When Coach Stewart was in the Portland area, he presented three of his clinics. These are the highlights:

Position Analysis. In this mounted clinic, participants ride on the flat and over fences (if they desire) and are videotaped using the same camera equipment used to analyze Daniel’s US riders. There is no actual instruction at this point; Coach Stewart tells riders to ride as they normally do. Afterwards, riders are dismissed to put horses away and then reconvene to watch the videotape as a group. I did not ride in the clinic but arrived early for the unmounted session, so was able to join the riders watching the analysis. What fun and how valuable! There were lots of laughs and not a few (good-natured) groans. Daniel's mantra is "symmetry, balance, posture," and with his state-of-the-art, stop-action equipment, was able to point out rider strengths and, as he kindly put it, their "imperfections." Even though I hadn't ridden, I recognized many of my own "imperfections" in the other riders' performances and felt I could learn from what was said, as well. "You're working much too hard," Daniel told one rider as we watched her videotaped ride over fences. "Relax and let the horse do the work." Aha, I thought—that's exactly what I do! But the clinic wasn't just pointing out problems. With Stewart's background in anatomy and physiology, he was able to explain to participants why, physiologically, they were doing what they were doing and to give solid advice about how to change it, if necessary. His willingness to stop and rewind the video, however many times needed, and to stop it at key points to go over specific issues with each rider was hugely helpful. The whole session was positive and upbeat and by the excited chatter of the participants, it was apparent they felt good about what they'd learned. I went away determined to ride the next time Daniel comes to town.

Sports Psychology. In this unmounted clinic, Coach Stewart emphasizes positive thinking, stress management and performance anxiety. "Emotion leads to Motion," is an oft-repeated phrase. Daniel encourages people to see how much their state of mind affects their riding performance. "Brain Babble" is how he refers to the negative self-talk that handicaps so many otherwise fine riders. "If the words that go through your head are constantly negative—I can't do it; I'm afraid; my horse won't—a negative performance usually follows." To counteract such negativity, Daniel encourages riders to choose words off the "C" list when describing themselves or their horses: Confident, calm, committed, composed, courageous, competent, and so on. He also stated that it takes about 35 positive messages to counter one negative one! It is essential to replace those negative thoughts with positive ones: I can do this; I love riding; I love my horse; I'm having a great time or, my personal favorite—I invented dressage/jumping/eventing (take your pick!)"

Many in the audience were chuckling over these rather outrageous statements until someone raised an important issue. "I can do what you're saying. I can tell myself those things, but the trouble is, I don't believe myself when I say it." Daniel nodded. "You've got to understand that mental changes are just as hard to implement as physical ones. You've got to practice—work at it daily until you do believe yourself." The power of the mind to influence emotion and action has been proven time and again.

Stewart also stressed the importance of setting Performance Goals rather than Outcome Goals, on focusing on things you can control rather than things you can't. When going to a dressage show, for example, if you set an Outcome Goal of "I'm going to win my class with a 70% or better," then a Grand Prix rider shows up with her "green" horse and blows away the rest of the competition, you're bound to be disappointed. But if you go in saying "I feel good, my horse is going well; my goal is to ride a good test with really nice transitions," you have a Performance Goal that is achievable and you can go home satisfied with your accomplishment.

In addition to the confidence-building positive Brain Babble and setting performance goals, Stewart had a couple of other suggestions to manage performance anxiety. One was "detachment," the "this-is-no-big-deal, I'm-going-to-ride-like-I'm-at-my-own-home-arena" technique. For some people, this really works, but again, it takes practice.

The other anxiety-reducing method Daniel has used extensively with Olympic-caliber riders is visualization, or riding rehearsal. Many top athletes in other disciplines, most notably—alpine skiers—use this approach. It's a matter of sitting in a quiet place and mentally rehearsing your whole ride. If your competition is a dressage test that takes four and a half minutes, then use that real time frame as you're rehearsing. Don't just think the test; feel it—how will you signal your horse for medium trot; what will his response be? An addendum to this is to do several practices, mentally riding the perfect test, riding the test with potential errors, then "fixing" those errors, then practicing again the perfect test.

Balance and Biomechanics - In this unmounted workshop, Daniel has participants use a balance board that he developed specifically for riders. The goals of symmetry balance and body awareness are again emphasized, only this time in an actual physical setting. There were lots of laughs as participants took turns being "riders" on the balance board, or the "horses" riders held on to while trying to balance. I think I can speak for other clinic-attendees when I say I sincerely hope I don't jerk on my real horse the way I did on my partner in this clinic! Although many of us were made aware of our imbalance and lack of symmetry in this light-hearted session, the only way a person would ultimately benefit would be to buy the board and use it consistently. Again, practice and correct repetition are the keys.

Daniel Stewart's book Ride Right, published by Trafalgar Square, will be out in 2004. To order the "Stable Board" you can contact Daniel directly [ Click here to contact Mr. Stewart ] [ Click here to order the "Stable Board" ]. By December, he will have relocated to Andalusia, Spain, where he will continue to teach and train his USET endurance riders and prepare others for Athens in 2004. He will, however, be returning to the northwest in July of next year and will be available for clinics. In addition to the three workshops outlined above, he also does a "Riding Blind" clinic, where riders perform a number of mounted exercises with their eyes closed, in order to improve balance, confidence, body awareness and communication between horse and rider. The fifth clinic he presents is "Seeing Distances/Spotting" for jumper riders who need to improve their eye and work on pacing, rhythm and balance before fences. If barn-owners or equestrian organizations wish to set up a clinic date, they can [ Click here to contact Mr. Stewart ].

Once he had video of the riders at the desired gaits, off we went to the arena to view the clips on a small TV. Daniel has a wonderful sense of humor and gently reminded us that no rider is perfect, not even Grand Prix riders. The first rider appeared on the screen. We were looking at a rear view of the rider sitting the trot down the centerline. “LOOK”! Daniel cried, lighting up with great delight, “what a lovely S shape you have to your body” pointing to the slightly tilted head and the C shaped torso. And then the next rider, a perfect C shape, and so it went for the rest of us. By pointing out our faults, Daniel emphasized how we can become more effective riders if we would concentrate on developing symmetry in the saddle.

From there we looked at the side view of the sitting trot, positing trot and two-point position (I was too far behind the vertical). He analyzed leg position (one rider toed out so far with the right foot she had worn the leather through on the back seam of her boot… the left leg was fine), and the ever pervasive symmetry… “Is your head straight over your shoulders, are your shoulders even, are you pinching with your knees (the foot makes a slight kick forward when a rider pinches at the knees)? And last our position over a cross rail. “Ouch”! cried Daniel, “that hurt me just looking at it” saying with a huge smile and in a good natured way in response to one rider who was left behind and bounced a bit in the saddle on the landing.

The clinic finale was a trip to an open space where a dozen “Stable Boards” (a special balance board designed for riders) were place on the ground. The board has a left and a right stirrup painted on either side and we were to stand on the stirrups and balance the board. We were then to asked to balance on the board while imitating the movement of the sitting trot, posting trot, two-point position, canter (on both leads!) and finally the jumping position.

After a bit of practice Daniel had us close our eyes while balancing on the Stable Board and “ride” an imaginary jump course of eight different fences. He then did the same thing while asking us to ride an imaginary dressage test, the goal being to imitate the jumping and basic riding gaits while feeling for any natural “imperfections” in our bodies. By becoming aware of these imperfections on the ground we can learn to better understand our body and overcome it’s imperfect tendencies on the horse.

I learned so much from this un-mounted clinic, if you have the opportunity to attend one of Daniel’s clinics I rate it a big two thumbs up!