Practice Makes Permanence   Your ultimate performance will occur when you can allow yourself to be completely in the now.  This state is when you have 100% confidence in yourself and can trust that everything will go according to plan.     By incorporating the 4 P’s of preparation you can ensure that you are able to give yourself over to your performance with complete confidence….   Practical – The ‘Lists’ – the Plan that will get you to the day completely prepared.  Personal – Your specific competition goals and your individual tool kit to keep you focussed on the day Performance – your training, your rehearsal prior to the event and your warm up  plan/routine for the day Praise – your personal reflection/celebration and key learning’s analysis that is applied to ongoing training and competitions.     Over the last couple of months we have looked at the first two steps, Practical and Personal.  There are four components to your Performance Preparation…   Rehearsal for the event, running through a test, jumping a cross country course etc Mental rehearsal where you image your test or course Attitude motivator – putting you in the right mood for the day Warm  up routine for the day     Rehearsing for the actual event at home can take many forms but ideally it should replicate the routine that you will do on show day as closely as possible.  Run through your entire routine as if it was the day – do your warm up then your two tests, understand the timings associated with each.  Jump a round of jumps at the local pony club, take a few flower pots along and introduce your horse to them.  Park your car in the paddock and ride around it as if it were the judge’s car etc.  All of these things are events that can be prepared for and could save much heartache on the day itself.   Mental rehearsal is such an important part of Peak Performance and often the most difficult technique to master.  I am going to write more about it at a later date as there is a lot of material to cover and different techniques that can be incorporated for different people and different situations.  Basically mental rehearsal is where you run through your performance in your mind with the ultimate goal of replicating the entire performance prior to show day.   You want to be able to visualise the whole test or round as if it is actually happening – in real time, real size, full colours and using all senses.  I have personally found that the easiest way to do this is to find a quiet spot where you can relax and sit uninterrupted and imagine yourself riding.  Some people do this and watch themselves in their mind like they were watching a video of themselves and others are actually on the horse and viewing the performance as it occurs.     The first few times you do this it will be difficult and seem virtually possible to take the real time that it would take to do a test.  But over time you do start to achieve this.  Make sure you fill in the detail, the feel of the saddle, the twitch of your horse’s ears etc. I’ve found that it helps to write down the entire test first with all detail filled in for your preparation, moves etc prior to visualising it.  This provides clarity and a script for your mental rehearsal. Remember here; practice makes permanent so persevere with it!    Ensuring that your head is in the right space on the day is vital in maximising a performance.  This is also incredibly personal so spend time thinking about your own motivator.  Think also about the ideal time for you to incorporate your attitude motivator remembering this is your mental set up for the day.  I have a phrase that I say to myself on the way to the show and a song that I play over (and over!!) again  It sets the tone for me, reminds me of why I’m doing all this and relaxes me.  Because I use it each time it is a great link for me for competitions as it is a consistent part of my routine.  It really puts me in the mood and transports me from everyday life to competition mode.   Your warm up routine is your link between all the training and preparation you have done to what happens in the arena when the bell goes.  Again so many riders here are unsure of what to do in their warm up to maximise their performance.  Establish your warm up routine at home.  This can be done with your trainer and should be practised regularly so that it is automatic and routine for the event.  The security this will give both you and your horse is enormous.  Naturally there will need to be Plan B’s here as there are with all components of preparation.  Your horse may not be responding to his usual routine, the area may be too small, the timing cut short, what ever.  All of these will be anticipated and prepared for at home so that you can adapt to your environment without incurring stress along the way.   Next month I will be detailing the final component of preparation and that is “Praise”.  This last step is often the one that is missed out as it occurs after the actual performance.  It is however a vital component and planing for it prior to competition will contribute enormously to the performance on the day and also to future successes.   We can be contacted at www.performancehorse.co.nz.