Friday, May 17, 2013

Personal Equestrian Goals.

Do you ever set goals to reach with your horse(s)?  If you answered yes, then great for you and your horse.  If you answered no, then why haven't you?  Goals are an important part of any aspect of your life.  Even if they are small goals, like trot around the arena one time without breaking gait; or larger goals like, train my horse to accept a rider.  Just like in any other aspect of life, you need to set both long-term and short-term goals.

For someone who has been riding for more years than they care to count, setting goals will help remind them why they loved working with horses to begin with.  For a beginner, setting goals helps them see where they are in relationship to where they want to be.  For example; you set a long term goal of training your horse to run barrels at next year's annual rodeo.  This makes you look at the fact that you're currently watching barrel racing at this year's annual rodeo, and while your horse is trained to ride, he/she is still a long way from being finished.  So, you know where you are and where you want to be a year from now; and from there you can set some short-term goals to help you achieve your long-term goal. It could also make you realize that you don't know the first thing about barrel racing, and that your time would be better spend with an instructor or knowledgeable friend that does know something about barrel racing.  Funny how things can work themselves out with a little goal setting.

New hand or old hand, set goals for you and your horse to reach together.  You will be glad you did when you accomplish them.

Good luck, happy trails, stay safe, and God bless you and yours.

Until next time,
Lisa

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