Professional Cutting Horse Trainer, Personal Performance Coach, Author, Clinician, and Equine Consultant. In 2012 Barbra was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame
Riding your horse is a series of beautifully interwoven moves that flow one into the next … into the next … into the next and so on. As a rider, this happens when you are grounded in the moment.
Here are 7 ways to help you prepare for that gorgeous flow:
1. Make a decision right now that your job is to be an awesome partner for your horse. You will do all you can to expose his strengths. You will do all you can to help him through his weaknesses. You will not be fearful of things going “wrong.” You have a job to do which is to help him be his best. You will do your best … and that is always good enough.
2. Take the time to see the ride in your mind multiple times a day. Feel it. Get out your magic wand and be that rider you want to be in your mind. Without realizing it, you actually are affecting your body chemistry. You actually are practicing in an extremely effective way.
3. Prepare a script to coach yourself through your ride like there’s an angel on your shoulder. YOU talk to yourself about what you want to do. Don’t leave it up to those around you. This script is what will keep you focused and on target as you ride.
4. Plan your warm-up with precision. Make sure you have time to get both you and your horse ready to do what you are about to do. This should include times of expending energy as well as times of letting down. You both need mental and physical preparation. Your warm-up is critical for each ride.
5. Right before you go into the arena (or out on the trail) do a ritual that gets you relaxed and focused on what you are about to do. The result of this ritual should be feelings of readiness, calmness and authority.
6. Design and implement an effective ritual for your horse too. He should feel as you do. Ready. Confident. Calm.
7. Whatever you’re not sure about, TRUST that you will make the right decisions when the time comes. Trust yourself and trust your horse. Enter the arena with this steely sense of confidence. When you do this, you set yourself up to make the best decisions you can possibly make. Maybe they will be spot on … maybe not. That’s not the point. The point is to give yourself a chance to make good decisions by being open and calm.
16 / Sport and Trail Magazine
7 ways
to get ready to ride
bY bARBRA sCHULTE
5. Right before you go into the arena (or out on the trail) do a ritual that gets you relaxed and focused on what you are about to do. The result of this ritual should be feelings of readiness, calmness and authority.
6. Design and implement an effective ritual for your horse too. He should feel as you do. Ready. Confident. Calm.
7. Whatever you’re not sure about, TRUST that you will make the right decisions when the time comes. Trust yourself and trust your horse. Enter the arena with this steely sense of confidence. When you do this, you set yourself up to make the best decisions you can possibly make. Maybe they will be spot on … maybe not. That’s not the point. The point is to give yourself a chance to make good decisions by being open and calm.
Aponi Photography