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Lose the Narrative to Propel Your Horse Training Results

Lose the Narrative to Propel Your Horse Training Results

By Sara Johnson

Training Tip

Lose the Narrative to Propel Your Training Results

We've all caught ourselves doing it... making excuses for ourselves or our horses. Voicing a limiting belief that keeps us from pushing that extra mile to make results happen. Any of these sound familiar?

  • My balance isn't very good
  • My horse isn't very obedient
  • I don't have time to ride
  • I'm clumsy
  • My horse is clumsy
  • My horse is lazy
  • My horse is rushy
  • My horse plays up when...
  • I should "XYZ" but ... {insert limiting belief of your choice here}
We've all done it, its part of human nature, but like any athletic endeavor, excellence with our horses comes down to action. So how do you take action?
  1. Set a clear goal, one that you can be absolutely certain of. Maybe its to have better balance in the saddle, maybe its to be better with your leg cues, maybe its for your horse to be lighter to your rein aids, master comfort at a particular gait, a maneuver or pattern a habit in your horse like waiting patiently to be fed.

  2. Embody what the result would feel like. How would it feel if you'd already reached this goal? Would riding feel like floating? Would your commands feel seamless, like your horse was reading your mind? How much confidence would that give you in other areas of your life?

  3. Put a timeline on accomplishing your goal. If you fully committed to your goal, what's an aggressive, but doable timeline to accomplish the goal.

  4. Break it down. How many smaller steps can you break that goal into? Does your fitness level need to come up, or maybe your horse's fitness level.  If your goal is better balance in the saddle, core strength is key - maybe adding a core strength workout routine to your day becomes one of your smaller steps, maybe you break that step into even smaller steps, doing planks 3 times a day rather than having one epic workout session. The key is to break the lesson for yourself or your horse down to as many small steps as you can.

  5. Celebrate small victories! Reaching your goals can be a crusher if you don't give yourself the chance to celebrate your progress. Your big goal may take 60 days, but you can and should make plans to celebrate the milestones along the way. Did you smash your goals today? Celebrate and then double down and get on track to do even better tomorrow.
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