Competition Jitters

Competition 1969

Well tomorrow and Saturday are the selection trials and the winners of the selections will compete to be the national winner at that level. Those people at my barn who have qualified are now suffering from competition stress. Not all, but some of them.

I believe you need a bit of adrenaline flowing through your veins in order to be a good competitor. You need to have this urge to win, this urge to outdo all others, to perform at peak level. This normally level headed lady who has ridden at PSG level, who really knows her stuff, who is a jury member, well she is slowly showing cracks in her otherwise very calm exterior. She is someone I never expected to crumble, but maybe that was a wrong assumption, apparently it was. Not that she is really crumbling, but she has not been her usual calm self the past couple of days.

I have seen everything, from people not caring about a competition to someone falling totally apart. They were in such a state that I advised them never to compete again. Their nervous energy made me feel sick, what would it do to their horse? Can’t have a healthy effect on their horse if they can sense how their owner feels. Or you have those people who get so upset when it doesn’t go their way, that it is entirely their horses’ fault. They forget that they are the ones who want to compete; their horses probably could care less. Horses only compete among horses, strutting their stuff to show off and impress the competition. That is a totally different ball game.

I haven’t seen the inside of a competition arena in a number of years. As I really hate to lose, I have created a state whereby I just don’t care anymore. In order to cope with the stress of probably not winning, which equals losing, I have become really laid back. However, as I took my competitions seriously I did always compete against myself, against the previous times I had competed. I had even read a very good book on how to set goals for competing. Lent it to someone and never saw it again. Meeting those goals was more important to me than winning. The goals had to be measurable.  And I had to be able to control them. This would shift the focus from winning to improving our skills. I wouldn’t be nervous of entering the arena.

It also helps to have a routine before the competition. Studies have shown that it depends on your personality if you want solitude or need to be among people in order to prepare yourself mentally. I am the kind of person who needs to be somewhat alone, I need to do my business without interruptions, focusing on my horse as he deserves a bit of attention before entering the arena. Sticking to a certain flow helps ease any jitters I may have.

So now we have this normally very sane and stoic person, becoming a bit unhinged. The people you would least expect it from are those who suffer a bit from competition anxiety. She wants perfection tomorrow, which I can understand. However, I do not believe in perfection. I don’t think perfection is obtainable. That does not mean we should not strive for perfection, just don’t expect to obtain it on all levels 100% of the time.  And I think she will do very well at the competition.