If you haven’t already, before reading this blog head over to YouTube and look up ‘selective attention test’. 

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So, did you see it? This experiment was designed by Simons & Chabris (1999) and highlights a phenomenon referred to as inattentional blindness. This is where an individual fails to notice an unexpected object or event because their focus is directed elsewhere.  The results of this particular experiment showed that 46% of the participants failed to detect the unexpected event. Having used this video in workshops I can say my experience reflects this.  

So, what has this got to do with improving riding ability. As a coach/sports psych, I can tell you it’s a game changer. In my experience once a rider has an understanding of ‘what to do’, what is often referred to as declarative knowledge, if they are to turn that into procedural knowledge, the ‘how to do’, they need to make sure they are directing their focus in the right area.  

Firstly, if we are going to try and replace an old ineffective habit with a new more effective habit, then we need to bring it back into conscious control. Whilst the capacity of our unconscious brain is vast, the capacity of our conscious brain is extremely limited. According to George Miller in his 1956 paper “The magic number seven plus or minus two’ the average person can hold 7 chunks of information in their short-term memory (plus or minus two) at one time. This means focus is a precious resource! If you are going to try and take a skill that you have automated incorrectly and refine it, say for example you have a habit of rounding your shoulders and stiffening your elbows, then you have to get yourself into noticing mode. Because once something becomes automated, we stop noticing it, it goes under the radar. In other words, in becomes the gorilla.  

You have to get yourself into noticing mode. Because once something becomes automated, we stop noticing it, it goes under the radar.

The second reason I encourage my riders to think about where they direct their focus is to do with how we develop motor programs. Basically, when we learn a motor skill, the motor regions of our brain run through a process. Firstly, it identifies a goal, for example ‘I want to pick up this water bottle’. It then identifies the motor program for picking up the water bottle. It then evaluates if this motor program was effective, if so, it reaffirms it, if not it refines it.  

So, in my experience it all comes down to what goal you choose to focus on. Let’s say for example you want to develop your horse to have a supple bend on a curve. If we consider the criteria I’ve heard many times in the past, ‘bend the horse until you can see the buckles on the inside of his bridle’. If we make that our focus, we can draw back strongly on the inside rein and the horse, seeking to move away from the pressure, will likely bring its head to the inside, allowing you to see the inside buckle of your horse’s bridle. However, this does not indicate a supple uniform bend. The likelihood is we have achieved this aim by the horse over bending its neck and falling on its outside shoulder. The problem is; by making this our focus our brains register this motor program as a successful one. Meaning this pattern becomes reaffirmed, building the habit of asking for bend with a strong backward hand.  

In my experience it all comes down to what goal you choose to focus on

If we were to create a different criterion for our focus, say for example we imagine riding our horse along a balance beam (credit to Mary Wanless for this one), and we ask ourselves can I ask my horse to soften to the inside rein whilst keeping all four feet on the balance beam (this particular balance beam goes around corners). We broaden our focus to the horse’s entire body. If we were to draw back with a strong inside rein, causing the horses outside front foot to fall off the balance bean, our brains would register this as an unsuccessful motor program and would seek to refine it.  

Perhaps another common example of this can be seen in our efforts to ‘get our horse on the bit’. If we set the criteria for success as being ‘head down’. Then a strong backward rein causing the horse to draw its nose in and stiffen its back would be registered as an effective motor program, meaning riders are more likely to adopt this strategy again in the future, particularly when under pressure. However, if we adopt the approach of looking for lift in the horses back or an elastic connection where the horses hindleg ‘arrives’ at the rein then a strong backward rein aid becomes ineffective.  

So, remember where you choose to direct your focus really matters, don’t let the important things become the gorilla in the room!!