Coping with Show Jitters for Dressage Riders

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Show Jitters - They Can Make or Break You 

Picture this… It’s the big day. As you tack up your horse, a rush of nerves comes flooding in. What if, I forget my test? What if my horse spooks? What if…? You mount up and head out to the practice ring. You feel sick to your stomach and you begin to question your decision to enter a show. Your test time approaches and you make your way to the show arena. As you ride the perimeter of the show arena, you hear the bell ring. Your heart begins to race, your palms become clammy and your mind goes blank. What is going on?

Show Jitters. 
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Wednesday and all is well

After our lesson on Tuesday, I decided that I needed to work on my half halts. My biggest problem is using too much hand and not enough seat and legs. While this is not always the case, I have for some reverted back to this recently. The problem is that Toby already likes to evade the contact and my hands being too strong does not help that at all.

I rode on Wednesday and Thursday with my primary focus being my seat, legs and hands. On Wednesday, we continued working on our leg yields along the wall and from centerline. With my new focus, Toby seemed much more willing to oblige my request and gracefully moved away from my legs (of course better to the right than left, but much improved in both directions).

Amazing, use your body correctly and the rest falls in place. What a novel concept. It can't be this easy.

We moved on to some halt, trot, halt transitions. Again focusing on using my seat and legs more and my hands less. Again, Toby willingly responded while staying on the contact and not throwing his head like he had been.

Hmmmmmm, could I be causing his head throwing? That's it. He tells on me when my hands are too strong. Wouldn't you protest if someone yanked on your mouth with a hard metal thing. Not like I didn't already know this, but apparently I needed a brick wall dropped on my head.

We did some canter work. More seat and legs + less hands = nice transition/no head throwing. Awesome. We'll call it a day. Good Boy Toby. Thank you for your patience. You're the best.

Another good day

Today, I came to the barn with a new found confidence. Since I rode yesterday without my instructor, I hoped today's lesson would be equally as good. I explained to my instructor what we had worked on it yesterday and the results that I had with my "Good Boy's" and psychological support. She seemed interested in seeing how this effected Toby.

We started by lunging, but Toby wasn't too excited. We started riding. I spent a little more time working at the walk than normal because I needed to loosen up myself. After our warm up, we started in the rising trot. Again, Toby was relaxed and moving rhythmically. We even managed to travel across the diagonal to change rein without losing rhythm. "Good Boy."

Are you kidding me? 2 days in a row. This is Waaaay Coool.

Laura (my riding instructor) wanted to see our leg yields on the center line. Our last attempt with her was not the greatest. We went down the long side and turned onto the center line. Toby was straight almost immediately, so I asked for the leg yield (albeit in the wrong direction). He willingly obliged my request. It was a little disjointed, but it was better than before. We continued leg yielding. Every leg yield got a little better. On our last attempt, we made it from the center line to just past the quarter line without losing rhythm. WONDERFUL!! GOOD BOY TOBY!

Another horse joined us in the arena towards the end of our lesson. Toby didn't even seem to care. A large chunk of ice fell off the roof of the arena and crashed outside. Toby didn't seem to care.

Was this really the same horse?
Could he really be this calm right now?

This was amazing. I couldn't contain my excitement anymore. I patted him lovingly and told him what a wonderful boy he was being.

We finished our lesson with some canter work on the 20 meter circle with no trouble. Complete with another horse lunging at the other end of the arena.

I have vowed to Toby that I would not leave him hanging psychologically anymore. Toby is the type of horse that will give everything he has to make his human happy. I happen to be that human. Laura has repeatedly told me that I am the only person that Toby will allow to ride him. That I am his human. I need to take that role seriously. From this day on, Toby will be praised for his good work. For his commitment and for his heart. Here's to understanding.

An Epiphany

Have you ever hit a block with your horse that you just weren't sure how you were going to overcome? Well, I had hit that point with Toby. How were we going to get past his canter depart issues? And the trouble with his erratic mental state.

Ok, I've been riding Toby for almost 11 months. During that time, I have also been transitioning from the hunter world to Dressage. As a result, my focus has been on my riding skills and style.

After my mishap and vaulting experience last week and a week long layoff due to life getting in the way, I came to the realization that I have been focusing waaaaaay to too much on myself and not enough on my horse. So, when I returned to ride Toby yesterday, I took a different approach. Instead of worrying so much about putting this hand here and that hand there and this foot this way and the other that way, I decided to ride the way I know that I can and let the rest just fall into place. Surprisingly, it did.

Epiphany!! I was so worried about being perfect myself that I neglected to give Toby the psychological support that he needed. As a result, Toby willingly gave all of himself - sometimes exurburantly. Today, he was a calm and steady mount despite being in his stall for over a week.

We did our usual leg yields along the wall with ease. I even asked him for a leg yields on center line and much to my surprise he did it. And did it well. We did some trot, halt, trot transitions while maintaining contact. And turns on the forehand were not a fight. Yay!! It is truly amazing what a "Good Boy" and a pat on the neck will do.

My confidence was soaring. And apparently, so was Toby's. Before we finished, we had just one more demon to exorcise - Canter departs. Toby and I started at a nice rhythmical trot on the 20 meter circle. I sat a few strides, moved my outside foot back slightly, said a quick prayer and asked for the canter. WOW!!! A beautiful canter depart and well balanced canter. We moved to the rail and stayed upright in the corners. AWESOME!! Another pat and "Good Boy" and we were ready for the other side. Would it be a repeat of last week, now that he knows what we're doing? NOT ON YOUR LIFE. Toby again stepped right into the canter with no protest. WOO HOO. We are finished for the day with a giant hug, pat and "GOOOOOD BOY."

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And so it goes.

Day 1 - Saturday
After nearly 2 weeks of sub-zero weather, I was finally able to get out to ride Toby. Let's just say that this was not our best ride. The ice was starting to melt and fall off the barn roof. The wind was blowing pretty hard. That coupled with not working sent Toby into a frenzy. Consequently, we spent most of our lesson on the lunge line trying to contact his brain.

Mission Control: "Earth to Toby... Do you read?"
Toby: Nothin.
Mission Control: "Earth to Toby... Toby, do you read?"
Toby: Crrrrrrrrr. Static.
Mission Control: "Earth to Toby... Do you read?"
Toby: "Earth, I read you loud and clear."

Finally, we've made contact. Now we can work on some sitting trot. A little challenging since Toby's gait was not entirely regular, but we got through.

Diary of a Dressage Rider

Ok, I contemplated doing this for quite some time and have finally decided to give it a go. I have been working for nearly 10 months now with an absolutely amazing horse with a troubled past. We have made great progress and I am hoping that our efforts will inspire others to strive to achieve harmony with their horses. This first post is a bit lengthy. It is an introduction and history lesson. It will outline my background and the background of this special horse. Future posts will be an ongoing "diary," if you will, of our training and progress.

The Intro...
In April of 2010, my position at a therapeutic riding center was abolished due to lack of funding. Losing the job of my dreams, left me feeling totally empty until a friend of mine contacted me about starting a therapy center of her own. She asked if I would be willing to help her. Horses and children being my passion, I said I would... And so my adventure began.

The Cast of Characters...
My friend is a Grand Prix Dressage Rider and USDF Gold Medalist, who spent 2 years in Germany training under Conrad Schumacher. She has competed worldwide and has determined that her passion lies in helping people with disabilities to achieve their greatest potential through equine assisted therapy. She and her mother (also a USDF Gold Medalist and Olympic level judge) operate Hobby Horse Hill Equestrian Center (more info available at www.hobbyhorsehill.com)

I am a former hunter/jumper turned dressage fanatic who specializes in turning troubled horses around. My love of horses started before I could walk. My mother was a riding instructor and avid horse woman. Consequently, much of my time was spent in a baby carrier beside the pasture or barn. I started riding at the age of 3 and never turned back. I spent every spare moment with my horses. Having managed several riding facilities since graduating with my MBA, I have found that my passion is in educating people about horses and horse behavior in order to develope synergistic relationships. Now married to the love of my life and mom to two beautiful, horse crazy little girls, I am also dedicated to teaching children the benefits of riding and encouraging their enthusiasm and love of learning through equine assisted learning.


Toby is a gorgeous 12y.o., 17 hh Hanoverian gelding. He was imported from Canada at 2 as replacement for his new owner's FEI horse. After some basic training, Toby was turned out to pasture when his new owner lost interest in Dressage. There he stayed with his pasture buddy for nearly 10 years. During his pasture time, he was used occasionally as a trail horse, but nothing more was done with him. When his owner's parents (the people financially responsible for Toby) decided that it would be best to sell him, they contacted my friend to see if she knew of anyone who might be interested. Given his temperament and his lack of training, she knew that it would be a hard sell, but she would see what she could do. Soon after, Toby moved into her barn and has been in training ever since to try to make him saleable. Unfortunately, Toby is very nervous and very, very particular about his riders. Few people were able to ride him because Toby simply turns his brain off and melts down when he becomes too stressed. Then, let the spooking begin.

A little history...
Toby had been at the barn almost 6 months when I started helping my friend with her therapeutic riding program. He had stressed himself into losing quite a bit of weight and was not taking to his new environment very well. My friend asked if I would be interested in riding him (not mentioning much, other than he was "a little nervous"). My friend knows that I like spirited horses, especially big red-heads, despite my small (5'3") stature. When I saw him for the first time, I fell in love with his expressive eyes. You could see into his very soul. He has a heart of gold, but fear that goes deep.

Our first 6 months were spent just trying to make it through 30-45 minutes of riding without his brain shutting down. We worked through spooking at shadows, at himself in the mirror, even at sand that would hit the kick boards when he would trot around the arena. Toby even successfully executed 1/2 pirouettes in three strides or less. He even seems to grow about a hand when other horses enter the arena. It has been quite an exciting ride so far...LOL.

We participated in our first schooling show after only 2 months of riding and scored in the mid-50's at Introductory level (a huge fete given we couldn't even walk or trot consistently without spooking when we started). Initially, he had a lovely habit of evading the bit by pinning his chin to his chest.


And now, on with the story...
After 10 months, we are developing a solid rhythm in his walk and trot. He has a beautifully relaxed and swinging free walk that overtracks by over a footprint. He is leg yielding along the rail, turning on the forehand, executing 20-meter circles (instead of amoebae) in all gaits and has limited his spooking to only truly scary things like cats or birds in the arena and those ever dangerous, horse-eating shadows. We are also able to re-engage his brain after spooking and continue our work as if nothing happened. Although, I have been unable to purchase Toby at this point (due to my lack of employment), our relationship continues to grow. He looks forward to me coming to the barn and will turn down grain, hay and treats for one of my neck rubs. All in all, I'd say we're making great progress.

Future posts will include video clips, pictures and some quick notes about our rides. I invite comments, critiques and insights (disclaimer: constructive or positive only. Not nasty or derogatory, please). Barring any major catastrophes, this will be an ongoing diary of our quest in the hopes of achieving our USDF Gold.