Horse Riding With Confidence #5
Out of Sequence!
So, we’re in the middle of a sequence of blog posts looking at competition preparation from a psychological point of view. Last month I wrote about things to help you during the weeks leading up to competition and this month I was planning on looking at the couple of days prior to the event. But, you know what? Life sometimes gets in the way and I have been sidetracked by life!
I am realistically not going to have time to write about what I wanted to but will do that next month instead and so I want to use this as a metaphor for a few words on coping when things don’t go to plan.
Most of you reading this blog probably ride in your spare time and do it for fun. A few of you may be professional riders and some may be riders who take competition seriously and are working towards a significant competitive goal. I think it’s probably fair to say that all of you will have many other commitments other your riding and sometimes those things get in the way and that’s what’s happened to me this month.
Now, I could let myself get annoyed or upset that I’m not doing what I said I would do but where would that get me? Nothing would change and nothing would be achieved. The same goes for horse riding, sometimes ‘stuff’ happens. We may be busy with work, family or friends. Our horses may be injured or unwell. The weather may mean that it’s difficult to ride as much as you would like to or an event may be postponed.
So, it’s very important to be able to be flexible in our goal setting and to avoid using terms like ‘I MUST do…….’, ‘I SHOULD be doing…….’. These terms aren’t helpful and we just end up putting ourselves under too much pressure. Be aware of doing that and make sure that, if things don’t go to plan, you have the flexibility to alter course a little on your way to achieving your goals.
I’ve quite enjoyed writing this little post and look forward to being back in sequence next month!
