Eventing High Performance off horse workshop a tremendous success

Chloe Gee shares her experience at the recent Eventing High Performance Workshop

On Saturday 28 January, the members of the Eventing High Performance Squad attended an off horse workshop in order to set ourselves up for a 2023 of reaching targets and achieving goals. At the clinic, we participated in team building exercises in order to strengthen our work as a team, as we came to realise that although this is an individual sport in most of our competitions, if we are up for possible Olympic selection, our team work skills are vital.

We also had talks from multiple guest speakers including Glen Stewart (former West Coast Eagles Management Team) who taught us the importance of culture and how ‘people like us, do things like this.’  This quote was repeated over and over again which made us realise that we are able to create and shape our culture as high performance equestrians for the better.

High Performance member and member of the 2023 Oceania Senior Team, Kenya Wilson, also took us through an exercise that she learned over east at the AIS to show us how to improve our mental performance and our focus while we’re competing.

Another exciting guest speaker was a social media talk from Edwardo Morales (former Nike Social Media Manager) who explained what sponsors are currently looking for on social media, as this is now a driving force for businesses. He explained the importance of engagement over followers and spent a substantial amount of time answering all our questions surrounding the topic. I think after that we were all inspired to improve our social media presences after hearing from Edwardo.

The workshop was rounded off with a lesson in IPP’s (Individual Performance Plans) from Ruth Ellis and Sonja Johnson. We were given our own IPP Spreadsheet so we can assess our performance throughout the year and receive help on areas that we are struggling with.

Overall the workshop was a great success, with every member leaving feeling like they learned several things that they can take home and use in their training. The Eventing HP riders are grateful for the support of the valued sponsors of the squad, Bates and Glenbaile for their ongoing support. It’s definitely safe to say that the Eventing High Performance Squads have started the year with a winning mindset and have been set up for success in 2023.