There is a saying that best sums up getting ready for the competitive arena, “if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail”. Preparation doesn’t just mean training your skills. Yes, you have to replicate what you learned to do at home, but there is more. A performance situation places different demands on the rider.

Raiders who have never invested in their own mental training will cope as well as the next person. They possess “ordinary” skills that will assist them in coping to a certain level. On the other hand, those who train specifically to develop their toughness skills can become “extraordinary” in this area; it is very much a learned skill.

Riders, at some point in their careers, usually know physical fear. Reoccurrences of physical fear can be confusing and really interfere with your riding pleasure. Some even give up at that point, exhausted from the inner struggle. There are things you can do, skills you can learn, to get yourself back to all that fun you’ve been missing.

Riders all too often give up on their “confidence” with the first failure. They think, “Well, that didn’t work. Thinking positively just doesn’t work.” Sure it works, but it’s not magic. The good news? Confidence is yours to have and to keep if you develop it and take care of it properly.