26/ NOVEMBER 2023 THE RIDER Confident Horsemanship:


patterns and emotions, and bad habits. • Competitive riders who have the skills to do well, but fall apart on show day. • Experienced riders who struggle with anxiety after a traumatic fall. • Adult riders who can’t get back to the same level as when they rode as a teenager If sports, including riding, are 90%


(or more) mental then why do most rid- ers and coaches focus 99% of their time only on the physical skills? The human mind has been com-


By Anne Gage, The Horse Riding Con- fidence Coach


Riders of all levels, disciplines, and


ages, can struggle with mental focus, handling external distractions, lack of trust in their abilities, negative thought


Santiago Continued from page 25


day, their confident and skillful rides made it look easy and were important confidence builders for the team. Foster and Figor fin- ished the day on their indi- vidual


score of 4.40,


standing fifth overall head- ing into the Individual com- petition on Friday. Second to go was


Mario Deslauriers, of Venise-en-Québec, QC rid- ing Emerson (Eldorado VD Zeshoek x Berlin), the 11- year-old Belgian warm- blood gelding owned by Wishing Well LLC and groomed


by Megan


Grabowski. In round one, after nav-


igating the course well, the pair had an unlucky rail and incurred four faults with a quick time of 71.64. Then in round two, the pair had an unfortunate rail near the end of the triple combination.


Mario Deslauriers and Emerson. Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley


With the four faults in- curred, that left it to Amy Millar and Beth Underhill to hold the team score with clears. Deslauriers finished on a score of 11.89 placing fifteenth overall. “He was jumping great


both rounds,” said a disap- pointed Deslauriers after the second round faults. “It was beautiful. He still needs the


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16 hands tall. She had a short racing career, running only 4 times, but retired sound


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experience as he hasn’t been to any games yet but it’s kind of sad because he can really jump these courses. So now no pressure, but we need two clear rounds.” Third up was Amy Mil-


lar of Perth, ON, aboard Truman


(Mylord


Carthago*HN x Kolibri), a 14-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Millar


Amy Millar and Truman Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley


Brooke Farm LTD. & Over- lund and groomed by Danny Ingratta. The pair delivered a


strong first round in 75.76 seconds but had a late rail down incurring 4 faults. The pair came back strong in the second round delivering the crucial clear. Millar finished on a score of 5.71 in ninth place and qualified for the


individual final on Friday. “I’m so happy with


Truman. He really wanted to jump clean today, and that second round I just felt looser and more concen- trated, and my horse felt awesome, and so we pulled it off!” Said Amy. “And now it’s just the waiting. These championships are stressful for everyone so it’s really a lot of a mental game, but I got it done.” Anchor rider for the


team final was Beth Under- hill, of Mulmur, ON, riding Nikka vd Bisschop, (Emerol NOP x Nabab de Reve) the 10-year-old Belgian Warm- blood mare owned by the Rein Family LLC and groomed by Clemence Resseguier. Having had an unlucky


rail at the end of round one, the pair became the deciding ride for the team. With an exceptional clear


final


round, and the scoring of the other teams, it was clear that the Olympic berth had been secured and Team Canada had netted a medal. At the time, with two riders left to go, it was expected to be bronze. “I think we all felt the


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same pressure honestly. It was right there from the get- go. Tiffany needed to go out and show us the way and she did both rounds ad- mirably. And everyone’s score counted, and everyone contributed,” Underhill ex- pressed. “Amy going clear was a little extra inspiration and being anchor rider is al-


Beth Underhill and Nikka vd Bisschop Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley


ways a little extra pressure, but my horse delivered beautifully and came back and jumped clean in the sec- ond, I am so thankful to her owners Mark Rein and Tara Dow-Rein. We just couldn’t be more excited to be on the podium like that and to be going to Paris.” With the four faults in-


curred added to her overall score, she finished the round on a score of 8.02 placing her in eleventh individually, also qualifying for the indi- vidual final. At the end of Under-


hill’s second round there were just two riders left – one from Team USA in sec- ond and Brazil in first. By the end of their two rides, the Americans with another clean had moved into first and Brazil with eight faults fell to third, leaving Canada in second place for the silver medal. When reflecting on


how things came together over the week and through the high stakes’ day, Chef d’Equipe Captain Canada felt it was truly the Cana- dian way. “It’s about team spirit which is so critical,” he said. “One of our greatest strengths as a Canadian Team is our synergy and we’ve always been able to pull together. That’s part of what made the second round today happen, was that syn- ergy. It was a beautiful thing to see.” “These are four top


horse and rider combina- tions, and they know how to


function under pressure and they got the job done,” con- tinued Ian Millar. “And our reserve rider, Erynn Ballard, has been the best reserve you can imagine and we ap- preciate all she and Gakhir’s owner Ilan Ferder and groom Stephanie Kerman have done for the team. We got a silver medal and we are off


to the Paris


Olympics!” “A team medal is an in-


credible achievement and with the ticket to Paris booked, we are now thrilled to be represented by all three discipline teams at the Olympics,” said EC’s High Performance Director James Hood. “We are so proud of this team. Everyone includ- ing the athletes, horses, grooms, owners,


staff,


coaches, supporters, friends and family all played a role in this success. For all the support that has helped make this happen, we offer a huge congratulations all around, it is well deserved.” “Thank you also to


and full


Sport Canada and the Cana- dian Olympic Committee for their ongoing support of our programs and for their assistance in helping get us to the Pan American Games. We share our appreciation with our hosts Santiago 2023, the Pan Am Sports Organization, and the Pan American Equestrian Con- federation.” For more information results, visit


https://online.equipe.com/st artlists/890085


pared to an iceberg. The visible part that represents the conscious mind - the log- ical, critical thinking mind - is about 10% of the whole. But the other 90% is underwater and unseen, it’s the uncon- scious mind; the part where emotions, beliefs, memories, imagination, habits, protective reactions are kept. All of your experiences, good and bad, are stored in your unconscious. And without you even being aware of it, your brain uses


The Ultimate Horse Riding Tool Is Your Mind


these as filters to make sense of every aspect of your day. Imagine being able to increase your


confidence, reduce show day nerves, im- prove ability to remember tests/patterns, improve focus, overcome mental blocks, stop fears, anxiety and panic attacks, change bad habits, and let go of negative emotions from past traumas. Hypnosis is an effective method that can improve your riding performance by increasing mental focus, and releasing negative thoughts and emotions. When you maintain focus and


awareness you’re able to be more in tune with your horse’s behaviour. That allows you to respond appropriately and defuse potential problems rather than being tense and reactive which makes situa- tions worse. This level of mental and emotional


acuity is the difference between calm, confident riders and anxious, fearful ones.


Having a negative mindset creates horse.


a cycle of negativity. Things are more likely to go wrong and, when they do, it reinforces the fear or self-doubt which feeds into more negative thinking and emotions. Your brain is simply trying to protect you, but is doing it in an over-re- active way and causing you unnecessary stress.


Whether you work with a trained


hypnotist or practice self-hypnosis, you can learn how to take control of your thoughts and emotions by changing your thinking patterns, resetting your emo- tions and self-talk, and retraining your mind and body to recognise the differ- ence between real and imagined stress. Through hypnosis, you learns how


to effectively use visualisation, breath- ing exercises, and relaxation to develop a resilient mindset that changes fear into courage. With a calm mind comes a calm body that allows true connection and clear communication with your


Author Bio: Anne Gage, The Horse Riding Confidence Coach, shares advice and tips for horse riding women of a certain age. From managing riding nerves and anxiety, understanding your horse's behaviour, building a deeper partnership with your horse, and more. Whether you're a lifelong horse rider, just coming back to riding after time off, or just starting out, learn more at www.rideconfident.com


Whether you ride for pleasure,


competition, or therapy, your success, enjoyment, and quality of the relation- ship you have with your horse depends on the power of your mind. By harness- ing the power of your mind, you can un- lock the true potential of yourself and your horse.


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