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We all know the feeling… at home your horse is perfect, but as soon as you’re at a competition, it feels like your horse has completely changed.

He either won’t respond to your aids, like he’s in his own bubble, or he has become overactive and has too much energy.

You often see these horses starting to anticipate the movements and, for example, already going into canter or doing that flying change by themselves.

Both situations are not ideal when you want to perform at a competition.

Unfortunately, this is such a common problem and happens at all levels, from beginners all the way to the top.

So don’t feel too bad about yourself, because you’re not alone in this.

However, this also doesn’t mean you should just give up and accept the current situation.

Because I have good news for you.

This problem can be solved with every horse.

No matter how bad the situation might look, also your horse can learn to be confident and relaxed at competitions and have the right mental state.

Just remember the problem you’re having at competitions happens because…

Your horse hasn't been mentally prepared.

You see, we all focus on the technical aspect.

Practice the shoulder-in multiple times, ride that transition etc. And we even continue doing this right before we start the test.

But we shouldn’t forget about the mental aspect.

We have sports psychologists teaching us how to get in a peak state mentally so we can give our best performance, but what about our horses?

How does a horse experience a show?

What is your horse thinking when he’s at a competition? Is he in the right mental state?

Watch the video below to learn my point of view about this:

So, you want to teach your horse to be mentally in control of himself.

Because we know what happens when he’s not in control of his mental state.

And like I explained in the video, when the level of tension gets too high, the muscles will become tight.

That leads to miscommunication and a mismatch between the mind and the body.

So even though your horse might want to respond to your aids, because of the tightening of his muscles he’s physically unable to do what you ask of him.

So, what is the solution?

Well, there’s one thing we all do and that’s: go to more shows and he’ll get used to it.

But as you know, that doesn’t work with every horse.

Going to more shows won’t solve the problem.

Because you see, just by going to more shows won’t give your horse the tools to manage his mental state.

In fact, it can even make things worse and create patterns of bad behaviour.

Because if your horse was really tense at a competition and he thinks that posture made him survive, next time he’ll respond in the same way.


When your horse gets nervous at a competition, it will lead to a physical reaction.

That also happens to us when we get nervous.

It will lead to all kinds of physical reactions, like we have to bring extra visits to the bathroom, not having an appetite, shallow breathing, tight muscles, shaking etc.

One of the techniques we can apply to ourselves to become more relaxed is focusing on certain muscles and relaxing them.

A relaxed body will lead to a relaxed mind.


When you can relax your body, this will have an influence on our mental state.

It’s the same when you smile.

Even if you feel there’s not a reason for smiling, but you still do it anyway, you will start to feel better. Your mind thinks there’s a reason to smile and will release feel-good neurotransmitters, like dopamine.

We can apply this ‘little trick’ to our horse as well.

A simple technique for a relaxed body.

In the video below I show you what this technique is about:

However, this technique should just serve your horse as a reminder to feel relaxed.

If your horse hasn’t been mentally prepared and the level of tension has skyrocketed, this technique isn’t going to be the solution.

You have to prepare your horse at home first.

Mentally prepare your horse at home before going to a competition.

Unfortunately, this is not something you can just do in 15 minutes.

This is a process that takes longer and it’s the foundation of my entire training method.

It consists of three steps, which I show in the following video:


Once you’ve mentally prepared your horse at home, it’s time to go to a show.

What’s important is that you keep paying attention to your horse’s mental state.

You should already do that when you’re plaiting your horse and getting him onto the trailer.

But also when you arrive at the competition!

Identify your horse’s mental state when you arrive at the competition.

How does your horse respond when you arrive? Is he in the right mental state?

In the video I below why it’s so important to pay attention to this.

Of course this also applies to when you’re in the warm-up arena and preparing your horse for the test.

Often the attention is on getting your horse really sharp so you can get the best extended trot or passage. The attention is on making sure your horse responds to your aids in the right way so you can get the highest marks.

And I totally understand that, but what is your horse thinking at that moment?

What is your horse thinking or what is he feeling when he enters the arena?

Sometimes it’s worth it to not focus on getting the highest marks.

And to give attention to the mind of your horse and how he’s feeling or what he’s thinking at that moment.

Maybe it gives you more of the edge by letting go of the technical and thinking more about the emotional state of your horse.


Okay, so let’s say you’ve prepared your horse at home and you’ve paid attention to making sure he’s relaxed during the warm-up, but what to do when your horse all of a sudden gets tense while riding the test?

What if you feel he’s about to spook at the judge’s box?

Or you feel he’s shutting down and ignoring your aids?

This is a very relevant question.

There is at least one thing you don’t want to do.

The number 1 mistake we make in a test.

Well, what is it?

What do we all do when we feel our horse is going into his bubble or about to spook?

We give more pressure.

We give more leg aids to keep him going.

In an Online Masterclass I’ve recently given, I also talk about this mistake we make and why we shouldn’t do that.

"But if I don't give leg aid, he will spook."

Yes, yes, I hear you.

And I get what you’re saying.

But here’s what I did when I felt my horse was about to spook. My explanation starts at 0:40.

The point I want to make is the competition you’re at, it probably isn’t your end goal.

It’s important to have a long-term vision and do what’s right for your horse in that moment.

And if that means leaving high scores on the table, then so be it. I promise you it will be worth it.