Horse Show Nerves
Horse show nerves are something that many different equestrians face. Whether you're about to gallop off for your cross country phase, up next to run your barrel pattern at the rodeo, or just waiting to enter the ring for a flat class. Everyone gets nervous, but not everyone knows how to conquer those nerves and turn them into something positive. Some people let their nerves get the best of them, but some people take those nerves and turn twist them to become something that is helpful to them. I'm going to tell you my ways of dealing with my horse show nerves and exactly what I do to keep myself cool as a cucumber in the show atmosphere.
Personally I'm one of those girls who hides their feelings and doesn't usually like to tell or show others how they're feeling. So my first horse show, about 5 years ago, I was crazy nervous. And of course I didn't want anyone to know that I was nervous at all, so I pretended I wasn't but deep down I was shaking with nerves and had a nervous stomach, the whole nine yards. The show went fairly well, however I knew that my next show I was going have to find a way to be more confident, as well as control my nerves. I knew it was okay to be nervous, but I just hated that feeling. So from that show on I completely rethought my outlook on my confidence and show nerves. After that show, I went into every show with a positive and confident attitude. I though of it all as just a practice and doing it all for experience. I started not caring what the outcome of the show was, I stopped caring about the ribbons and the placings, all I thought about was doing what I love and having fun while I was doing it!
To this day, the phrase "horse show nerves" never really even pop into my mind when I'm at a show. I focus on what I need to to in order to preform at my best and also I focus on what I need to do to help my horse preform at his best. I set my mind to so many other things that there's no time for nerves. I turn those nerves into concentration and excitement for what's about to come. Being 100% prepared for your show is also a huge way to be more confident on show day. I've found that the shows I'm not prepared for as much as I should be end up getting me stressed out, which in return will stress your horse out as well as the people around you. Have fun with your horse shows, don't let them take over your experience!
Now if you listen and learn from my experiences I believe that you will also be able to have fun at your horse shows with very little nerves or stress! You want to take as much as you can from each and every show, because they are all such great learning experiences! However you can't do much learning when you're in the bathroom puking up your breakfast because of your nervous stomach. I hope this was helpful to you who have asked me how I deal with my horse show nerves. If you have any questions feel free to email me on my "Contact Me" page, or even contact me on any of my social media sites.
