This is a partnership and Savannah takes her responsibility to Easy Indigo to heart, striving to communicate an air of confidence and friendship he can rely on. Photo by Cheryl Magoteaux.

 

Do you remember a time when you needed to be at your very best, so you took along a friend for support? Did you choose someone who was constantly nervous, someone who picked at you, or someone who didn’t believe you would do well? Or did you take someone who was quiet, helped you just enough, and had a calming effect on you?

Horses need great partners, too. A calm, competent rider helps the horse be successful.

Since you are his support and leader, your horse constantly reads your body language and responds to it. If he feels your back get stiff, hands get harsh and your legs tighten, it will make him more apprehensive.

Besides telegraphing stress, those signals tell the horse very different things all at once. Squeezing with your legs means “move,” but then you ask him to stand still by pulling on his bridle. He is confused, so he becomes nervous.

It’s not just when you’re astride the horse that he reads you. He’s tuned into the way you move around him, the tone of your voice, and other actions. Your nervousness will give him a negative feeling about the situation.

This is why it’s important to be a good actor. If you are nervous, you have to be able to convince your horse and everyone around you that you’re not. You don’t want to telegraph nervousness to your horse. Instead, you want to reassure him with your calmness. In doing so, you also convince yourself.

Don’t buy into feeling nervous. When you feel your hands get shaky or your heart beating faster, don’t think: “I’m so nervous, I know I’ll mess up.” Instead, think: “This is what it feels like to compete, and adrenaline can make me react quickly and move better.” Don’t fight the butterflies, accept and learn to use them.

You don’t want your horse to wear himself out by the time he runs. Being nervous takes a large amount of energy out of your horse. His heart rate and respiration increases, and by the time he actually gets to compete, he has less energy and can’t perform as well. 

In competition, the nervous horse is more anxious and less able to concentrate, initially resulting in timing errors—like going a little too far past a turn or shutting down early. These mistakes can lead to worse habits in the pen. Your horse could start missing turns, hitting barrels or poles, or becoming completely resistant at some point during the run.

Confidence Game • Learn to be a good actor by conveying confidence, even if you feel nervous. • Be careful not to send your horse mixed signals, so relax your legs and soften your hands. • Stop your horse and focus on breathing slowly and deeply during training and warm-up sessions. • Try singing or talking softly to relax you both. • Tie your horse to the trailer and do stretches or calisthenics to rid yourself of restless energy.

Deep Breaths
So how do you keep from communicating and transferring your nervousness to your horse? Here are some things to consider when you’re preparing for your run.

Take a deep breath. As we get nervous, our breathing gets shallow and we get less oxygen at the time when we need it the most. You want to breathe normally, with nice, deep, even breaths. Concentrating on breathing this way will take your mind off what you are nervous about, and it will help to relax your body and give you oxygen. Also, your horse will follow what you do. We make this part of our training. Take a minute during your daily workout to stop, drop the reins, take a deep breath, and then let your air out as you relax into the saddle. Eventually, when your horse feels you relax, he will too. If you do this enough, you and your horse will be able to relax together.

A somewhat nonconventional way to calm both you and your horse is to sing quietly to him. It sounds a little silly, and you’re probably thinking that people will think you’re crazy. But actually, we know many professional competitors who sing some tune to their horse before they compete. It calms the horse and takes the rider’s mind off of what he or she was nervous about. It also seems to break up that shallow breathing pattern. Also, simply talking to your horse is always beneficial.

If you’re feeling nervous and can’t seem to get past it, tie your horse to the trailer while you do a few jumping jacks or stretches to loosen up. Keep in mind that caffeine, sugar, and the like add to your nervous feeling, so avoid them.

Do You Have Questions for Cheryl & Savannah? Fast horses and timed events are a two-generation topic for the mother-daughter team of Cheryl and Savannah Magoteaux. Cheryl is a former college horsemanship instructor and Professional Women’s Rodeo Association barrel racing national champion. She was an instructor for R.E. and Martha Josey barrel racing and roping schools, and conducted clinics on her own as well. Cheryl co-authored Charmayne James on Barrel Racing. Savannah, 21, is a journalism and broadcasting senior at Oklahoma State University. Her earliest riding time was spent on timed-event horses, and in 2006, Savannah filed her Women’s Pro Rodeo permit and is now competing as a rookie. Together, Cheryl and Savannah will share their insights and techniques when it comes to developing timed-events skills that are fun and rewarding for horse and rider. Cheryl and Savannah would love to hear from Perfect Horse readers. E-mail your questions to info@magoteauxcom or perfecthorse@horsemediagroupcom

Prerun Mental Prep
Lots of people, even pros, get nervous before a run. It’s not that you feel nervousness that’s an issue; it’s how you respond to and control it. During that pre-competition time, try warming your horse up away from all the action, and then hand walk him until it’s time to compete. Keeping yourself moving will help keep your body more relaxed, and he will usually enjoy the time like that. Use this time before competition to play the perfect run over and over in your head.

Think about why you are getting nervous. Is it because people are watching you and you’re afraid you’re going to mess up? Everyone makes mistakes during a run or when they’re riding.

Could it be because you’re less experienced than the other riders? Every winner was once a beginner. Even the most accomplished competitors had to start somewhere.

Are you on a young colt that hasn’t been many places? Don’t worry. All young horses are going to make mistakes—even the ones who turn out to be great.

Anyone who is around horses for a living has been embarrassed by them at some point in their careers. Horses are great equalizers.

Above all, remember what your job is. Is it to go out in the arena and beat everyone else? If that’s what you think, you’re just asking for disappointment.

Remember Michael Jordan? When the game was on the line, his teammates would throw the ball to him. What was his job? Was it to win the game? No, his job was to just shoot the ball. Because of his practice and his talent, it went right into the basket most of the time—but his job was not to make the shot and win the game. It was simply to shoot the ball. It’s the same in all types of competition. Your job is never to win—it’s to go out and do the best job you can do. If you concentrate on doing that instead of winning, then the winning will fall into place. Control what you can, then let the outcome take care of itself.