4.

CHALLENGING BUT REACHABLE GOALS

To boost self-efficacy, a good coach selects tasks just barely beyond the rider’s level so that meaningful success is experienced frequently. If you’re jumping advanced courses, posting around the arena once without irons is not a meaningful goal. You’ll succeed, but so what? Jumping a quadruple bounce without irons or reins is more likely to spur your enthusiasm. But the same task would scare the pants off a novice rider and risk her welfare to boot.

We can also expand self-efficacy and stoke inner motivation by observing peers accomplishing goals similar to our own. Nowadays, a good number of novice riders are in their 50s or 60s. Watching a teenager hop her first fence doesn’t have much effect on their willingness to believe they could learn to do the same thing. Seeing a friend their age learn to jump---or trail ride, barrel race, leg yield, rope calves, whatever---is much more inspiring.

Group lessons offer excellent chances to observe peers meeting their goals. The secret is to be sure that all parties sustain one another. A supportive group cheers your success and consoles you when you fail. They offer advice when you ask for it and keep mum when you don’t. The best