My secret superpower for show-pen success

Have you ever had a brain freeze? You get a whole big slushy and you try and drink it in a giant gulp and then your head starts to hurt? Have you ever had a brain freeze from overthinking in the show pen? It could start with a negative thought about how you’re probably going to mess up your spin. Then you could sprinkle in some doubt about whether your horse is actually going to stop after your run down. Maybe throw in a slice of good ole guilt about how you haven’t practiced enough or - gasp - you’re just not gonna be a good rider ever and then… BOOM! Your brain is just frozen!

Let me introduce you to my secret weapon. It’s probably not what you think it is. Any guesses?

It’s meditation.

Your first reaction may be thinking, “What is meditation?” Or maybe you’re thinking, “Why are you doing it? Should I be doing it?” Or maybe something like, “No, I don’t do that!”

I practice meditation for a few reasons. It allows me to focus on demand. When I walk in the show pen, I know how to be in the moment and set everything else aside except riding my horse right then and there.

Another great benefit I get from practicing meditation is I learn how to detach from my thoughts. I learned, “My thoughts are not me!”

Wow. Let that sink in. Just because you have a thought doesn’t make it true. And just because you have a thought doesn’t make it a part of your identity.

That is so powerful. “My thoughts are not me” is so freeing as it teaches you it’s OK to be upset, angry, or fearful. You can experience fear and doubt, and it doesn’t make you a bad person. It’s part of the human experience.

Fear and doubt are defense mechanisms our brain deploys trying to protect us. To help us so that we can survive.

When we understand our brains are just trying to protect us, we can redefine our relationship with our thoughts from a place of grace and love; and it can be transformative in allowing ourselves to be better riders, and allowing ourselves to perform better in the show pen by separating ourselves from the unhelpful and false stories and narratives running through our minds about our performance, and what it means.

What could that unlock for you in your riding if you knew that just because you are worried about your horse spooking in the corner doesn’t make it true? It’s not predestined.

And all of this is a big reason why meditation for horseback riders is so key. We have to learn to detach from our thoughts. Learn to detach from the thought (fear) that our horse is gonna spook in a corner or charge through the rundown. To detach from the thought that even if and when we do make mistakes, it doesn’t mean we should sell our horse and stop riding!

We have to learn to detach from the thought that we blew the lead change last time, so gosh darn it, why are we even wasting our money this time?!?

We have to learn to detach from our thoughts and approach our riding and showing from a grateful perspective infused with love and understanding for horses and ourselves. And you bet we can absolutely pair having empathy for our horse and our own humanity with kicking ass at shows!

I am myself very competitive, and I guarantee that a competitive nature really can be paired with knowledge that we are not our thoughts. And that is such a life–changing perspective that really allows us to go so much further on our journey at horse shows and in life.

I encourage you all to take a minute and just breathe. Literally just pay attention to the sound of your own breath and just be in the present moment. And I hope you all develop a superpower of your own.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Shoot us back an email or an emoji, and let us know if this was helpful or if you try any of these tips! If it was helpful, share it with a friend to help them out! If it was terrible, send it to an enemy to darken their day! And tune in next week for more on how to increase your mental toughness and resilience so YOU can be a better rider and perform better in the show ring.

Happy trails,

Nicole