Opportunity and Horses

There comes a time in your riding career that you need to decide what you want from the endless hours, money, and energy you are putting into your art and sport. Why do you ride? Why do you cope with the heartache that follows horses? Why do you break your body down? Why do you add this stress to your life? In the midst of all this negative, there is a positive that shines brighter. If there was not, you would not be reading this article. If the negative overtakes the positive, then you would no longer be riding and striving.

If the answer to your questions is, “because I could not live without it,” then you are in the right place. You are here seeking strategies to better yourself and looking for ways to hone your craft. You realize that there is more for you. You know that you can achieve even greater success, if only you had the guidance to show you how.

Here comes some tough love. Tough love is a concept that only people who strive understand. They seek out this type of advice because they already know the answer. Sometimes it takes hearing it for you to grasp it and push forward. This tough love is going to home in on MISSED OPPORTUNITIES.

Opportunities are all around us every day of our life. The opportunity to become better at what we do, to become braver, stronger, more resilient, more compassionate, more subtle, more understanding, gain more knowledge, gain more insight, etc. The opportunity to move forward in growth is always presented to us. Unfortunately, us humans miss many of these opportunities because we have not trained ourselves to consistently look for them. We have a false idea that we are stuck where we are currently.

Mindset plays a large role in recognizing opportunities and making undesirable circumstances work for you. Some switches that you can make to recognize the opportunity in any situation.

1. Horse is nervous for seemingly no reason, which is making you uneasy = a chance to work on exercises and tools you can use in the future to redirect the energy quickly.

2. You are tired, but you have to pick up all of the jumps out of the arena still = you train your body to push past perceived limits which in return widens your comfort zone making you capable of so much more.

3. You have to ride a horse who is hard to sit = you learn how to adjust to different movement and feel the parts of your body that are weaker and need to be worked outside of the saddle. You learn which muscles actually support your body.

4. Your back hurts, yet you still have to ride = You can find what the root cause of your pain is by concentrating on what makes it worse. You can develop exercises before, during, and after the ride that help with the pain. You never know when you are going to wake up at a competition with pain. Might as well figure out how to help it at home first. If you cannot figure out the source of your pain, then you will be forced to seek professional help, which will only give you more tools, knowledge, and help.

5. You do not have access to a good instructor = you have to think outside of the box which could lead you to meeting some amazing people or introduce you to an amazing resource online.

6. You feel like other’s have it so easy = this might push you to read an autobiography of someone you admire and realize how tough the journey actually is. This will push you to have more resiliency.

7. Low on funds = learn to prioritize what you use, learn to work with what you have, (if a professional rider) learn to manage business in a more productive way.

The challenge is to be aware of when you begin to complain and find yourself in a circumstance that is undesirable and be present enough to switch your mindset into one of opportunity. I highly encourage you to write down when these circumstances come up and how you switched your mindset to accommodate. If you are not the journaling type, just be very mindful of these circumstances.

Seeking opportunity is your next step. After you are on your way to embracing the opportunities that naturally present themselves to you, you can then begin to make your own.

Activities that you can seek out: (the possibilities are endless):

· Volunteer hours for local, regional, national, or international shows

· Riding or auditing at educational events

· Seeking certifications

· Reading, reading, reading

· Online courses

· Podcasts

· Online video subscriptions

· Training DVD’s

· Reading the rule book of your sanctioning organization for your sport

· Reading again, but autobiographies are an important part of understanding your sport

· Requested Interviews

· Online Forums (Please do not be a troll though, go and learn, give advice only if asked)

· Blogs

· Vlogs

· Business classes (in person or online if you are running your own equine business…large or small)

· Research products you already use… read the scientific research to insure you are using products that actually benefit you or your horse.

· Learn a recovery technique

· Learn to meditate and visualize

· Try a fitness app (we wrote able several in the magazine)

· Attend events to watch (allot of learning to ride comes from your eyes). Or watch videos.

· Network in person and on social media. You never know what you can learn from someone.

· Did I mention read?

· Research how your own body works

· Research how the horse’s body works

· Research grants for your sport

· Journal (Need ideas? Check out the magazine)

· Nutrition research. Learn to fuel your body.

When you commit to the idea that you cannot live without horse sport, then it is imperative that you begin the journey of accepting opportunities and creating opportunities. Just a small effort towards channeling your mindset towards growth will make huge changes in your progression and happiness. A growth mindset is one that gears towards positivity and development. Just as your horse, you are a work in progress. Enjoy the journey, make your own path, and grow to full potential. This is what opportunity offers you.

Watch Deirdre on TV Show Equine Strides on FarmNRanch.TV

Motivation is a fleeting force that drives us towards a task that we wish to complete. This force is the source of many discussions. How do we keep motivation alive? How do you find motivation? What can we do to find the ability to push forward with the lack of motivation?

I recently found myself in the middle of an arena crying. Why? It was lightly raining on me, I was trying to fight off pneumonia, the IRS was looming around my mind like a ghost, and my health insurance said they would not cover my last hospital visit. So, I stood in the middle of an arena crying while ground working all of the horses. Where did the motivation come from? If I was so upset…sick…miserable, why did I not just call it a day? Why keep pushing?

Did the motivation come from a need or desire to make money? The short answer is no. The reason money driven goals do not hold steady is because they do not serve a greater purpose. Let’s be real for a second…we need money. Money is the road to our needs and desires. Money can be used for self, for others, and for our animals. Why is it that money is not a sustainable driving force? The answer is, because money in a means and not a destination. Money is in constant flow, it is a means of which to accomplish. The goal may be to own a yacht. To own a yacht, that person will have to make…. say 1.2 million a year. The money is the means to own a yacht where that person can relax, where his family can relax and make memories, and where he can entertain friends. He works hard for the yacht and the memories made there…not the money. For me, money pays for feed, a truck, a trailer, well-fitting tack, footing, show fees, fuel, and everything else needed to make me and those around more successful in work and training. Money is a tool to get where we need, but not a reason for working hard. Money is a byproduct of hard work.

Did the motivation come from obligation to my clients? Yes, in a way it did. Was this the full motivation, no. Obligation to others is a big part of motivation. A community is a great place to push one another. Of course, I did not want to let my clients down. I wanted them to know that they could count on me, but that does not explain why I worked my own horses that day. Why not push the horses that belong to me aside? What other force beside community had to be at work here?

Did I have something to prove? Yes, to myself and my students and clients. I had to prove that I could perform. I had to prove to myself that when my main goal of competing for the USA rolled around that I could do it no matter the circumstances. I had to prove to my body that while I will take care of it, that there were things to be done and I had to be able to heal while getting SOMETHING done (note: I was not on a horse, but ground working instead, this is compromise…we all know I didn’t need another hospital bill). I had to prove to myself that I could work under physical and mental distress. That I am stronger than distress. I also wanted to live by example. I wanted to show others around me that goals are not a fair-weather activity. Goals are still there through the rough times and the easy times. Goals are the light at the end of the tunnel that keep us moving forward and should shine brighter during the tough times. Many times, we see people give up when it gets though. I know it has crossed my mind so many times during the tough times. Mindset it the key. Making a conscious effort to change the mindset from “it is too hard” to “this is all apart of my conditioning and training” is the key to motivation during hard times. Prove to yourself and others that you have what it takes to train hard, to push through, and to deliver.

Did my personal goals play a role in my reason to keep pushing? Yes, they did. If you have read my past article you already know some of the personal motivators. My first motivator is myself. Success is an addicting feeling (you also have to have failed to know how good success feels). My other motivator is my daughter. I want her to see the fruits of hard work and dedication. I want her to have an example of what can happen if she works hard and pushes herself towards a goal. My last motivator is my family. I want to push forward and prove to my family that their sacrifices are not unnoticed. I want them to see how much I appreciate everything they have done for me and show them that I will push forward and not waste those sacrifices. I also want to honor my late mother. She had the talent to get where she wanted to go, but Huntington’s disease took her life and she never had the chance. She passed her vision and desires down to me and I want to make sure I finish what she started. I have since developed a new personal motivator since I wrote that article and that is to help those who wish to go where I have been. I have a vision of a school that caters to all aspects of equestrian training. A place that immerses those who wish to make the USA teams into a program that trains them in every aspect of this process. This vision has given me a reason to meet my goals. I now have a vision past my goals and greater good reason to reach what I have set out to do. Goals that develop based on a greater good concept give you clarity in your path. Because I want to teach the journey, it lets me enjoy the journey. Every step that I make, I am taking notes and making observations. These personal motivators are imperative to success. We all must take the time to know ourselves and understand what moves us.

Motivation takes shape in many forms. If you have the correct mindset that is geared towards growth and development, you will have the tool you need to find motivation and drive in any situation. Ensuring that you know yourself, you know your motivation triggers, and you have a clear idea of why you want what you want, then you will not run out of fuel. Does this mean that you will be happy in your work all the time? That is a big, fat no. You may find yourself crying in the middle of an arena in the rain, but you will still be in the arena making small steps towards your ultimate success. Motivation is still present in the hard times, you just have to be willing to see it. We do not have the luxury of waiting for inspiration, but we do have a mind that can decide to push forward or not. The beauty of motivational force is that it is completely up to you… you do not need anything or anyone else to push you forward except your mindset and personal drive.

Deirdre is an FEI dressage rider and coach in Belton, TX. She is the host of the TV show Equine Strides on Farm and Ranch TV and a personal fitness and life coach specializing in equestrian athletes. Interested in working with Deirdre and her team? Visit www.DDressage.com

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