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“We often look at our horses, or even at our equipment, in trying to find a solution to our problems, when in fact we have to look at ourselves as well and think how we as riders are contributing to a situation,” Poppy Blandford, a performance coach specialized in equestrians, tells World of Showjumping. 

“As a rider, you are training for hours and hours and then you have to perform in 90 seconds, which is a really short timeframe, and a lot happens within those seconds,” Blandford continues. “You need to have the ability to stay in the moment, follow a thought pattern quickly and react to whatever is happening around you – and that can be influenced by many variables. You might have had an argument with someone before getting on your horse, you might have gotten a stressful message from an owner, or your groom is quitting, but you have to move on and deliver in 90 seconds. On top of that, riders are traveling so much; their life is relentless. Therefore, the ability to actually process all the information they are taking in and using it in their advantage is getting more and more important.”

All riders should be open to learning about the mental aspects of our sport, the 33-year-old Irish believes. “Some people are naturally more inclined to enjoy it, while some don’t connect with it at all. A 20-year-old who thinks everything is going fantastic, might not want to stop and talk about it – it might not make sense to them – and that is fine. However, at some point during a career, everyone is bound to face some sort of challenges and then it is interesting to have tools to deal with that,” Blandford says.

You can be trained to be more consistent, so that you can access a place where you feel fully focused and confident

“I often hear riders saying how they on some days can get into their zone and on other days not, and there is almost an acceptance of the inconsistency,” Blandford points out. “However, that is something you don’t have to accept. You can be trained to be more consistent, so that you can access a place where you feel fully focused and confident more often than not. It is all about tools and training, it is not a super-power.”

“What you need to succeed in life, are tools and an understanding on how to deal with different situations,” Blandford says. “Working on your mental abilities does not have to be about having a certain problem, but rather optimizing your own abilities, learning more about yourself. The more you know about yourself, the better you can deal with whatever you may face during your life. My work is about giving people tools so that they can move more efficiently and easily through whatever situations arise. We are looking at how you as an individual can get the best out of yourself, consistently.” 

Poppy is specialized in equestrian sports, her partner is a rider, and they have a stable at home – a background she believes is beneficial. “I really understand the realities of our sport; I am familiar with the feelings involved, the tiny moments. I think that if you don’t have the understanding of the uniqueness of our sport, it can be quite difficult to work with riders. I have been riding horses my whole childhood and then went to university and studied to be an occupational therapist, specializing in child and adolescent mental health. I used to work with issues such as eating disorders and depression, but I was also really interested in the sport side of things. I have also worked in Wellington and Canada as a rider and a groom, and realized during that time how there was a huge need for someone who understood the psychology of this sport. When I returned to Ireland, I was trying to figure out what to do and at the time, many people thought it would not be possible to have a business focusing on psychology for equestrians. However, I did think there was an opportunity there, so I went and did my masters and started my business.” 

If you don’t have the understanding of the uniqueness of our sport, it can be quite difficult to work with riders

Now, Blandford is based in Ireland but 95% of her work is international. “I do a lot of one-to-one video calls with riders, helping them to prepare mentally for a championship, and dealing with nerves and fear. A lot of the professionals come to me with a feeling that they could be doing better – not that anything is particularly wrong, but they really want to learn about themselves and be more consistent,” Blandford tells. “I do lots of groups as well, like the Young Riders Academy and Horse Sport Ireland, as well as different national federations.” 

“Horses are huge maintainers of good mental health, and in many forms of therapy, used to create self-awareness in people,” Blandford says. “However, when we look at horse-and-rider performance, we have two components; we need the horse to be calm and focused, and the rider as well. Being able to have self-awareness separates humans from horses and as riders, we have to be able to step into that leader role.”

We have two components; we need the horse to be calm and focused, and the rider as well

“I used to work in mental health with patients who were unwell, and my goal was to bring them to normal, whereas now I work with people who are functioning, and try to bring them towards better performance,” Blandford continues to explain. “Even though there are some aspects of mental health that in our sport are still not a normal conversation to have, the performance side has totally elevated. Many riders do, or have done, some sort of sport psychology work, so the culture is changing, which is fantastic.” 

“I wish riders would not feel the pressure of being at a show every weekend,” Blandford answers when asked about a change within the sport that she would like to see, that she thinks would benefit everyone’s mental health. “In mainland Europe, you have an opportunity to go to a show every weekend if you want to. However, real performance comes from choosing an event and having the ability to peak at it. When you look at some of the best championship riders, they don’t show every week, but when they come out, they jump double clear for their team – and to me, that is real talent. I think we are falling into the habit of going to a show every weekend because we can, and it might be more enjoyable than being at home.”

“However, you actually learn more about yourself and your horses with the work you do at home,” Blandford points out. “Horses teach us a lot about ourselves and our reactions, because we tend to mirror each other. Getting to too many shows and getting on the horses on auto-pilot, you might lack the connection with your horses. There is nothing like the connection we create with our horses, and we have to try and access that place of connection as much as we can.”

 Real performance comes from choosing an event and having the ability to peak at it

“This sport is always moving so quickly; we get up early every day and we just go,” Blandford continues. “Something I would recommend people to do is just to stop for five minutes, either in the morning or the evening before, and just think about your day – actually start to influence how your day is going by slowing down. Essentially, you are slowing down to speed up; stopping for five minutes creates a lot more efficiency in your day.”

“Also, it is really important to have self-awareness,” Blandford says. “A lot of the work that I do with riders is looking at their behaviour; in the warm-up, during course walk, in the morning of a Grand Prix, and ask them what is actually working, what is not working, what are the patterns that are coming up for them, what affects their emotions… By objectively looking at your own behaviour, you can build a routine that starts to work for you. You are not going to have self-awareness if all you do is start your day and go on auto-pilot; you really have to stop and actually think about what you are doing and question if your routines really work in your favour.”

While the riders are alone in the arena during the 90 seconds of performance, they are not the only ones dealing with the pressure; there is a whole team behind them, and every member carries their share of the stress. “Everybody feels the pressure, and sometimes it is harder to watch from the outside than to be the rider in the ring,” Blandford says. “The support team often wants the results just as much as the rider does and they stress as much and feel as responsible – not in those 90 seconds, but before and after, and that is a huge load to carry. The team around a rider needs tools to be able to deal with the pressure of high-level sport, and I think riders are actually starting to realize that; they are trusting their groom to fly around the world, drive the truck with their most valuable horses, to have everything organized, and they, too, need to be able to deal with the stress.” 

The team around a rider needs tools to be able to deal with the pressure of high-level sport

“Often I meet people who say that everything is fine, but when I ask them about their consistency, their ability of delivering without making a mistake, their ability to focus, most have room to improve,” Blandford says. “My job is not to know the answers to everything, all I do is ask questions. However, a space where you can sit down and talk about yourself and have someone focus on you objectively, can be really powerful. If you talk to a friend, they will come back with their version of the events or their experience. Once you can free yourself from thinking that you are the only person with a certain issue, or that something in you is abnormal, you will be able to open yourself and improve; unlock self-acceptance instead of accepting what you think is “normal”.”

“I am sure many people think about doing the mental work, or have an interest for it, or know they should, but find it hard to start or to make that commitment,” Blandford concludes. “Also, it can be hard to find the right person to work with. Often people have the approach that if they just keep trying, things will get better. However, there can be something in your mind or in your thought patterns that actually needs changing instead of pushing through, and those points can be difficult to find alone. Reaching out and asking for help instead of trying to push through alone can make life a lot more enjoyable and easier.” 

9.5.2023 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.