We Ride Sport and Trail Magazine September 2017 | Page 55

#2 You enforced the rules incorrectly.

You have just got to keep going forward and not make the same mistakes in the future. This is why work experience is priceless. You cannot teach experience. Always stand behind your judges and show grace. You know that they do not want to make mistakes and are doing the very best they can on that particular day. Mistakes happen.

#3 Event is going at a snail’s pace

Take charge! If people are not where they need to be, go get them. If the event is running slow because of you, step back assess the situation and make changes. Sometimes this can be done immediately and sometimes you will just need to make changes for the next event. I used to have competitors fill out entries forms with their address and contact information. I now realize that once I have that information I need nothing more than their name and what division they are competing in.

#4 Everything is going wrong

Stop the event and have a meeting with everyone. They will appreciate the honesty and will help you get everything moving again. When you are going through a bad event, so are the competitors. Get a clean slate and then to moving! Putting on events is a lot harder than one might think; it is ok to regroup.

Before you host an event you just need to take a deep breath and come to terms with the fact that you are not perfect and neither are any of the competitors. Just keep going. Do not lose sight of the happiness you had when you booked the event. The first event is always the hardest, and they do get easier.

much time pass

and then I would chicken out

because I would not be prepared. I needed a team of horsemen. I thought long and hard about what this should look like. It came to me in an instant; I should form a drill team. With my husband and I owning a trail riding facility, my weekends are swamped, which means that I needed to practice during the week.

I posted on Facebook that I wanted to start a drill team and PEOPLE SHOWED UP!

To make things even better, the women that showed up were almost all former rodeo queens! I couldn’t believe the line up! We formed the Country Tough Drill Team! Our first practice was absolutely wonderful except for JoJo. We couldn’t trot in a straight line, couldn’t trot all the way around the arena, couldn’t canter around the arena, and our stop took around 15’ to accomplish. Plus, the horses did not know what he was and why he was beside them!

If you are looking for a step by step answer for how to find motivation, there’s not a “catch all” answer. I am a people person and enjoy being on a team. In addition to improving my basic horse/mulemanship skills with the use of the drill team, I also took private lessons, competed in a few obstacle challenges, and even went cattle sorting. The way to feel more confident is to believe in your training. In order to persuade myself to train, I set a goal. It is sometimes easy to set a goal, but not easy to keep yourself from backing out later on. By having the team, I felt like I would be letting them down if I did not show up. Whatever you have to do to keep yourself from backing out; do it. You could prepay for a bundle of lessons, write your training time down in ink on your calendar, and make a promise to yourself to not cancel.

I am now the 2017 Benton County Rodeo Queen. Did I compete on him bridleless? Heck no! But I did ride him bridleless for two laps in the arena the night of the rodeo with one of my drill team teammates by my side and another one guarding the gate.

CONTINUED >

Brandy is a ranch owner, horsewoman, instructor, competitor, judge, equestrian event host, a wedding host, a black belt in martial arts as well as a former biology teacher ranging from college to middle school for 11 years. She is driven, ambitious and confident. Operating out of her family ranch in Mora, MO, Brandy and her husband David are in the

business of hosting a wide variety of

equine events.

Visit the Ranch website at www.vonholtenranch.com

#4 Everything is going wrong

Stop the event and have a meeting with everyone. They will appreciate the honesty and will help you get everything moving again. When you are going through a bad event, so are the competitors. Get a clean slate and then get moving! Putting on events is a lot harder than one might think; it is ok to regroup.

Before you host an event you just need to take a deep breath and come to terms with the fact that you are not perfect and neither are any of the competitors. Just keep going. Do not lose sight of the happiness you had when you booked the event. The first event is always the hardest, and they do get easier.