You meet overly optimistic and in turn overly pessimistic people everyday and then there are those that seem to have an ideal balance, so where would you say you fall in the scale? You may not realise if you sway in one direction more than another just how much it could be affecting your riding and therefore why it is important to address this balance.
A score of 30.5 would you be chuffed or disappointed?
If you are naturally pessimistic I would be fairly confident in saying you have confidence issues with your riding and you don’t like straying out of your small comfort zone for fear of failing or worse. You may also find yourself regularly disappointed with your results even if in most people’s eyes they would be considered good, because although you may have finished 10th you could have been 1st had x y and z happened.
If you are naturally optimistic you will likely be far more confident of your capabilities and happier to give new things or a new level a try. Although being optimistic has its obvious advantages it can also be a disadvantage and potentially even quite dangerous especially in eventing when going cross country. Results wise you will often be happy with a completion or cricket score as you will take positives from other areas of your performance rather than just the placing and final result.
The key is finding the balance so that you have the confidence to improve and step up to a new level but at the correct point in time. Just because you have achieved the necessary results doesn’t mean you’re ready as a combination. Having a good balance will also allow you to better appreciate your improvements and results.
The easiest and often best way to achieve this balance with horses is to find an instructor who is on the opposite end of the scale to yourself whose teaching style suits you and your horse. If you are pessimistic but have a good optimistic instructor they can draw you out and step by step move you up a level by expanding your comfort zone, and in the same vein a pessimistic instructor will stop an optimist from trying to run before they walk!
If though you are fairly novice or inexperienced it can sometimes be better to find a more balanced instructor as you need to be able to learn to judge if they are pushing you on or holding you back too much, as otherwise it can be just as problematic. A good instructor though will quickly identify where you are on the scale and know how much to push or hold back accordingly.
Ready to step up a level but too pessimistic to take that step?
I always try to analyse my goals and performances realistically to ensure I am making steady and safe progress. I find the worst thing is to compare my results against another combination as every horse and rider is different. For example where I would be unhappy having 4 faults as an ex showjumper on a clean jumper, another person would be extremely happy to ‘only’ have one pole. In the same way I would very pleased with a dressage score of 30 someone else may be disappointed!
Although long term goals are useful (I would love to go 1* this year) I am realistic that they may not happen and I shouldn’t be disappointed if it doesn’t. It is a good goal though to work towards as it gives me the structure of an aim for each event i.e. a qualifying score. A pessimist with the same aim who perhaps loses out on a few runs due to the weather or a silly 20 penalties may find themselves unhealthily disappointed and considering why they are still in the sport.
As an amateur without a good helping of luck, a lot of hard work and being in the right place at the right time with an above average horse you are unlikely to get good consistent top 10 placings at BE100 and above, simply because the professionals have a distinct advantage in so many areas in terms of training, horses, equipment and competition experience. It is therefore sensible to have realistic goals that don’t centre on always winning events! Double clears, improving dressage, and qualifying results all being ideal examples. These will allow the pessimist to see clear improvement and the optimist to aim for a realistic outcome, which often they already do anyway, but this will be more structured and rewarding than ‘we completed all is good!’.
So take a moment to consider where you are on the optimism scale and perhaps consider whether you need to address that position to find a positive balance.
