I was going to write a blog about feeling a bit down and trying to overcome those feelings. I had even done some voice memos on my phone whilst I was mucking out this morning to remind myself of what I wanted to write.
I was feeling a bit ‘blah’, not lacking motivation exactly, more just having a moment of it all being too much and too complicated and too stressful. You know a bit fragile, almost tearful? I think it stems from the fact that we have no control over our lives and we are at the whim of this virus. The government dictates, rightly or wrongly, what we can and can’t do. All of us have the shadow of finances and not knowing what the next month or more will hold for us.
But then I rode Elena and my mood did a 180 change for the better. Why? Simply because I had a great session with her, really relaxed and focused. I have been taking the time to do some exercises that are in the Tristan Tucker online videos. I am using the exercises to manage the spooking and help her relax. Today felt like a turning point.
The thing is, without the lockdown and the virus I probably wouldn’t have had the time to start exploring other ideas with Elena. I reflected on what is happening now in my little bubble in North Wales and realised I am achieving loads! We are three weeks in and little steps have been taken. The flying changes are much more consistent, the collected work is improving and all the horses look really well.
These steps would not have happened during the competition season. I would have put off doing certain work just in case it affected the tests I was doing, or caused too much tension.
Having no competitions to work towards is also helping me mentally. It has taken the pressure off of me to achieve scores for Pet Plan or regionals, made me think about what I want to do and also what I enjoy doing. This time of reflection then benefits the horses as I am not chasing any competitive goals.
However what I am slightly disappointed about though is the lack of online competitions. The FEI has banned FEI judges and FEI competitors from competing in online dressage competitions unless they are ‘sanctioned’ by the national federations and/or licensed by the FEI. This is because they say that they cannot check the welfare of the horses and ensure that arena footing is adequate, blah blah. Hhhhmmm sounds like a load of ‘whatsit’ to me. The FEI tests are free to download, widely available and used throughout the world, no doubt in plenty of ‘unsanctioned’ competitions. Why get uppity now?
Sounds like they are preparing the way to ask for money or ban judges from online competitions so that they can do their own FEI version in the future…..
So with all this running around rider’s heads no wonder we are all a bit up and down like a yo yo. Thank goodness for my four legged friends to keep me vaguely sane.