a show e.g. banners and loud speakers.  Practice with music playing and make sure your horse is used to banners.
• Know your Test - If you are riding a dressage test at the show, make sure you know it before the morning of the competition! If you’re familiar with the routine, it will become easier.
• Pack everything that you need well in advance. Use a checklist so you don’t forget anything.
• Arrive in plenty of time.  This means you will arrive calm and will have time to get your horse used to his surroundings.  Have a pre-show routine – this will help both you and your horse.
• Don’t go by yourself if you are really nervous! Take a friend or family member.
• Work out what warm up plan works for you.  It may be positive visualisation or chatting and laughing with a friend.
• Breathe! Deep breathing will relax you and will also send calming signals to your horse.  Learn to keep physically relaxed and create images in your mind of you riding confidently!
• Make sure you warm up properly but at the same time, don’t exhaust your horse.  You need to know his stamina levels and how much work he requires to be warmed up.
• Explore the competition area with your horse.  Make sure you are both familiar with your surroundings.
• Eat! But make sure you leave a couple of hours before your event to properly digest food.
• Remember why you’re doing it! We all like to do well at shows, but if you’re so nervous and worried about doing well that you don’t enjoy it, you’ve lost half the appeal. You will have more challenging days, but try and enjoy the experience!