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