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| How do you stay positive and motivated when your not consistently winning or are struggling with your horse? |
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| Having a drive for this no matter if you're winning or not! I don't think about if I "win" anything or not, I think about the goals I want to meet for myself and my horses! Winning anything just becomes a bonus for hard work. It's a lot of work but knowing hard work will pay off! The only person who fails is the one who stops trying!! Motivation for me is the love for riding and the unconditional love for my horses. |
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Location: USA | abuffalo27 - 2014-10-06 1:15 AM Having a drive for this no matter if you're winning or not! I don't think about if I "win" anything or not, I think about the goals I want to meet for myself and my horses! Winning anything just becomes a bonus for hard work. It's a lot of work but knowing hard work will pay off! The only person who fails is the one who stops trying!! Motivation for me is the love for riding and the unconditional love for my horses.
Perfectly said  |
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  Witty Enough
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Location: CTX | abuffalo27 - 2014-10-06 12:15 AM Having a drive for this no matter if you're winning or not! I don't think about if I "win" anything or not, I think about the goals I want to meet for myself and my horses! Winning anything just becomes a bonus for hard work. It's a lot of work but knowing hard work will pay off! The only person who fails is the one who stops trying!! Motivation for me is the love for riding and the unconditional love for my horses.
Very good answer!! Love it!  |
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| When I'm having issues with staying positive I try to think of each run as a small part of a larger process. If things aren't going my way, I look at what can I take from that run that was a positive to build on for our next run.
For instance, I'm riding a young horse that is now just adding speed. So yesterday at the barrel race we hit another gear going in the arena and we went a huge stride past the first. While I'm kind of mad at myself for not helping him more, I was happy that he is now wanting to run a bit. And our 2nd and 3rd was pretty awesome. So, now I have something to work on this week like reinforcing a little rate and reminding my own self to sit sooner and help him out with rate.
Also, I find that sometimes the expense of barrel racing adds to the stress of not doing well. It's hard to stay going down the road if you aren't making any money however, it's also hard to get things working if your not able to go and run. When this happens I try to stay closer to home and hit some jackpots where I can still make runs and it isn't breaking the bank.
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Expert
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| I guess I mean also not meeting any if the goals you had hoped to reach and not seeing much improvement. I can handle getting a little better each run and either getting consistent or continuing to get faster and just not hitting the money. Its the lack of anything changing after months of working my butt off trying every thing I can think of and throwing money down the drain running and hauling and rarely having a good run and feeling like every time I am on the horse its a fight because she thinks she's smarter that has me down and wandering what I am even doing. Its a horse I had at one time felt a real connection and partnership and we were getting faster and faster each run and picking up checks sometimes and after having a baby ( me not her) I don't feel like its the same horse. I don't feel like we are a team anymore and I am tired of fighting with her. |
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| Maybe you need to seek out the advice of a clinician or someone who can watch your run and offer you specific suggestions on what is going on. |
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| wishes4kissez - 2014-10-06 10:38 AM
I guess I mean also not meeting any if the goals you had hoped to reach and not seeing much improvement. I can handle getting a little better each run and either getting consistent or continuing to get faster and just not hitting the money. Its the lack of anything changing after months of working my butt off trying every thing I can think of and throwing money down the drain running and hauling and rarely having a good run and feeling like every time I am on the horse its a fight because she thinks she's smarter that has me down and wandering what I am even doing. Its a horse I had at one time felt a real connection and partnership and we were getting faster and faster each run and picking up checks sometimes and after having a baby ( me not her) I don't feel like its the same horse. I don't feel like we are a team anymore and I am tired of fighting with her.
When things are spiraling out like this ... I take a break. I turn my horse out for various lengths of time and get myself back to "right". For me, that means focusing on my own fitness by consistently being in the gym running and lifting. Then I work on my own mental health - I'm a church girl- and focus on reading my Bible every morning with a coffee.
Then, when I know my mind is right and my body is right. I go back and work my horse. I re-focus on what I am trying to accomplish and eventually get back to entering up.
Sounds a bit like you have a ton on your plate with a baby and family. Take a deep breath. Sometimes a little pause/step back can really help. Look around and enjoy the little things, maybe re-center a bit, and then pick it back up with the horse? You mentioned you felt you had a connection with the horse, that won't go away overnight. I'm pretty positive that you'll come back to it and remember how much you love it all. We all go through ups and downs ... you're not alone.
Good luck and don't give up!!! |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| abuffalo27 - 2014-10-06 12:15 AM Having a drive for this no matter if you're winning or not! I don't think about if I "win" anything or not, I think about the goals I want to meet for myself and my horses! Winning anything just becomes a bonus for hard work. It's a lot of work but knowing hard work will pay off! The only person who fails is the one who stops trying!! Motivation for me is the love for riding and the unconditional love for my horses.
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