Are you happy with where you are right now in your riding journey? If you’ve been feeling a little stuck or ‘behind’ regarding progress for you and your horse, today is the day you can begin changing all of that; whether you make it to the yard right now, or not.
The key to feeling better about yourself as an equestrian is to take action and actually do something. However, you might find that you’re at this point where the action is the issue! It simply doesn’t feel fun, exciting, or interesting anymore!
One of the major reasons riders stop riding is due to their riding and interactions with their horse beginning to feel ‘same-old, same-old’. Becoming intentional in your riding is a surefire remedy for this :)
This is Your Responsibility
As riders, we can often forget that horse riding, just like everything else in life, has a ‘honeymoon phase’ to it. The initial few weeks or months where it doesn’t really matter what happens, it’s all good and you love it! And calling it a ‘phase’ is very intentional because this season of your riding journey will come to an end. Sooner or later.
Are you guilty of getting caught up in the initial ‘novelty’ of riding or having a horse, only to begin wondering what’s gone wrong now that the ‘newness’ is fading?
No matter where you are as a rider, one of your top responsibilities is to keep the conversation and the work fresh for you and your horse. Looking for ways to weave intentional curiosity and challenges into each interaction. Finding methods and exercises that will keep you both learning and developing.
Becoming intentional in your riding is the most effective way of keeping you and your horse interested in the work – and in each other.
When the Novelty Begins to Wear Off
So, in order for you to become intentional in your riding, you first need something to work towards. A goal or a specific outcome of sorts. This ‘something’ needs to be both achievable and realistic for you and your horse when combined with your current resources and seasons of life.
But having the goal alone is not going to be enough to keep you both curious and interested; the key is to create an interesting and ‘doable’ plan to achieve that goal…
What’s interesting about setting a goal is that if it doesn’t really inspire you, the plan won’t ever really come together. This may have happened to you in the past; the same goal keeps showing up without ever really being worked towards.
Find something that inspires curiosity in you. That is a key element to fleshing out your plan. The plan will come together when you can see a clear pathway leading you to become more intentional in your riding — step by step and ride by ride.
You Don’t Need Your Horse To Get Started
So, if you have been feeling a little ‘meh’ about riding and interacting with your horse, today is the perfect day to begin putting this into practice. There are so many ways you can begin looking for inspiration. Magazines, local equestrian expos, horse shows, podcasts, visit a tack shop, Pinterest, etc. Simply set aside some time today so that you can begin ‘perusing’ something equestrian-related and see what aligns with you.
Planning doesn’t require your horse to be present. However, it does require you to advocate on behalf of your horse as though he was. Choose a goal & create a plan that will inspire you both.
And if it takes two weeks to get to the point where you’re actually working with your horse, so be it. The key here is to begin taking action today that will help you create some positive momentum for you both.
Becoming More Intentional in Your Riding
If you would like a little more hand-holding and some actual fun ideas to work on with your horse, Daily Strides Premium has all of that and more. Simply listening or watching the recording of one of our monthly live planning calls will help you to continue to make progress and move forward.
If you have been feeling guilty about either not riding enough or not feeling as grateful and excited as you think you should about your riding, you can change that starting today. Find something that inspires to you. And then begin crafting a doable plan for you and your horse to help you work on this, intentionally, every single interaction together.
Happy Riding
Lorna
Other Planning Episodes To Help You
Online Training to Help Your Riding
Connect with Lorna online:-
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- Connect in the Daily Strides Podcast Online Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/dailystridespodcast
- Connect in the Virtual Stable Lounge Private Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1499737810323191
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