Researchers probe “the right stuff” in horse riders

Astronauts called it The Right Stuff – the essential abilities together with qualities needed for success.

Now, researchers accept explored the telephone substitution psychological elements behind the success of jumps riders, finding that i character inwards item sets them apart from lesser rivals.

While passenger athleticism together with physical skills play a move inwards showjumping, researchers lately focused on the psychological skills riders possess, such every bit attentional together with emotional control, together with the might to grapple negative thinking.

Understanding those psychological skills is what drives Dr Inga Wolframm, from the University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein inwards Wageningen, the Netherlands.

“Those incredible mental skills are the ones that fascinate me to this day,” she says. “What are they? Can nosotros learn them?”

Research from other sports has shown that such skills play an of import move inwards the success or failure of athletes, but to date, no such studies accept been conducted on equestrians.

Wolframm together with her inquiry partner, Elin Ottersky, devised a study aimed at finding out just what those mental skills are for competitive exhibit jumpers.

Wolfram presented the findings to delegates at the recent International Society for Equitation Science annual conference inwards Delware, inwards the US.

The Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS) is a self-report musical instrument designed to mensurate the sport psychological skills together with strategies used past times athletes inwards contest together with during practice. It was adapted to equestrian sports for the study, becoming known every bit TOPS-E.

The researchers recruited 73 American showjumping together with hunting riders, of international, national together with regional levels of contest inwards Ocala, Florida.

Before competing, the riders completed the TOPS-E assessment, which explored self-talk, emotional control, automaticity, goal-setting, imagery, relaxation, negative thinking, together with attentional control.

The most pregnant finding for researchers surrounded automaticity. Years of careful exercise inwards showjumping leads to elite riders having automaticity – the might to unconsciously perform physical acts such every bit delivering the aids when riding.

The results indicated significantly higher levels of automaticity for international riders, compared to national together with regional riders.

“The inwards a higher house inwards the score of functioning y'all are, the to a greater extent than y'all tin allow your torso only to react, without having to intend virtually it,” Wolframm says.

Essentially, “the amend y'all are, the to a greater extent than automated the skills”, she says.

Having automaticity over the physical side of riding may allow a passenger to complimentary upward their thinking processes to focus liberate energy on the of import mental skills required inwards competition.

When it came to differences betwixt the sexes, researchers constitute that women were to a greater extent than probable to engage inwards negative thinking than their manful someone riding counterparts. The researchers said this was similar to findings inwards non-equestrian sports.

Additionally, focusing on internal versus external events is of nifty importance to riders, says Wolframm.

“We too know that elite riders stress the importance of mental skills together with relevant mental attitude to a greater extent than than amateur riders.

“Amateur riders tend to focus really much on external events, spell the elite passenger says, ‘No, no, y'all necessitate to come upward dorsum to yourself, to your ain emotional strength’.”

 

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