What To Do The Day Of Your Competition

The day of your competition is a time when you want all your hard work to shine. Where you and your horse are putting your best foot forward and shining as the team you are. Its your chance to show case all the work you have put in. It is not the time to try something new or miss something out that has helped you get to where you are. So knowing what you do the day of your competition is important.

Firstly the main thing is that you don’t do anything new or anything strenuous. But what you do is things to help energize you, centre you and if you need possibly somethings to rebalance and mobilize you so that you can perform at your best.

This will come through really understanding your body and what it needs.

The more work you have put into your rider fitness and mobility the more you will know about your body and what areas need the most attention the day off competition in terms of movement.

Everyone is different and the week leading up to your competition will also have an impact on how you feel. The key is awareness, for someone who has been sitting a lot of the week they may like to stretch out their hips and lower back the morning of the show and do this while visualizing their test. For someone else, they may be incredibly nervous and anxious so the best thing they can do is a meditation in the quiet of their truck or an early morning walk with their horse to settle in.

The more events you do the more practice you will get at preparing yourself for your show. The key is understanding what you need and know that there is no one formula. So listen to your body and experiment with a few things that you know make you feel great and that will help you be the best rider you can be on the day.

If you are feeling a little tight or anxious try this short yoga routine out before you hop on your horse. Instead of focusing on intensity, instead focus on your breathe and staying really present.

Get access to more yoga, core workouts and rider strength routines in our online dressage rider training program. Including meditations, recipes, visualization techiniques to help you shine on the day of your competition.