Fearful of a fence?
Walking the course can be both a help and a hindrance. On the one hand, it gives you an opportunity to plan your route and how you’ll approach each fence/question. On the other, it also lets you see what fences are going to be thrown at you come competition day – and they might not all be straightforward. It’s on these course walks that riders can become too focused on the scary fences and not about the others. “In this situation, you need to change your thinking,” says Helen. “If there’s only one jump you don’t like, it means that you’ve still got 20 or so other jumps that you find straightforward. “Another good tip is to change the way you think about these fences. Rather than labelling them as ‘scary’ or ‘demon fences’, think instead of them as a challenge or a test. It’ll make them seem less daunting and encourage you to tackle them head on.”