โ๐ง๐ผ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ผ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต; ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป; … ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐, ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐; ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ; ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต … ๐๐ผ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐.”
โ ๐ฑ๐บ๐
๐๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐
๐ฝ๐ ๐ค๐๐พ๐๐๐๐
At shows, people often focus on who wins. To be in the winnersโ circle is an awesome feeling, and I always admire the horses and riders that do well in competition. However, very rarely in elite competition do you see the same people winning at every event. Sometimes some of the best horses are taken out of the game through something that is completely out of their control.
But my winning isn’t measured only by the judge’s scorecard at the end of the day. My scorecard is if I met my objectives for that one particular show. I set my goals for each horse and myself in my journal.
Control the things I can control-
โ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น. Is he fit, healthy, feeling good, ready to give me his body. Ready to work with me with his mind.
โ ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐, one cow at a time. Clean controlled cuts, drive out, up in the middle of the pen.
โ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ. What is fresh and what has been cut already? Do I know how the cows are acting, if I am best to cut quietly or can I power cut when given the opportunity. Does my help know which cows I will cut?
โ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป. When will I start loping my horse? When will I wrap my horse and put my chaps on? Will I walk slow to the herd? What side of the herd will I enter from? Does my horse need a particular type of cow?
โ ๐๐บ ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐? Am I well rested and well nourished? No negative thinking. Have I surrounded myself with positivity and a good circle of supportive people?
Let go of the things I canโt control-
โ The surface, the weather, the cows etc. Getting bogged down thinking about these things will just take away from my ideal performance state. Itโs a complete waste of my precious energy.
My scorecard is remembering that this is something that I do, not all that I am. I remember why I do this and what success means to me. I do this for the horses. I do this for the people I meet and those who are on my team. I do this because I love a challenge. I do this because since I was a little girl, I knew that horses and competition were in my blood, so I remember my inner child. I do this because tomorrow is not promised, and I am determined to live each day with courage and faith. I let go, trust my training and I play.
At the end of the event, I celebrate my personal wins. But I also critique my performance. I know exactly what I need to work on the next time, and I plan to keep showing up.
โ๐ฆ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ, ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ถ๐.” โ Maya Angelou
