Motivation and Maintaining the Momentum
Motivation and Maintaining the Momentum
By Maribeth Dunlap
December 2007
This time of year, during the holidays, it can be difficult to maintain our focus on our riding and training. An additional distraction for me is the onset of cold weather. I’m not too fond of the colder months in central Pennsylvania and it can be difficult for me to leave my warm, cozy house for the great wintry outdoors. It is funny though, because once I break through my mental barrier between my warm house and the cold outdoors, trudge to the barn, and begin my routine with my horses, I always end up thoroughly enjoying the time I spend with my horses and end up wondering why I always have such a hard time getting started? I have to push myself out the door but once there, I’m glad I did the pushing.
Getting Motivated – “Start Your Engines”
If you’re like me, getting started is the hard part. So how do we get motivated and get our engines started?
Put the holidays in perspective. If you’re like the average person, you have too many things on your to-do list and not enough time to do them all. This is where having an accepting attitude and the ability to prioritize comes in handy. I have found that it is just best to accept that I won’t be riding as much as I’d like to. Instead of five days a week, my riding might back off to more like three times a week during the holiday season. I’ve learned to balance the things that I really would like to do for myself with those extra holiday things that need to be done. By simply adjusting my attitude, being a little more accepting of the additional load, and relaxing my focus on my training, greatly relieves the potential for stress and sets the stage for enjoying the holidays and the time I spend with my family and friends. Before long the holidays will be over and life will resume its normal routine.
“Baby, it’s cold outside!” This is my biggest issue. I’m more of a warm weather gal and from December to March I’m always cold but I’ve come up with some things that help me get through my winter riding. During the daytime hours I keep a safe heater in my tack room. This warms my boots and gloves, warms my horses bits and tack, and gives me a room to go in and warm up in between rides and chores. I usually keep two pairs of gloves in the tack room. I put one pair in front of the heater and wear the other and then switch when my hands start to get cold. I dress in layers to keep my core warm, always beginning with a turtleneck to keep the cold air from creeping down my neck, and I wear toe-warmers and keep hand-warmers in my pockets. They are the greatest invention and can be purchased at Wal-Mart or most sporting-good stores. Once I’m on a horse working though, I warm my core and usually need to shed a layer so I always wear an outer jacket or shell that I can remove as I warm up.
“I don’t have an indoor arena.” If you live in an area that has the four seasons like I do, it can be challenging to ride during the winter months. A solution would be to board at a local facility that has an indoor arena during the winter months. This will enable you to be consistent and effective in your riding and training. It may also provide you with a pleasant social environment, one that will be fun as you would meet new people and have opportunities to ride with other riders. So your motivators would be having the opportunity to ride in an indoor arena and making new friends.
Setting Goals. One of the best ways to get motivated is to set some goals. Goals give you something to work towards and measure yourself with. I tend to be pretty goal-oriented so I use this to my advantage. I have many goals, some short-term and some long-term. Some are fairly specific and some are less so. An example of a short-term goal would be to perfect the symmetry of the patterns that you ride; circles, corners, diagonals, serpentines and so on. It might be improving a particular exercise or the relaxation in your horse or in your own body. Whatever it is, be sure to make it simple and achievable. Long-term goals are those that are a little further down the road. Examples might include having a goal to ride at the FEI levels of dressage someday, or to train to a certain level someday. Whatever they might be for you, make them realistic yet allow yourself to dream a bit, too. You never know what you might achieve by setting a goal and dreaming a little.
Maintaining the Momentum. Okay, so you got through the holidays, you have solutions to deal with winter weather and you’ve set some goals. So how do you keep things going?
Take some lessons. This is a great way to maintain your momentum and progress at the same time. Try to schedule your lessons on a regular basis and stick to the schedule. There are many ways you can schedule your lessons. For example, if you’re boarding at a busy lesson stable then you might consider a weekly private lesson, or one weekly private lesson and one weekly group lesson as this will add variety to your lessons. If you have to trailer to your lessons then once a week or a lesson every other week might be enough to keep you motivated and progressing in the right direction. Whatever your situation is, look for the opportunities and arrange your schedule so that you will have the best possible outcome. And most importantly, put it on your schedule and stick to it!
Go to a clinic. Another way to keep you thinking forward is to participate in a clinic. Search for the opportunities and then go for it. Clinics are great motivators and give you something to work towards. It is also a great way to meet new people, network and open new doors.
Organize a Ride-A-Test Day with friends. This is always a fun activity and can be organized in several different ways from very simple to a little more involved. The simplest way to organize a Ride A Test day is to just involve friends where you each take turns riding a dressage test and everyone then critiques it. Another way is to ask your more experienced friend(s) to act as the judge and each test is judged and scored. Simple, fun awards can be given out at the end of the day. During the winter months at my farm we would use this Ride A Test format and usually gave it fun names like “Fat and Furry” or “Wild and Wooly” and our awards were often fun and silly and given out during a pot luck dinner. You can also organize a more formal Ride A Test by running it more like an actual clinic, where you would hire a clinician to judge each ride which is then followed by instruction from the clinician which is focused on the test ridden, improving on your weaker points.
Pas de Deux Anyone? This is another fun activity! Find a friend who is also interested in riding to music and work on a Pas de Deux (musical ride for two) over the winter months. The two of you can help to motivate each other as you plan and schedule your practice sessions together. This activity gives you the opportunity to learn so much! It teaches you many things about riding together, like symmetry, timing and spacing, rhythm and tempo, and allows you to be creative with your choreography and experiment with different music that suits you and your horses. Plan to perform it in the spring at your barn or at a schooling show. You will be amazed at how much fun this is and I am certain that you will look for new ideas and opportunities to ride to music. Use your imagination and let your creativity flow!
Gain some inspiration. Sometimes during the winter months a little inspiration can go a long way in maintaining our motivation. Reading a good book about riding or watching videos of advanced equestrians and horses can inspire and motivate. Attend an Equine Expo or audit a top-level clinician can also give us reasons to keep thinking forward. I’ve learned just as much auditing good clinics as I have riding in them. And then there is always a Riding Vacation. There are many good quality equestrian schools out there that offer the opportunity to ride schoolmasters under excellent instruction. This could be an excellent opportunity to travel to another country and experience the culture while making progress in your riding. Or you might prefer to stay in this large country and experience another state while taking advantage of the excellent schools that are offered here.
Volunteer. Sometimes one of the best ways to stop thinking about ourselves is to help someone else. There are countless ways that you can volunteer. Search for riding schools or Therapeutic Riding Centers that are always in need of an extra pair of hands and a broad smile. The Animal Shelters are always in need of help. Get involved with your local USDF-GMO or equestrian club and see what you can do to get something started in your local area to promote your club and your particular discipline. Search for the opportunities and then jump right in. All organizations are always looking for energetic and enthusiastic people to help and it is a wonderful way to maintain your own momentum.
Take a break. Finally, sometimes what we really need is a break. Just like taking a short catnap in the afternoon, a break from our normal routines can help to refresh and re-motivate. I think, too, that our horses appreciate a break from their normal routines once in a while so it only stands to reason, that we also benefit from a break. So if you’re feeling stressed and your normal routine is beginning to feel more like a burden, allow yourself to take some time off. Do something completely different or do nothing at all. And how do you know if a break is what you needed? Just like our horses, if we feel better, rejuvenated and ready to jump back into our routines, then a break is just what we needed.
I sincerely hope that the above suggestions will help those that struggle this time of year. I’ve been a horsewoman living in the northeast for most of my life and I have used these simple things to help keep me motivated and thinking forward.
Keep on keeping on.
Maribeth
Photo: Maribeth riding the chestnut mare, Lucille, during a Pas de Deux
This article was written by Maribeth Dunlap in December 2007 – All Rights Reserved - Used With Permission.
