Amy Blount Dressage

Amy Blount Dressage

Dressage and Mindset Coach. Inspiring Riders to believe in their journey though coaching. Do you want to maximise your performance?

Do you want help planning your journey, or support in setting and achieving your goals? No matter age or ability, I am happy to work with anyone who wants to learn. I have been working with and developing riders since 2004, with training options that cater to all levels. Whether you’re just starting out on your journey or looking for fresh ideas to help you progress, my lessons and online training

Operating as usual

29/08/2024

The other night on a Team Training I got asked how I manage my energy levels around competition, my answer was that I manage my stress.
However, this means knowing where your stress comes from, for me that is in the preparation. I am a much calmer far less stressed person if I know I am on top of everything I need to do!
3 things I have implemented that have really helped me remove stress and enjoy the day:

👉 Creating a list of all the things that need doing in the run-up to a show, this includes washing the whites!🤣 I include the small things because they are the things that I can get done days or even the week before the show and tick of my list. Remember you cant see progress unless you are tracking it so every tick on my list is a tick closer to feeling 'ready'.

👉Taking 10 mins after my last training session to write down what my 3 trigger words will be, what they feel like when I have them, and any exercises that will help me in my warm up to achieve them.

👉 Writing down a day plan, from the time I get up, right up until I have finished my test. It's not set in stone but provides me with structure, and makes me allow plenty of time to get things done! Just having that written down helps me process what I need to do when.

These 3 things, that actually take very little time bring order to my chaotic world, and allow me to feel like I have controlled the controllable.
Over the last month through the Boost Program, I have been supporting riders in creating routines and habits that set them up for success when they compete.
This ranges from designing and trailing their own warm up plan and writing a test crib sheet to planning their day and positively taking the learnings from their outings.
Last week one of them said to me I have never felt so prepared, and when asked how that impacted them going into a competition, they said it made them feel more confident!!
THIS IS WHY I MADE THE BOOST PROGRAMME - SMALL CHANGES MAKE BIG DIFFFERENCE!!

If you wan to feel more confident on a show day then drop me a DM as I have just 2 spaces on the Boost Program for September!

28/08/2024

Throwback to 2018 with Gkar which was the last time I attended Home Nations at PSG level, fast forward 6 years and all being well Dotty will be doing the same this weekend!😍

Why was the trip in 2018 so memorable!? I would love to say it was because it was my first time wearing the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 flag in my tails but it was actually hugely over shadowed by the fact we travelled many hours up north, to do a hack a quite literally 1 test 🤣🤣
However it was a huge learning curve on trusting my gut and the horse!

G had always been Mr Consistent, which is what made him a great team horse, however whilst warming up for the first test of the competition, he totally lost the plot, a pure flight reaction 😳 he had never been like it before and just wanted to be out of the indoor. I ended up taking him out of the warm up and getting off him down the track so we could let his adrenaline drop. 20 mins later they called me for my test, i got on, went in, did some movements round the outside of the arena and rode my test like normal- i had to trust my process as thats all i had at that point! Amaziny we did a very reasonable test! However day 2s test was in that indoor, and try as i might, he was having none of it even with acoustic ears on, there was something he didnt like, and was basically unrideable in there!

So i had to make a decision- I withdrew. G had never done it before at any of the hundreds of venues he had been to, and actually never did it again. I made the decision based on what I thought was best for him at the time, I had to choose to either practice being stressed in the white boards or save him for another day.

2 weeks later he went on to win the Inter I pet plan with total confidence. 😍 Sometimes things happen to challenge us to trust and believe rather than to stop us. G went on never to have anoher melt down for the rest of his career!

It would of been easy in that situation to have a set back, however being unflappable and trusting your process is what I am always here for!

Photos from Amy Blount Dressage's post 27/08/2024

Super excited that the first of 3 articles has been published in 🍾🍾

This series is all about training the less conventional dressage horse!
This one is training the heavy weight horse, huge thanks to and owner Tracey for working with me on this, as well as for taking some epic photos!

In this article we talk through:
✅️ Manging Power
✅️ Improving Balance
✅️ Making the test Flow
✅️ Creating Suppleness

Make sure you get your copy now for the full article!

Huge thanks to and for all their support on this too!

Photos from Amy Blount Dressage's post 24/08/2024

Balance, Suppleness and Contact are frequently written on all our sheets, but do you really delve into why and how you can improve them!?

Look for clues on your sheets such as 'on the forehand' which would imply they are carrying more weight on their forehand, or falling out/in meaning the balance is moving laterally.
It's also important to know what is a good balance for your horse, at the stage it is at, for example, we will not be expecting the same balance of a horse that has just started their journey to one that has been working away for a few years.

A horse that is typically balanced for the level it is at will be:

👉Maintaining a Rhythm

👉Can change direction and perform moves appropriate for its level whilst carrying the weight evenly.

👉Maintain Suppleness laterally and then over the back

Suppleness is how flexible your horse is in a given direction.💪

Did you know there are 2 types of suppleness!?🧐

🐎Lateral - from side to side - e.g inside bend or bend around your leg, through the horses whole body.

🐎Longitudinal (aka suppleness over the back) - covers contact, relaxation and ground cover.

Contact is the created through the connection between you and the horse.

Contact should be a result of a good rhythm and suppleness.

There should be weight in the rein that is not too heavy, but also not too light.

As the horse develops greater suppleness over his back, the connection will improve resulting in a more consistent contact.

Don't forget the Bank Holiday Bundles are available until Midnight Monday!
The All about series covers these 3 subjects in detail and link together nicely to build your knowlege on how to improve them!
This is an epic value investment of just £44 (valued at £60!!) These courses are normally only available to members so make sure you dont miss out on these never seen before packages!!

https://apps.wix.com/place-invites/join-lp/3d465747-6893-4ca9-9045-4766b553a887?ref=pre_banner_top


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21/08/2024

3 reasons you may be leaving marks in the arena . . .

👉Do you have a warm up plan? Just by having a check list for success, or some go to exercises you can take your warm up from just killing time trotting round the edge to being ready to a well prepared test! Even just thinking about what you need in the warm up can set the intention and get yoir brain operating from its comfort zone rather than in stress!

👉 Do you read your sheets? And I mean REALLY read them? Look for what underlined, know what your high mark gainers are so you can really nail them, and look at the 0.5 marks - what dimple thing can you do to top them up? Remember 6.5 all the way through is 65%, 7s all the way through is 70%, 0.5 can make a big difference!!

👉 Are you being accurate!? One of the easiest ways to pick up marks!! Judges are looking at the way of going and how accurately you ride the movement, so even if you a loving the feeling if your circle is too small you will loose some marks! There are easy things to pick up marks on - centre lines being one, every test has them, a minimum of 2, so make these a high mark gainer!

Want to know more about these subjects!? I have created some special, never done before BANK HOLIDAY BUNDLES!!
I have put together 3 bundles of online courses on a very special bank holiday offer!
The Competition Bundle contains a course on each of these subjects! We delve in to each of them talking you through how to design yoir very own warm up plan, how to be more accurate and hiw to break diwn your dressage sheet!! You get all of this for an epic value investment of just £44!!

So if you want to top up your marks download my app now to get started!!
http://www.mobileapp.app/to/ycCpAuo?ref=m_cl

20/08/2024

'I HAVE NEVER FELT SO PREPARED' is what not one but 2 clients said to me last week, I then asked them what impact it had on their confidence going into their competitions, and they both individually said that they felt confident and ready for the task ahead.

This is the biggest thing when it comes to working towards your goals, you have to do the reps! If you don't do the prep work, and don't take steps to work towards your goals, how can we realistically expect the results?

However if you don't know what those steps are or even where the best starting place is this is where having a a coach can help you! I help clients break down their goals into tiny tickable targets, we aim to bridge the gap from where they are now to where they want to go.
We start with a 10-step timeline, however, when we finish it often looks like a brainstorm of lots of little steps, that we can tick off and track progress with.
This becomes your checklist, to check you doing the work to get to where you want to be, rather than feeling like everything is out of reach.
The list that we create provides a document that means you can look at it and almost pick 1 thing a week that you can be working on, giving you the consistency and accountability to not only start but make progress towards your goals.

I have just 2 BOOST Programme spaces coming available from the 1st September, so if you would like to take active steps toward achieving your goals, through tangible and achievable steps drop me a DM!

12/08/2024

Last week I was chatting with a client and they said 'you always make things so positive!' Which is nice but heres the truth bomb 💣

Im never trying to be positive, however i am always looking for the opportunity!! Where there is a 'problem' there is an opportunity 💪
It is a choice - you can choose to seek out the problem and let it limit you, OR you can choose to seek out the opportunity and grow from it.

I prefer opportunities- they are much more fun! 😉

Photos from Amy Blount Dressage's post 09/08/2024

Excited to have been selected for the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Home Nations🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 at the end of the month with Dotty at PSG!

Congratulations to everyone selected!! 👏👏

06/08/2024

YOU ARE EITHER RIDING THE HORSE OR RIDING THE TEST!

For us to achive a flowing test, there are 2 main skills needed:

👉 To be able to ride the test - remember the route, and ride accurately.

👉 To ride the horse - focus on what we have practiced and ride for the feeling we have in training.

Often we will do one of these at a time -

1️⃣ We concentrate on the test, making a good route but totally forget to ride the horse.

2️⃣ We find the feeling we want and focus on what goes into keeping that.

However when we manage to both of these things at the same time we are likeky to produce one of our best tests.

Working out how to do this and replicate it, is something I am passionate about helping riders with. On the Mentor Me program you have unlimited video analysis, so we combine mindset tools with pressure practice to combine these skills so doing them together becomes within your comfort zone.

There is just 1 space left on this course for now, and Spaces will not be reopening until at least the autumn. For more info drop me a DM or check out www.amyblountdressage.co.uk/packages

01/08/2024

6 SIMPLE STEPS TO IMPROVING YOUR DRESSAGE SCORE . . .

✅Look at the overall mark - this gives you the overall feel for the test, but may not identify areas that were good or need work, therefore we need to dig deeper 👇👇

✅Look at Movements that scored the highest – High Mark Gainers. These tell you what you are already good at and are easy marks for you to replicate - know your strengths!💪

✅Look at Movements that scored the Lowest – Low mark gainers. These were a mistake or something that we may need to work on in the long term to develop.

✅Look at the ones that are in the middle/0.5’s. - is there anything you can do to easily top these up by half a mark - check out the comments or for anything underlined!

✅Is there anything underlined? - this often gets missed but if something is underlined regularly its definitely worth having a chat with your coach about as it may be something you can work on in your sessions.

✅Any Words or comments that come up more than once? As above if a word is getting mentioned quite a lot, is there a way to combat it? e.g. Rhythm - start counting through the test, this will help the fluency and rhythm is a bonus as it affects everything else too!!

Use these clues to create a table of :
💪 Quick Fix list - If I went and rode this test again now I could change.

💪 Development List - In a month this will be better, but for now I need to work on . . . . To make it better.

💪 Longer Term List - Things that I am developing but are a work in progress and will take time.



30/07/2024

. . . There is too bigger gap between what you are doing at home and what you are doing for a competition!

Last week during Mindset Talks at a camp, the question I asked all groups was:
How often to you set a time to ride a test, warm up and ride the test at that time no matter what - at home?

The resonse to this was mostly silence as most jaws around the room dropped - as this is the very skill we ask of ourselves and our horses and yet its its the skill we potentially practice the least!

When riding at home we are very good at riding the trst or movement when we are 'ready', yet we dont have that luxury at a competition.
There are of course times to be working on training and technical elements otherwise we would never progress, but we should never neglect the tactical skills if we want to perform as well as we train!

Closing this gap is something we work on in the Mentor Me Programme, we access where you are at and over the 3 months work to develop long lasting routines that will set you up for success.
There is just 1 space left on this 12 week programme, if you are ready to take your performance to the next level drop me a DM for more info and snap up the last space!!

27/07/2024

All my horses are little weirdos- they say pets are like their owners!! 🤣🤣

Dot often gets compared to an
Because of her cartoon eyes! 👀

capturing another funny moment!

25/07/2024

Lots of people ask me how Boris is, and the answer is he is busy building his best self 💪💪

He is super jolly in himself and on week 3 of his rehab 😍 lots of work to do but project Boo is well underway!!

Another super photo of him looking super handsome from

24/07/2024

Had lots of fun with yesterday!
This one is a throwback to last summer of Dave looking 😍😍😍





22/07/2024

Building in pre and post-ride/competition routines can:
👉 Boost your confidence
👉 Give you clarity and understanding
👉 Allow you to keep progressing
👉 Give you reliability no matter the result
👉 Puts you in control of your own success.

Knowing what you are going to do, defining success, understanding what you are expecting and how to define that, so it remains achievable is all part of developing your own system.
Having a system that sets you up for success and learning every time, and that makes the highs and lows closer together is paramount for you to progress.
This system is different for everyone and needs to be developed for how you learn. This is something I work with clients on in the Mentor Me and the Boost Program. We sit down and work out where you would like to improve your mindset and performance, and then design the strategies that will help you achieve that.

The Boost Program is a month-long program designed to give you a boost when it's needed, it includes coaching calls and mindset tasks to make sure you have the fundamentals in place to start to design your system.

The Mentor Me Program is a 12 week Program to not only start to design your system, but guide you into putting it into practice so that you have a system you trust going forwards. We work on your mindset and the tactical elements tying the skills needed for training to your shows making sure you can perform at a competition the way you want to.

Spaces for these 2 programs are VERY limited and will be opening later this week so if you are interested taking control of your performance then drop me a DM for more info and be the first to know when the doors open!!

20/07/2024

THIS WAS ME . . . . a good few years back!

When I was competing with my 15.1 Anglo Arab, who was essentially my Pony Club Pony at Small Tour Level we were consistently up against big names, on flashy horses.
For a while I let this define my performance, I told myself the story that he wasn't flashy, I wasn't a Grand Prix rider and my scores wholeheartedly reflected this! The scores were nearly always the same no matter what I tried or how hard I worked.

So I got to the point that if I was going to carry on this needed to stop - I decided to stop telling myself that story, I stopped looking at who was in my class and who was warming up around me and started focusing on my own process.
This included working out a pre ride routine that got me focusing on what I wanted rather than what I didnt want, making my 3 word check list and defining what success on that day would be for us.

These days I still only look at my times, not the judges, not whos in my class and not even who else is there on the day.

This is something I work with riders on in the Mentor Me programme, over the 12 week programme we work to create an unshakable performance mindset that runs through your training in to your performance!

If you are interested in working on developing your mindset alongside your training and competeing then drop me a DM!

15/07/2024

For this client getting the way of going of going she wanted at home and in training was the easy part but reproducing at an event was the roadblock.
When riders come to me with this problem I discuss 3 main things with them:

1️⃣ What is the goal for their warm-up - what do they need to do the best they can?
2️⃣ Does their current warm-up plan reflect that?
3️⃣ What are we using in training that we aren't at a competition?

By exploring these with this client we found that there was no real structure to her warm-up, she warmed the horse up physically but because it can be very busy and open at events she found herself getting caught up in floating around rather than staying focused on what she wanted out of the warm-up.

So using my 3 word structure to design the 3 sections of her warm-up, we tested and adjusted it, we even gave it a time trail and rode through a test at the end of it to see if it had worked.

The Warm Up plan gave this rider:
✅ Confidence to stick to the plan because she knew her system worked
✅ Confidence in the arena as she knew she had left no stone unturned
✅ A structure and reliability so she could focus on herself and her horse.
✅ A checklist for success.
✅ Her own definition of success, regardless of the score!

This combination resulted in her breaking that elusive 30 barrier for the first time, gaining a personal best and finishing second in her section!! 💪💪 Sometimes small changes can make big differences!!

Warm-up plans are something we can develop in both the Boost and Mentor Me Programmes.
In the 'Boost' Programme we work to develop what works through testing and trailing at home and competition, which is supported by WhatsApp coaching, so we can delve into the nitty-grity that works for you and your horse.

In the Mentor Me Programme, we fit the Warm Up plan into an even bigger system as part of your Pre and Post Ride/competition routines to help your mindset become unshakeable when competing!

If you are ready to break a personal score barrier and develop your performance mindset then drop me a DM.

Photos from Amy Blount Dressage's post 14/07/2024

A few months back I took a little tumble from Dave and injured my right hand. I pulled the ligaments in my 4th and 5th fingers on landing.

This massively impacted how I could hold the reins, I found it really difficult to keep my fingers closed and take any pressure on them. However thanks to the X-Suregrip reins i didn't have to stop riding as I could swap the reins to under my 3rd finger.

The X-Suregrip provides such a light and soft feeling while still maintaining a great grip, it didn't take long for my hand to be able to adapt as well as being able to flip my rein if my hand became tired and the rein did not slip through.

I even managed to ride around a PSG test with my rein flipped (check out the first photo!) as my hand was having a bad day! Normally when people flip their reins one of the things to watch out for is the reins slipping through your hand as you don't have it through any fingers, however, I felt confident enough that I flipped between whatever position was most comfortable for my hand throughout the test without it affecting my horse!

As ever the Kate Negus leather work is made with the utmost quality, I have actually had these reins for a couple of years now and they don't just look as good as they did new but they also feel it too!!

Riviera PR Ltd

11/07/2024

WHAT GIVES ME CONFIDENCE WHEN I COMPETE!?

There is a simple answer to this - feeling like I'm prepared!!

Prepared for me is:
👉 Making sure I have allowed MORE than enough time on the day - I allow an extra 15-minute buffer zone for everything!!
👉 I know my 3 words for the day and I am clear on what they feel like. This is usually written down, if it's not then I will have at the very least thought about them before the day and just before I get on.
👉 I have done the time-saving things I can do before we leave e.g numbers are on, tack and numnahs are all together, my jacket/gloves etc are all together.

Now this said I do operate a 'Does it make the boat go faster?' system (great book for anyone looking for a good read!) this means if for some reason I haven't had a chance to do the above or something changes e.g we get stuck in traffic the things that matter less get chucked of the list!

For example, if I haven't had a chance to clean my tack for whatever reason - yes it is annoying but it's not essential to my performance. I will always ask myself 'will this make my performance better?' if the answer is no then this is the invitation to let it go for this one!
Now I am not advocating never cleaning your tack but what I am saying here is if there are things that take away from you feeling as prepared to perform as possible, and they don't directly make you ride better or the horse go better they can go on the 'only if I have time list'.
The reality is LIFE HAPPENS and the hardest thing is actually being ok with not being perfect!

So prepared for me is having clarity on what gives me confidence in my performance - there's no point in sacrificing warm-up time to give your tack the quick wipeover.


10/07/2024

. . . . . IS BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT TRACKING IT!!

Riders will often say to me 'I feel like I'm not making progress', and don't get me wrong here - we all feel like this at some point!! However, my reply is always 'How do you know?' the reason for this is that 'feel' is only one way of tracking progress and only if you are documenting it, having more than one way is less open for interpretation.
Our perception of 'feel' can differ from how we emotionally feel that day, so having a backup such as a video can be a great way of gaining comparison.
Scores are also very subjective, although a great way of seeing progress they are also reliant on one person's perspective, and they have to judge what they see that day rather than your whole journey, so what might be a good test for you and your horse could be below what that judge expects that day, that's no one's fault, but an important consideration when declaring 'a lack of progress'.

I always judge my tests on my own scoreboard - how did this test feel compared to the last, or that one I did a few weeks a go that felt really good? I also try to encourage clients to draw this conclusion BEFORE picking up their score sheets, as technically the only person who can judge progress from test to test is you, as you are the only one present for them all!! Writing this down can be an even better way of confirming it before being swayed by the score.

In the Mentor Me Programme you have UNLIMITED video analysis meaning you can send me as many videos as you want during the 12 weeks, this can be of tests, training at home, or even specific movements. On the App I use for video analysis I can send you back specific exercises to help you develop the work and even run a side-by-side analysis so we can really pinpoint areas of progress and improvement!


09/07/2024

Setting goals is great but only if you know how to get there!! Sometimes just the very thought of working out how to get to where you want to be is so overwhelming that Riders give up on the goal before they have even started!

To be confident in yourself and your horse's ability we have to put your success in your own hands, we have to control the controllables and we have work toward giving you an unshakable mindset.

When Riders set goals they tend to work on the technical elements - what's required for the test, the score that's needed to qualify, or what movements need to be on the hit list to move up a level.

But are you ready mentally for all that!?🤯 Are you ready to cope with getting it wrong, being able to do it at home but not at a competition, and getting a bad score for a test that you thought was your best one yet!?
Because all of these things do happen! However, the Riders that grow from them are those who have the tools to make sense of it all!

Mindset is a huge part of everything we do and is the thread that runs through any work I do with clients at any level! In the 1:1 Mentor Me and Boost Programmes, we create your own system so that your mindset reflects what's needed for the goals you have set. We work hard to put your own personalized scaffolding in place so no setback is too big and can feel confident in what you are doing when you do it! VERY limited spaces will be opening for these programs next week so keep your eyes peeled!!

08/07/2024

‼️CAUTION - BRUTALLY HONEST POST‼️

Everyone always says to me 'You're so positive' or 'I wish I could be that positive' - truth bomb 💣 - IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT BEEN POSITIVE!

I don't describe myself as positive as such, I describe myself as resilient and realistic which results in a positive reframe.

I spend a lot of time speaking about how to set goals and have a plan, but I thought I would mention about when it doesn't go to plan!
This year I had great plans - I sat down at the end of December as I normally do and made a rough plan for the horses, however, the reality is only 1 of the horses has actually achieved what we set out to do by now. I could see this as a failure, I could get down on myself that setbacks and unexpected pauses in proceedings have stopped me from achieving my goals - but have they really!?

The reality is no they haven't - I just won't be doing them WHEN I expected, which if I'm honest has actually worked out really well with Uni finishing until September, so I can now focus on rehabbing Boris and Dave to their needs and producing horses that will come back even better 💪

When it doesn't go to plan it's so important to reflect without emotion, Dave's injury was compensatory from his original nerve paralysis so have I failed or is it really amazing that he has got to where he is even though at one point we thought he would never be ridden!?
Boris's injury is also a long-standing issue which we think has been a ni**le all of his life, so is this a failure or an opportunity to help him have fun and enjoy his partnership with me!?

I don't believe failure exists, I believe opportunity and learning are bedded within experiences, and no matter the type of experience, it has been sent for us to learn from it, our job is to work out what we can take away to inform going forward. I stand by I'm not just positive, I just have had loads of experience in seeking the learning opportunities that lie in horses!! 🤣🤣
This enables me to reframe experiences to set my intention going forward! I am really looking forward to the opportunity of helping these horses get back to what we love by enjoying the process of getting there.

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