Do you worry about stops?
No one wants to go flying through their horse’s ears after he makes an emergency stop, but focusing on him stopping isn’t going to help your nerves. As Helen explains, if you find that you regularly worry about this, it could be you’re too focused on the competition results (i.e. something you can’t control) and not on what your horse is doing. “People who worry about stops at a competition are often fearful of losing the lead,” she says. “But you don’t really have any control over this. It’s also important to remember that there are occasions when your horse just won’t understand the question. There’s not a lot you can do at the time but it’s something you can incorporate into your training back home.” The best thing to do is to concentrate on what you can control, which is your approach to a fence. Make sure you get a good enough line and canter to give your horse the best chance of clearing the jump.