When we train, we often have occasions of “Peaks” “Troughs” and “Plateaux’s”, but what are these and how and why do they happen? After all, aren’t we supposed to simply improve with every session?

Well, yes, in the ideal world, every session would be perfect and we would progress at alarming rates. But in reality this rarely happens, especially with novice riders.

We look at Grand Prix riders and think, wow, they are so good, and make it look so easy.  Yes, they are, and indeed do, however at various points in their training, they too have had these peaks, troughs and plateaux’s.

So what is a “Peak”? The peak is that feeling when it seems like everything is going well, the improvements keep coming and you are thrilled with the results.

“Troughs” are the opposite. They are those times when no matter how hard you seem to try, it just doesn’t happen, whether that be being able to do something new, or even something which you thought you had conquered. A feeling of being useless is how I’ve often heard it described.

“Plateaux’s”, these are the bit in between the other two.  Often a plateau is reached when a new level is being introduced. The new exercises to learn, or the ability to learn how to sit to the bigger trot at medium etc. It is these “new” things or even “repetitive” things which can seem like a lifetime to achieve sufficiently to progress. That feeling of “I am not getting anywhere”.

It is important to remind yourself that every rider has experienced all these feelings, regardless of their current level.

As we approach a new challenge we all become “beginners” again and go through the channels mentioned above, but it is at the “trough” and “plateau” stages we must remind ourselves that what once felt difficult became easy, and the current feelings you are experiencing will also become ones of ease, or a “peak”.

 The following graph illustrates the typical learning journey:

As you can see, Unconscious Incompetence is the beginning, often a "peak" time, then the "trough" of Conscious Incompetence, suddenly realising it is not as easy as you first thought, followed by a slow rise to Conscious Competence a period of a "plateau" as your learning grows, back up to the "peak" of Unconscious Competence, suddenly you are doing what was originally difficult easily.

This arrow chart shows that journey:

So, which level do you feel you are at?

I work with lots of nervous riders, having had two major injuries and being determined to beat the associated fears, i work through each riders personal problems with them and find the right route out the other side.

Being nervous is a common issue, but your nerves needn't be the end of the line for you.

The first and main point to address is WHERE the issue stems from. Can you pin point the EXACT issue?

For example: "I am scared to jump", this is so common, but is it the “jump” that is really the issue? Usually it is not the jump, it is an association with jumping itself. Perhaps you had a fall, you have immediately associated jumping with falling off, falling off resulted in a fright, and possibly pain, so your immediate response is :“i am scared of jumping”, when actually the correct identity is “I am afraid of the pain and being frightened like that again”.

So when trying to analyse your reasons for being nervous, look deeper than the surface, it is there you are more likely to find the root, and from the root you can rebuild your confidence.

So, staying with “I am afraid of jumping”, don’t push yourself too far too quickly, begin with poles, enlist the help of a trainer who understands your fears, begin again on a horse who is schooled and easy to jump, and finish the session when you are enjoying it and WANT to keep jumping, then you will want to do it again, if you go too far and get a fright, you will reaffirm the negative thoughts and convince yourself that your initial fears were warranted, reinforcing the nervousness.

The same principles apply to schooling, hacking and handling. Little and often is the key.

 Riding should be a pleasure not a chore :)