The Most Underrated Skill In Eventing Is Breathing

Eventing asks a horse and rider to change languages several times in one day. Dressage demands quiet precision, show jumping rewards rhythm and accuracy, and cross-country brings speed, terrain, obstacles and decisions in quick succession. The common thread is not strength, bravery or even fitness. It is the rider’s ability to breathe steadily when the body wants to brace.

A held breath is easy to miss. It can feel like concentration, especially when you are waiting for a judge’s bell, approaching a difficult combination or trying to keep a nervous horse focused. Then the shoulders rise, the hands become fixed, the seat tightens and the next instruction reaches the horse through tension rather than clarity.

For Australian riders, breathing often has to compete with practical distractions. A summer event may begin before sunrise to beat the heat, while a long float trip from Melbourne to a regional venue or through Sydney traffic can leave both horse and rider tired before the first test. Add dust, wind, humidity, unfamiliar arenas and the cost of keeping a horse in work, and calm is a genuine performance skill.

Learning to breathe under pressure does not mean pretending to be relaxed. It means giving your nervous system a job it can perform, even when your heart is racing. A useful breath can create room for better timing, softer contact and a more thoughtful response when the round does not follow the plan.

Why Riders Hold Their Breath

The body braces because it believes bracing will create control. Before a show jump, a rider may inhale and freeze the breath while focusing on the distance. During a tense dressage movement, they may tighten the abdomen and grip with the thighs to prevent a mistake. On cross-country, the same instinct can appear before a drop, a water complex or a fence that looks larger from the saddle.

The difficulty is that horses notice these changes. A rider who stops breathing often stops moving with the horse. The pelvis becomes less adaptable, the lower leg may become inconsistent and the rein contact can harden without any conscious decision. A sensitive horse may speed up, shorten the neck or become uncertain about the next request. The rider then feels the horse’s reaction and braces further.

Breathing is also affected by the way riders prepare. A rushed morning, too much coffee, a missed breakfast and a frantic warm-up can put the body into a high-alert state. At a busy event centre outside Brisbane or a crowded property near Sydney, there may be trailers arriving, loudspeakers operating and horses calling from every direction. A deliberate exhale is a simple way to interrupt that accumulation of stress.

The Breath Changes The Rider’s Aids

A slow exhale can soften the jaw, release the shoulders and allow the pelvis to follow the horse’s movement. It does not replace correct training, and it will not repair a horse that is unfit or confused. It can, however, make the rider’s existing aids clearer. A relaxed leg can close without gripping, and a steady hand can maintain contact without pulling.

The most practical pattern is uncomplicated: inhale quietly through the nose for a count of three or four, then exhale for a count of five or six. The longer out-breath matters because it encourages the body to move away from its alarm response. This should be practised at the walk, trot and canter, rather than saved for the start box or the final fence.

During a dressage test, the breath can be attached to familiar landmarks. Exhale through a corner, soften the fingers after a transition or breathe out as the horse lengthens across the diagonal. These small reminders prevent the rider from treating breathing as another complicated exercise. The goal is to stay physically available to the horse while still riding every movement with intention.

Using Breathing Across All Three Phases

In dressage, breathing supports patience. A rider who breathes through the preparation for a halt is less likely to rush the final steps. Before a medium movement, an exhale can prevent the upper body from tipping forward or the hands from becoming busy. The horse receives a more consistent picture, which is particularly valuable when the arena feels quiet enough for every mistake to seem enormous.

Show jumping requires breathing that remains active between fences. Riders can use the landing as a reset: eyes up, hands following, one full exhale and then attention to the next line. Holding the breath over a related distance makes the body rigid at exactly the moment it needs to absorb the horse’s motion. A flexible rider can allow a slightly imperfect distance to become manageable instead of turning it into a crisis.

Cross-country brings a different rhythm. There is time to breathe on the approach to a straightforward fence, after a jump has landed well or during a gallop stretch. The rider should avoid taking a huge, dramatic breath at the last moment, as this can create a sudden change in position. Small, regular breaths are more useful. Riders who have experienced how windy-weather lessons can unsettle a plan will recognise the value of staying adaptable rather than freezing when conditions change.

Training Calm Before Competition Day

Breathing has to become familiar before it can help in competition. Spend a few minutes each day noticing where tension appears while mounted. At the walk, check the jaw, hands, elbows, ribs and thighs. Then ride a short transition while maintaining a quiet exhale. If the horse changes tempo, return to the walk and repeat the exercise without making it a punishment.

It is useful to recreate small pieces of competition pressure at home. Put out jump rails, ride in a different paddock, practise entering an arena through a gate or ask a friend to call movements. Australian riders often travel significant distances for clinics and horse trials, so a horse may need to work after a long float trip and a rider may need to perform in conditions that are different from the home arena. Breathing practice should include those ordinary disruptions.

Ground exercises can help too. Before mounting, stand with both feet supported and take five breaths with a longer exhale. Name three physical details, such as the feel of the reins, the temperature of the air and the position of the horse’s ears. This brings attention out of imagined disaster and back to useful information. It also gives riders something repeatable to do while waiting near the warm-up.

No breathing technique can guarantee a clear round. Horses may spook, rails may fall and a test movement may disappear from a tired mind. The value lies in recovering sooner. One error does not have to become a chain of rushed decisions if the rider can breathe, re-establish the rhythm and give the next aid cleanly.

Making Calm Part Of The Whole Horse Life

A rider’s breath is influenced by the wider routine around the horse. Feed bills, agistment, lessons, float maintenance and entry fees all create background pressure. The Australian horse market can make that pressure especially visible, with rising hay costs and expensive metropolitan agistment around Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. A calm competition plan must account for money, travel, weather and time rather than treating nerves as an isolated personal weakness.

Preparation also includes local biosecurity responsibilities. In New South Wales, the Biosecurity Act 2015 places a general biosecurity duty on people to prevent or minimise biosecurity risks. Checking property requirements, cleaning equipment and keeping sensible movement records protects the wider horse community. These tasks may seem separate from performance, yet organised preparation reduces the last-minute rush that sends a rider into the saddle already holding their breath.

Heat management deserves the same attention. A rider who is dehydrated or overheated will find steady breathing much harder, and horses can lose focus when conditions are oppressive. Early starts, shade, water breaks and careful cooling are practical parts of competition preparation. In warmer parts of Queensland and during southern Australia’s hot spells, the safest decision may involve changing the day’s workload rather than forcing a perfect schooling session.

The partnership grows through these ordinary habits. A horse does not need a fearless rider; it needs a rider who can notice tension and return to a usable state. The community around eventing helps with that process, whether it is a coach who calls for a breath, a family member handling the gear or a friend who makes the warm-up feel less lonely. Personal reflections and competition stories at Mania in the Middle capture this broader reality: eventing is shaped by the people, routines and relationships surrounding the start box.

Before the next lesson, choose one breathing cue and attach it to one moment: the first transition, the landing after a fence or the walk into the arena. Practise it at home, use it during travel and keep it simple on competition day. A full exhale will not make every round easy, but it can give you the space to ride the horse in front of you, respond to the moment and keep building the partnership that makes eventing worth doing.