Safer jumping following colour research

The colour of markers on hurdles and fences at racecourses could change because of the way horses see colour. Research by the University of Exeter found that racehorses may jump better over white and yellow obstacles, instead of the orange/brown which is currently used on hurdle frames, fence take-off boards and guard-rails.

The study on equine vision, commissioned by the British Horseracing Authority and Racing Foundation in 2017, involved noting the behavioural responses of horses to more prominent colours in a controlled environment. It was carried out with trainer Richard Phillips and 11 racecourses, where the visibility of orange markers and other potential colours were tested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a result, a phased trial at training grounds will begin using fluorescent yellow for all hurdles and guard-rails and fluorescent white for take-off boards at fences. The colours have been determined to maximise visibility under a wide range of conditions for both humans and horses.

Jump with confidence again

Jumping with confidence is a block for many riders at some part in their riding career. It is an area where real experience of training horses and riders for jumping – as well as mindset coaching – is needed.  The following example demonstrates how NLP can be built into jumping lessons to develop new behaviours.

Breaking a cycle of lost confidence in horse and rider

Jenny used to love jumping, but a series of incidents had left both her and her mare nervous at the thought of jumping. The horse would sweat and start napping, if they went near the jumps in their schooling field. Of course this made Jenny tense and nervous too and the cycle just escalated.

First, it was important to break the cycle with a change of states – for once the rider has changed their emotional state eg from fear to confidence, the horse will quickly follow.  This is a key part of why an instructor can usually ride their pupil’s horse better than they can.

So, as a pre-assessment I ensured that the issue with jumping was not due to back soreness, lameness, poor fitting tack or any other issue with the horse.  I was able to assess the rider’s competence, contact and balance on the flat.  Therefore, in this situation as an experienced instructor I knew that the jumping could be made safe, enjoyable and appropriate for the horse and rider at their stage of training.

In our first session together I asked Jenny to remember a time when she had really enjoyed jumping – a magic moment. She described it to me and by asking more questions we ‘intensified’ the memory. Then we ‘anchored’ it so that she could bring the memory and feeling back when she needed it. It was easy to see by the way her posture changed and her face lit up… By using it during the lesson she was able to keep the good memory as she came towards a small grid. The horse picked up Jenny’s new found confidence and relaxation, so she also relaxed significantly and we were able to work over trot and canter poles.

Then, as we talked of moving to small jumps, Jenny admitted that she was seeing a horrible image of crashing among poles, which was interfering with the good anchor we had set up. Just 5 minutes later the ‘collapse anchor’ technique to shift the image left Jenny incredulous! ‘I can’t believe it, it’s just gone’ she said!

Try as she would, she couldn’t get it back either…..  They finished that session with some low jumps approached in trot and canter, a huge smile on both their faces!  This example summarises an important  aspect of the relationship between coach and rider. NLP techniques should only be used in the right context and with regard for horse and rider safety.   Please beware of working with these techniques with people who are not qualified – or insured – to train riders and their horses in mounted sessions.

Playing with your mind

Even the smallest fence would look like a huge brick wall to Mel….. it was certainly not jumpable. On one hand she wanted to jump, but with her mind playing tricks on her, she would just panic and pull up the horse. Mel loved working with horses and wanted to take her British Horse Society exams with a view to becoming a professional coach.

She came to me to see whether NLP  coaching could help on a one to one session. We started with Mel describing the imaginary fence, and went into some detail about how high it was and the colour of the bricks. This was to help her understand her visual imagination. We made it higher and wider and then put it back to its original size – this was tough for Mel and she genuinely looked and felt a bit queasy at times.  As her coach I had to be quick to calibrate how to loosen up this ‘stuck’ thinking and keep her mind moving. I also worked with her beliefs about jumping and helped her review her thinking about how to jump effectively.

I asked Mel to look more closely at her imaginary fence and she realised that in fact the bricks were so perfect in their repeating pattern that they had to be wallpaper. With the earlier stretching of the jump to being bigger and wider, she had brought the image to conscious attention and therefore in her control. So what would she do with the wall now? We considered whether she should just burn it down, jump through it like the police horse demonstrations or trample it down or whatever. She decided that she would dowse it with water until it became a soggy mass!

The mind can be wonderfully quick at making changes..

With the jump dissolved, she was able to think about jumping in a really positive manner and happily booked a lesson with her own instructor.  She rang  to say how well the lesson had gone, how the old brick wall had never even appeared and how much she had enjoyed being able to jump again. A few weeks later she passed her Stage 2 and several months later  passed her Stage 3 – she was well on track for her goal again.