Achieve your goals
Break down those mental barriers for a summer of success with your horse
Whatever you enjoy doing with your horse, we all at times feel that we have plateaued or are stuck in a rut. We might know where we want to be, but not how to get there. Equestrian mindset coach Sophie Green provides help to break these mental barriers and get on track for summer
YOU MIGHT HAVE spoken about goal setting with various people, from your instructor to your friend. We often talk about goals — essentially, what you’d like to achieve with your horse. I work on goal setting from early on with my clients. But why is it important?
There are two main reasons I like to set goals with my clients. To make sure they recognise when they are achieving something significant with their horse, and to maintain motivation when things get tough. We know that horses like to test us; we sometimes have to face setbacks, but having a well-set goal can ensure that we stay on track with our horse.
In this article I will help you to set goals that are achievable but that will also challenge you; give you advice to stay on track with your goals; and share some real-life examples from my clients.
Be specific
The SMART goals acronym — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based — is well known, and all aspects of it are important, but from a mindset point of view, being specific is key. Set yourself short, mid-term and long-term goals, but be really detailed.
If your goal is ‘to be more successful with my horse’, what exactly does that mean for you? Perhaps it’s entering your first 80cm showjumping class and finishing the course with a big smile on your face. Or maybe it’s achieving your first double clear at a one-day event. It could even be hacking out without wanting to get off and walk home.
Never be afraid that you might be shutting out opportunities because you’re focusing too closely on something specific. If your goal were to buy a new lorry, for example, write down everything that you would want it to have — perhaps it has to be stalled for three horses, and have electric windows and a living area, plus tack locker and an electric ramp.
Setting a goal like this doesn’t mean that the universe will hide lorries that don’t fit that criteria from you. But it does mean that the universe knows exactly what you’re looking for and will not ‘waste energy’ showing you something you never would have wanted in the first place.
Think of the universe a bit like a dog. If you want the dog to fetch the green dragon out of the ten toys on the floor and your command is ‘fetch a toy’, the dog will not necessarily bring the one you wanted. This leaves you disappointed and the dog frustrated, as it did what you asked but got no praise, because in your eyes it was wrong. If you want something specific, you need to ask for it specifically.