Utilizing visualization techniques is helpful to harness the mind-body connection, which aids in training the body to be successful. Practice visualizing the proper physical techniques with advice from a sport psychologist in this video on horseback riding techniques.
Hi, I'm Tonya Johnston, I'm a sports psychology consultant, it's my job to help riders be psychologically prepared and mentally tough. In this segment we're going to talk about visualization and the fundamentals of visualizing effectively. Visualization is a skill where you either are creating a new experience in your mind's eye or recreating something that has happened to you in the past. This skill is really valuable in building memory. So if you're for example, if you're learning how to do a flying change on your horse. And you have a lesson where you finally get three fantastic flying changes. It can be really useful to go home that night and visualize and recreate the experience in your mind's eye. Because in that way, you're training your body, how it was successful, this is what I thought about, this is how I sat. So, as you relive it again, you're actually ingraining that mind and body. The mind body connection is what we're harnessing when we do visualization. So there are some keys, number one, you want to make sure your image is very vivid, you're using all of your senses. What can you see, what can you hear, importantly, what can you feel? You want to actually feel your legs wrapped around your horse, feel your hands and your gloves on the reins and feel the contact you have with your horse's mouth. The second point that's very crucial when visualizing is to be sure you have control of your images. When you tell your horse to canter, in your imagination it picks up the canter smoothly and everything is successful. So having this control can sometimes take a lot of practice. And let me note, visualization is a skill just like all of your physical skills, the more you practice, the effective you will be. Another important point in visualizing effectively is using what I call real time. So that your horse is cantering in a similar rhythm than it is in real life. Sometimes you'll have someone visualize and they'll begin and 22 seconds later, they'll be finished with a hunter course. Now, unless they were going at mock 1, it's pretty difficult to jump 8 jumps in a nice, rhythmic style in 22 seconds. So being sure that you're riding every step through the corner, being realistic to you horse's pace and the size of the rein is very, very important. Otherwise, you're going to be training your body to do things that it will not actually do when you're riding. Another valuable tip when visualizing is being sure to take a breath or two before you begin, you need to clear the deck. Visualization is a focusing technique as well as something that'll build muscle memory and experience. So by taking a breath or two before you start, you give yourself a very good chance of being as focused as you need to be throughout the whole exercise. Visualization is a powerful tool and it's something that riders all over the country use regularly. Be sure to use it yourself and you'll notice improvements in your performance.
Specialty: Sports Psychology
