Do you struggle with a rider’s "Competition Amnesia"?

Have you ever coached a rider who is a superstar in their home arena - showing poise, balance, and rhythm - only to see that skill set seemingly vanish the moment they arrive at a competition? It is as if they have developed "Competition Amnesia." As a coach, it can be incredibly frustrating to see weeks of progress seemingly reset to zero under the pressure of the white boards.

This phenomenon is rooted in what psychologists call State-Dependent Learning. Research in cognitive science suggests that our brains encode information most effectively when the internal state (emotions and heart rate) and the external environment during practice match the conditions of the "test."

If a rider always trains in a state of high comfort and low heart rate, their brain stores those motor skills under the "Comfort" file. When they get to a show and their adrenaline spikes, their brain switches to the "Survival" file, where those refined skills don't exist yet. This leads to "choking," where the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that handles your technical coaching instructions, is overwhelmed by the primitive emotional brain.

To fix this, we must introduce Representative Learning Design. This means your training sessions must periodically "look and feel" like the competition.

The Strategy

Heart Rate Mimicry: Have your rider do a physical task (like a quick jog or a high-energy transition sequence) to get their heart rate up before performing a difficult movement. This trains them to execute skills while "puffed" and slightly anxious.

The "One Shot" Rule: Once a week, give them only one chance to ride a specific sequence. No "do-overs." This simulates the "now or never" pressure of the ring.

If you want to move beyond just surviving the show and start mastering the mental game, take a look at our Confidence Blueprint to help your riders find their flow under fire.