Mental training is an important part of preparing an athlete to achieve successful results in competitions, but is often under-emphasized. Equestrian sport is an individual sport, but during the competition, the athlete is not alone, but is competing with a horse, an animal with his own mind and thoughts. The riders must be aware that their psychic state is also projected on a horse, which is sensitive to the stimuli that are emitted by the man and in the environment. Athletes in equestrianism must know how to control their feelings and well-being, a sports psychologist can help them best with that. Coaches and competitors must be aware that mental training is as important as physical preparation in the training process.
In the research we studied the psychological preparation of riders in equestrian sport. The aim was to determine the prevalence and attitude towards sports psychology and the use of mental training among riders, which represents an important component of the training process. We were primarily interested in what psychological techniques and methods are known and also used by competitors in show jumping and in dressage riding. Similar studies in the field of horse riding have not yet been made, so far only psychological preparations in other sports have been studied.
We obtained data for the research using a survey questionnaire. The sample included 40 active riding competitors from different Slovenian clubs. They answered questions in the field of sports psychology and psychological preparation in their sporting activities. The results of the study were then analyzed in the SPSS program. We discovered that there are no differences in psychological preparations between men and women competitors. We can also conclude that there is not a lot of knowledge of sports psychology in equestrianism. The results confirmed the first and second hypothesis. It is noticeable, that most of the surveyed competitors have not yet cooperated with a sports psychologist and do not perform a special ritual before the competition, which is why the third and fourth hypothesis were denied. The research showed that the use of psychological preparation in equestrian sport is poorly widespread, and in the future, improving that would provide more successful results.
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