I first met Jo through a training day with British Eventing and following this, I could see how Jo could really help me with some issues I was having with my two ex-racehorses – who I was competing at BE80/90. I had been working so much on the horses, I’d forgotten to think about how my mindset was impacting our performance.
Over a period of months, we worked on a variety of factors, all of which have been incredibly helpful. One aspect we looked at was simplifying my thought processes. It turns out I had so much going through my head during the individual elements, there was no way I could remember what I needed. I worked on having focus words (for my horse: “Balance” and “Power”), which I still use and are so much more powerful than the jumble of: “Leg on, must go clear, oh no that was the wrong stride” type of muddle that was going through my head!
I also had a mind-block with doubles (SJ) and corners (XC) and as a result my horses picked up on this and we had issues. Jo discussed this with me and using great questions, she helped me identify that I was riding differently to a double than I would a fence I was comfortable with. We worked on just focusing on the first element and treating it like any other fence, and the results were immediate. As for corners, Jo helped me to realise through imagery that it was something we could do and again, corners have not been an issue since.
Part of my job is as a Performance Coach and I have been very impressed with Jo’s ability to bring coaching into the sessions to really help me to uncover my best solutions. Jo is prepared to offer options when necessary, but most of the time she works with the individual to help them come to the answer, which is very refreshing!
