The Crystal System Dressage – Chapter 13

Published on: December 15, 2015December 25, 2015Author: PatriciaComment: 0

Chapter 13 – Overcoming a Crisis

Crystal System Dressage In this final chapter I talk about what to do if and when you hit a crisis.

On understanding the inevitable

“… The new habits you form are often very fragile and it is for this reason that you need to eliminate any source of resistance that may lead you astray. When the inevitable ‘curve ball’ is thrown into play, you need some strategies to deal with the unexpected. Truth be told, happiness is not the absence of problems, but having the ability to deal with them”.

On Competition Anxiety

“… The thing that is at odds with this situation is that nervousness is the body’s way signalling potential dangers and protecting us from doing anything rash. All very well if we are in a dangerous situation, but at a dressage competition, really? When you put it into context you can begin use the anxiety you are experiencing in a positive way. Let’s have a look at what is happening to you. Your body is releasing adrenaline. The rate at which it releases affects your body’s reaction to it.

Symptoms can range from anxiety, doubt and negative thoughts, through to nausea, sweating, dry mouth, migraines, an increase in breathing and heart rate, even diarrhoea.

If this all sounds depressingly familiar, the good news is that nerves can actually aid our riding; speeding up our reactions and making us ride with more purpose. But, the bad news is, for some they make the whole competition process one humungous emotional trial. For those of you in the latter group, you need to learn to work with your emotional responses. But firstly you will need to understand them.”

Is this you?

Crystal System Dressage

Or is this you?

The Essential State

“… All I can say is that it is fun, but it is serious fun. When you get it, you will feel like you’ve never had so much fun. I feel passionately that even if you do not agree with the entire Crystal System method, you will find something in this book to help you on your dressage
journey. But, just in case you missed the thread that runs through everything I believe, I want to leave you with a final thought. Keep things simple. Simplicity is the key to brilliance. When I say simple I realise that this can be misunderstood, it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘less’ it means ‘reduce to its heart’. When you reduce what you do to its very essence you couldn’t take anything more away without it becoming ineffective. Likewise, anything you would add is unnecessary and would only really create clutter and confusion. Usually everything we aspire to do goes through an evolution; a cycle of development until the process comes to rest at the ‘essential state’. This is where it nears perfection for its purpose.

When you try and learn something new there is usually some seemingly chaotic input. It’s hard to separate the relevant or even essential elements from the irrelevant but as you learn more you start to set the pieces of the puzzle together for yourself.”

What’s it all about?

Good question! Its all about questioning and your ability to evaluate, re-evaluate and put plans into place to overcome the identified issues; be they related to your physical ability or your mind set. I hope you’ve enjoyed the little snippets which are intended to give you a flavour of what you will find in the book.

A fully structured training program designed to help you self-assess your mind and body and it’s suitability for dressage.
Suggested solutions, should you find problems and strategies to help you overcome them.
Crystal’s Tips will give you those ‘Eureka Moments’ when you realise that your heroic efforts have been hindering your progress.
Motivational information to help you overcome any difficulties along the way.
Establish the why’s, what’s, when’s, where’s, who’s and how’s of basic dressage.