Busman's holiday - Every day is a learning day.

Burghley horse trials for a week would be awesome any year but when you've effectively been on box rest for 13 weeks, boy did it feel nice to be out the house!!

What an amazing week we had - beautiful weather, a tonne of food & drink and plenty of quality sport.

As much as I always intend to relax and 'holiday' - this seems almost impossible considering how much I wanted to see & do. I am fascinated with everything and anything, for example:

First horse inspection - how are the horses moving? Which horse looks like it's going to explode during their dressage test? Also, having had my own recent (& ongoing) lameness issues - how do the riders move? Do they look fit & strong?

Dressage - I love to watch the horses work in - to observe the systems the rider has in place to produce the best 5 mins at exactly the right time. By watching the different horse/rider combinations (on the biggest stage) gives me fresh ideas on different techniques and coping strategies.

XC day- Okay, so I'm not a great fan of the crowds - so I stay strictly out on the course with a camping chair and bottle of Prosecco. Having walked the course already - I know exactly which jumps I want to watch & where from. I love to see the partnership between horse & rider when tackling these HUGE TECHNIQUAL jumps - after all - the horse hasn't walked the course, and effectively has no idea what is ahead. It's up to the rider to set them up as well as possible and trust the horse to understand the question. (Along with years and years of training & competitions obviously!)

2nd horse inspection - gives opportunity to see the horses move after effectively running a marathon the previous day. The vast majority of horses literally floated down the trot which was lovely to see.

Show Jumping - this phase was very influential this year with very few going clear inside the time. As the competitors jump in reverse order - the pressure was building and (strangely?) I like to see that even the TOP riders get nervous and look like they are going to throw up. It's easy to look at professional riders and believe they aren't human - that they don't feel nerves, they don't make mistakes or mess up. But we all do - even the very best - we are all human.

This leads me to think - why as recreational riders do we literally beat ourselves up over our nerves, mistakes or imperfections? Literally the best riders in the world, who are regularly competing more in one day then we are in a whole season, suffer from the same 'issues'. Is this just something we need to learn to manage rather than eliminate?

As I coach - I work with my clients to help put systems in place to manage their 'blockers'. By taking the time to listen and understand what is stopping them achieving their goals means we can, together, create a structured plan.

If you are interested in looking forwards - drop me a message to see how I can help you & your horse.