When we prepare to saddle our horses to ride at home or at a race, we need to set up our own mindset for success! What does success look like to you? For me, it’s not about winning. Nope. It’s all about doing and riding better than I did the last time I saddled up! I strive to be a better horseman each time I catch my horse. If I set myself to win each time, I would feel like a failure. Sure, we win from time to time. But I am in this because I Love It! Barrel racing is a passion. It’s a sport where you and your equine athlete are racing against a clock. I’m sure some do it for a living. But the other 75% of us are out there to feed our souls! So I make a point to not focus on the win. I focus on my perfect run. The feel of my horse when my body is in the right position. What my hands and legs are doing when we wrap that barrel just right. What it feels like to run in and out of that arena with confidence and happiness! I do not dwell on the negatives. In fact, I don’t even think about it. I don’t dwell on who is who at the arena that day. It’s not about them. It’s about me and my horse! I’m there by the Grace of God. And God gifted me with a few nice horses and a little bit of talent!
If we go back and watch our runs we can always find mistakes. Mistakes cost time. Time changes how we place. I do pick on myself a lot. But that is because I want to become a better rider every single time I set my foot in the stirrup to mount up! I do my homework. I work on my weak points and enjoy my strong ones. All in all, it’s about improving myself so that my horse can be the best he can be. Honestly, we are a team but I’m sure he is thinking if I could just recall that perfect run and repeat it, we could do better than we did last time.
This is a new blog for me and I plan to post some tips and tricks that I personally use and coach to my students to help them achieve the ultimate goal. Being a better version of themselves.
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