I was reading this article about the “McCaw Method” and this really helped me put results and performances into perfective and look at the positives of performances instead of beating myself up when things “don’t go to plan”. So I thought I would share these steps of what a successful athlete does:

1. A successful athlete accepts that they aren’t going to perform at there very best every time they compete.
2. They understand that success lies in the consistent control of their habits, emotions and mindset.
3. A successful athlete understands that in order to win on their “bad days” they need to continually give their best effort and believe that they can actually win.
4. A successful athlete understands that sometimes being involved in the process allows them to get rid of negative thoughts and focus on what matters.
5. Successful athletes don’t ruin their chances of winning or performing better by letting negative or bad attitude get in the way. They keep fighting until the end.

Throughout this month I have been under pressure to balance studying for law exams and keeping my horses in work and ensuring my training are still at a high standard. I just thought I would share this statement. This helps me stop the urge to take short cuts when things get tough. When under pressure you don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the habits you have created in your practices. The biggest learning for me this month is to practice good habits, as when the pressure comes on its good habits that bring you out the other side.

Hunua horse trial was my first big event of the season where I ran Maple in the 2star, we finished 6th place. The major work-ons that I took away from Hunua were; I need a more forward warm-up that focus on straightness and softness. I need to have her more in front of my leg during the showjumping, and trust her more during combinations on the cross country as I felt that I was rushing her through them.

Maple during the cross country phase at the TWC Springbush Hunua HT - photo thanks to show circuit magazine. 

From Hunua I then headed to squad training in Taupo with Maple and Jack. This was Jack’s first major outing and I was most impressed with his attitude and how chilled out he was. A couple of learning’s from squad training were; dressage 80% leg and 20% hand, straightness and consistently asking myself the question can I give? There is no such thing, as a bad spot in jumping you just have to use what you have. Keep the same rhythm when approaching the fence and then the horse can jump from anywhere. Another interesting point, on the second day of training we set up a round of jumps and warmed up and jumped the round just like we would at a competition. It really showed the benefits of training under pressure, I defiantly gained a lot of pointers on how best to warm up at a competition.

Jackson and myself just about to head out into the rain for our jump lesson at Sqaud training. 

From squad training I then had Taupo horse trail were I just ran Maple in the dressage and showjumping over two star level. She was fresh in the dressage which I was not expecting considering how much she had done during the week at squad training - although there were improvements shown from Hunua, she also showjumped well. Jack had his very first event doing the pre-training, he did a very quiet test and I was most impressed with how chilled out he was, although green and he did some interesting transition’s and corners but he looked the part! He also survived his first proper showjumping round and managed to focus during 80% of the round. The cross country proved to be and interesting ride but we survived! Onwards and upwards!

Competition life proving very tiring for Baby Jack!  

Jack and I learning the showjumping course with the help of Dani. 

My focus now turns to HOY – more updates to come,

Aleisha