Nationals 2009 - what an event

Wow, what a week it has been!

Last week's 2009 Australian Dressage Championships have been an amazing event!

I bet you have either experienced it live being there yourself or read about it all on the Dressage websites of this country (and internationally!).

In this blog I'll be sharing my insights on the last couple of days from a "High Performance Coach" point of view...

Presenting our Seminars on "The Mental Side to the Equestrian Sport" in such a big event environment there were quite a few preparations to be ticked off before kicking off our first Seminar Thursday evening:

- organise technical equipment

- make sure it works !!!

- print out flyers

- finalise presentations

- print out handouts

- go to the hairdresser

- ...

It was quite an exciting day getting ready for our first Seminar "3 effective Ways to improve your communication with your horse".

I was buzzing around the (massive) SIEC grounds hanging up all our flyers, talking to old friends and other interested people about what i do and what the Seminars are all about.

Then at 6.00 pm we got started... All technical equipment was working (thank god for good preparation!) and my dad and brother were there for emotional support - gotta love the family!

There were about 15 people attending the first Seminar, which was great. The audience seemed to enjoy the content and presentation and was really engaged, especially when we spoke about how our physiology communicates to our horse (sometimes other things than we want it to...).

After the Seminar I got approached by a successful VIC rider asking about the 5 key messages to take away from the Seminar, she had missed the beginning and wanted to share them with her team.

Here they are:

1. Being aware is the first step!

2. Take responsibiliy!

3. Manage your state!

4. Manage your physiology!

5. Manage your beliefs!

More about day 2 & 3 of the Nationals to come soon!

Should you want to get the full presentation, let me know and I'm happy to send you the powerpoint presentation with my notes ;-)

Have a fabulous day,

Anna

The Mental Side to the Equestrian Sport - Seminars at the 2009 Australian Dressage Championships

In Equestrian Sport, athletes are faced with one big challenge other professional athletes aren’t:

As riders we can only physically train our horses for so long every day in order to keep them sound. Being in control of the mental and emotional side of our training is therefore even more important to the success of an individual equestrian athlete, as well as a team.

Stepping Up Coaching is proudly presenting two Seminars addressing the topic of the

“Mental Side to the Equestrian Sport” at the 2009 Horseland Australian Dressage Championships!

We are presenting:

Thursday, 29 October - 6.00-6.30 pm:

“3 Effective Ways to Improve your Communication with your Horse”

Friday, 30 October - 12.00-12.45 pm:

“How to set Goals for your Riding – and achieve them!”

These Seminars will be open for riders & spectators and will be held at the riders retreat.

All welcome.

For further information, please contact Anna Krups

Email: anna@steppingupcoaching.com

5 Principles to Success in your Riding! Principle 4: Bahvioral Flexibility

Welcome back!

We have now posted our 4th Principle to Success in your Riding on the OntheBit website:

http://onthebit.com.au/content/item.php?cat=athletes&id=345&PHPSESSID=e69cfe9d67736b772fac0464507e78c1

Enjoy the read!

Your Stepping Up Coaching team

Principle 3 to Success in your Riding: Sensory Awareness

Follow our series: 5 Principles to Success in your Riding, published on the OntheBit website.

This principle reveals how to use your sensory awareness to differenciate what is moving you closer to your goal and what is hindering you getting there.

Learn more by following the link below:

http://www.onthebit.com.au/content/item.php?cat=athletes&id=342&PHPSESSID=1f27d89f4029d69ac5ee3359552f1d87

I trust you'll enjoy making changes to your behavior and harvesting the great results awaiting you!

Have a wonderful day!

Your Stepping Up Coaching team

5 Principles to Success in your Riding. Principle 2: Take Action

So, how have you been going with implementing Principle 1: Know your outcome?

I trust you have been setting a few goals and really started thinking about what it is you want to achieve with your horse long-term, but also day to day in your training sessions.

Today I will be introducing you to the second principle and this one is where you really need to “get your hands dirty”… Sounds scary? Maybe, but the results awaiting you when you do “do it” are definitely worth it!!

Principle 2: Take action

There is simply no substitute for taking action! Will Rogers once said: “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you are just sitting there.”You can have the most talented horse and be the best rider, if you don’t train constantly you will not be able to present yourself and your horse according to your talent.

This principle is all about doing something even if it is a little uncomfortable.Taking action means actively working towards the goal you have set – doing a little bit every day. It does not have to be massive change.

One step every day will get you very far in a month, in a year and in 10 years!

Imagine where you could be with your training in one year if you take action – only one step – every day!And now imagine if you don’t do anything… where would that take you?! I’m guessing the place when you do take action is definitely more attractive!

Ideas on what to you can do to take action:

- Look at the competition level you are competing now (or if you are doing really well at that level, look at the level above) and analyze the dressage tests. What can you work on today to improve your riding and your scores at the competition?

- Look at the training scale and evaluate how your horse is working on each level. How is it’s rhythm? Try doing something different in the training, for example working with trot poles or cavallettis…Be creative in your work with your horse. Your horse will work best when it is in a motivated state (which does not come from going round the arena in circles every day!)

- Attend a clinic to check out another training/teaching style and see what you can learn from this instructor which is possibly different from what you have done so far.

- If you don’t have heaps of money to invest into your riding at the moment, buy and read (!!) – this is no joke, people do buy books and think that’s the learning done already – a riding book to improve your theoretical knowledge of how to ride a certain movement you’ve been struggling with. Once you theoretically “know” it, it’s easier to practice it on your horse.

- Or maybe take action with a simple thing you have been procrastinating about like finally getting the saddle checked, getting the horse dentist out, or something else to ensure your horse is in a healthy condition to bring it’s best game to the table.I’m sure you will be able to come up easily with a few things you have been procrastinating about which could improve your riding…

This is where it comes down to you to take action – principle 2 to success in your riding!Looking forward to your feedback – would really love to hear how you go with this one!

Next week I’ll be sharing principle 3 with you: “Sensory awareness”!

5 Principles to Success in your Riding - part 1

What I would like to share with you in today’s article is part 1 of the 5 Principles of success which you can apply to your riding and also other areas of your life.

The creators of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) noticed that when certain criteria were applied it could increase the chance of you achieving your goals! And in your case applying these principles can increase the chances of you formulating better results in your riding, right now.

Let me be honest, I cannot promise that you will suddenly achieve massive success in your riding. But when you apply these 5 principles to your riding, I can definitely ensure that the chances of you improving your riding are much better than before! And I personally believe that if there is something like this, that can help you achieve your goals, you will want to know about it.

When I say “apply” these principles to your riding I do not mean read this article now and then wait until a month has gone by to prove it isn’t true. That’s not how it works – unfortunately, how easily could I make millions of dollars selling this article?!
No, what I mean when I say “apply” is this: Read the article now and then use what you have learnt with every principle, every day.

Change happens when we do things differently consistently, not only once!

Personally, I would recommend reading all parts of this article 3 times every day for 30 days. And then let me know how you go. I’d love to hear your feedback!
I will post a new principle every week, so you'll have all 5 Principles together in 5 weeks!

My tip: Seriously, you are not paying lots of money for this article; you can’t lose anything. However you can gain something you really want, right?! So, give it a go and actually apply the principles to your riding.

O.k., let’s get started:

Principle 1: Know Your Outcome!
So many people go through their life getting and reacting to whatever turns up. I can remember asking a client a while ago: “So, what do you want your riding/your life to be like in 1 year?” The answer I get most of the time to this question is this: “No idea!“ or “I don’t set goals.”

The fact is a lot of people do not set goals. In general it can be said that people spend more time planning their holiday, then they do planning their life. In our case I think the same can be applied to setting goals for your riding. True?!

But think about it. You spend so much time and money on your horse, don’t you think that when you have set goals you will improve your chances of actually reaching them?!

To become the “Master” of your riding the first step you must do is become clear on what outcome you want!

Ask yourself some questions like:
- “What is it I truly want to achieve in my riding?”
- “What do I want my relationship with my horse to be like?”
- “What do I want to experience in my riding moment to moment, day by day?”

We constantly face challenges in our riding (especially when training on our own) and what can happen is that sometimes we feel so caught up in the challenge that all we think about is the “problem”; we forget to ask ourselves “What outcome am I looking for?”

I know so many riders who are so focused on what the horse DOES NOT do well or they CANNOT do (yet), all they think about when riding is exactly that – the problems! When we move our focus from the problem to our outcome we are giving ourselves a much better opportunity to achieve what we really want in our riding.

So, no matter what situation you are in (and no matter how challenging it is) the key is to be able to realize that your focus needs to be on what outcome you are looking for.

I'm looking forward to your feedback on how you go with setting goals/outcomes for your riding and your relationship with your horse!

I'll post the 2nd Principle to Success in your Riding next week. It's called: "Take action!"

To you and your horse,

Your Stepping Up Coaching team

Mental strengh and time management at competitions

The big day has finally come ... and gone. Reverence F and Anna Krups are total 3rd in the Elementary at the State Championships!

Anna shares her experiences from competing at the NSW State Champs on how great time managment can minimize stress in competition situations.

Read more on our OntheBit blog:

http://www.onthebit.com.au/content/item.php?cat=blogs&id=336

On another note, I love this quote:

In order for people to be happy, sometimes they have to take risks. It's true these risks can put them in danger of being hurt.

Meg Cabot, 2002

I think it reflects really well what we all (as competitors) go through before entering the arena!

Have a wonderful day!

Your Stepping Up Coaching team