The Equestrian Athlete - Alison Kenward's approach

It may seem strange in the middle of this unprecedented World-wide pandemic, but let's use this time of lockdown to learn, and plan, and improve

In tandem with super-coach Alison Kenward i have been looking at how I can plan to improve, and not just in terms of lessons which are becoming increasingly difficult to arrange right now

We are all very well aware these days of the fact that our horses are athletes, and as such we need to support their well-being.  Are we as aware that we are athletes too?  Our imbalances and physical weaknesses affect our horses, and so we need to focus on our own fitness and strength just as much

If, like me, you drive a desk all week it's difficult to fit in all you need to do - particularly when you know that out of the saddle exercise is just as important as in the saddle exercise

Similarly, if my brain is full of the things I need to do at work, at home, and with my horses it's tough to get myself into the right mindset on demand, so I ask for help and Alison always comes up with a strategy!

For me there are 3 main areas that i look for help and where I believe we need to focus to scrape that extra 1% in dressage or 1 second in a jump-off.  They are:

1. Riding skill
2. Mental fitness  
3. Physical fitness 

Riding Skill

For riding skill we can easily deal with that - having lessons either alone or as groups.  Our Riding Club holds several sessions a week all year to help with all the disciplines.  We have our friend and coach Alison to support us as well as our friend and instructor Tracy Schofield who also trains and schools the horses for us when we can't ride ourselves during the week.  This winter has been particularly rubbish weather-wise, so whilst our horses have been out of action and/or it's been simply too hideous to ride, we've been going to Talland to try and brush up on old skills and learn new ones in preparation for the coming season - whatever year that might be in!

Mental Fitness

This is more of a challenge.  Studies I've read suggest that this is even more important than skill, because our minds can truly drive us to be the best versions of ourselves, or stop us from doing so even if our skill level is on top of the world.  Of course one without the other is no use to us in competition, so we need to put some effort in here too

Alison coaches in a style that supports development of mindset alongside our riding.  She also runs sessions focusing on just this and there is a eureka moment every time!  Her skills are such that you think you're just chatting, and afterwards realise you've made a discovery about changing your approach or focusing on what is good

In fact 4/5 of the quadrille team visited one of these sessions a couple of weeks ago.  The riders worked on the flat in the morning with Alison in individual sessions, then over lunch (the bit I joined) we all sat together and chatted.  No topic is off the table, and even in group sessions an admission that you think will make you look stupid turns out to be exactly what everyone else was thinking!  After lunch is an opportunity to put the flat lesson into practise with added fences or poles if you wish.  It's all in an indoor school and we all came away with new ideas, new approaches and new friends.  Brilliant format for learning

Physical fitness

It's clear that horse riding, even just hacking round the village at walk, involves some degree of physical effort.  It's important that as riders we are fit enough to be able to maintain the right level of effort so as to help our horse balance and not hinder him. 

We (the quadrille team) have recently taken up Pilates to support this.  We all have varying degrees of arthritis these days, so can't run as we all used to.  We all drive desks during the week so can't ride as much or as often as we'd like to.  So this seems a good way to support strength and balance without wrecking joints!

The main thing i have taken away is that it has increased my body awareness tenfold.  So much so that in my last out of the saddle coaching session with Alison I was able to articulate and demonstrate which areas were holding me back.  At my last session at Talland i identified why my horse couldn't bend around my left leg as well as round my right, and the Pilates helped me to see that.  Here's how i described it:

left canter

how right canter should be

How i do right canter due to a very weak left side - amazing any horse ever gives it to me!

Alison's coaching around stretching and poise is supporting the awareness from Pilates and helping me to even myself out and improve my position.  It's amazing what links the brain makes just chatting over coffee!  Alison is brilliant at explaining exactly how the brain makes these links, and also at hitting the nub of the issue.  So whilst I was busy having a Pilates epiphany in terms of my body weakness, Alison had already spotted it and had to point out to me that we already work on this in ridden sessions!

For this piece I was planning to write about the area where I struggle most, but on reflection i think all 3 areas are tough and need work - constantly.  And i would say for me the effort needs to be applied in all areas of my life.  Don't forget too that we all need downtime to counter all the learning - although I have found that the learning somehow finally sinks in during that downtime and that's where i find my eureka moments

Here's to getting better and better 

Much love

Tam, and Equestriman Beau and Stella xxx