Looking for the mental edge? Want to find a way to calm nervous jitters? Would you like to get in the best shape of your life, or just be able to zip up your chaps?
Kirsten Farris, Certified Sport Consultant, Equestrian Fitness Trainer and author of The Equestrian Athlete Workbook will share simple, practical tips to keep your mind sharp, your body fit and your sense of humor satisfied so you can be your best, in and out of the show pen. Kirsten is a 3 time Congress Champion and works with equestrians to create their personal formula for success. In her first installment for GoHorseShow.com, she addresses horse showing during the holidays.
This can be a difficult time of year for those who show. It is the end of the Congress, the World show, and you may have spent more time away from home than normal. It is also the beginning of Holiday Season. What is supposed to be the ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ can become hurried, stressful and nerve wracking.
With most of our spare time being consumed with travel, cold weather, and family duties, how can we stay sharp and prepare for upcoming winter circuits?
By Multi-Tasking.
You are probably thinking Multi-Tasking? Are you kidding me? I’m already texting, brushing my teeth and sending emails while making my kids lunches. I can’t possibly take on anything else.
Ahh… but this is where you can use the busy-ness and stress to work on one of the most important factors when it comes to showing your horse- Managing your State of Mind.
Lets look at what Holidays and Horse shows have in common:
- You may have to deal with things that are frustrating and out of your control.
- Your schedule is not exactly your own, and you may be dealing with lack of sleep, poor eating habits, low blood sugar and a huge stress headache.
- The people that are your pillars of strength when you need them are either stressed out, not available, or having their own personal meltdowns and are relying on you to be the strong one.
- The ability to stay calm, self-reliant and confident when things are going 100 miles an hour around you is an invaluable asset to have, whether you are a holiday shopper looking for a bargain, an Equestrian Athlete, or both.
Please don’t tell me I need to “Make Time for Me” or learn to Meditate.
I figure that if you are good at “making time for me”, meditation, or have staff that you can outsource all of your non-mission critical tasks to, you are not reading this, so this is for those that need a simple process and need it now.
When you begin to feel any type of anger, anxiety, frustration, overwhelm or whatever you want to call ‘a bad mood’, check in with yourself. This is as simple as asking yourself, “How am I feeling right now”? You just need to name the feeling. If you want, you can even give it a score and use a 0 -10 kind of mood
meter if that suits you. (No, You don’t automatically start with a score of 70 and then add and subtract points for certain actions during your observation). However you want to do it is fine, remember, they are your feelings so you can measure them however you want to.
Next, just name the feeling. Simply say ”Oh, this is just my (insert your mood here) kicking in.”
Now, take one deep breath. You don’t have to lay down and center yourself or call on your spirit guides (unless you have very trustworthy ones). Just one deep breath, with a nice slow exhale, and if you are a precise type of person, try and make your exhale twice as long as your inhale.
Then, ask yourself this, “How do I want to be different in this situation?” Here is the nice thing about this process. You don’t need to have a conversation with yourself. You want your answer to come in the form of a feeling, preferably one that is more suited to the task. If the feeling you get isn’t quite the one you are looking for, then ask for a better one. The thing is, we can change our feelings about a certain circumstance at will, but we can’t change the circumstances.
What you are learning is how to RE-MIND yourself. It’s just like using a reset button on your computer or other electronic device. You realize you are not performing the way you want to be, and instead of beating yourself up about it and asking, “ Why do I always do this”, simply acknowledge the feeling, take a second and find out how you want to be feeling instead and try that on. I have found by using this technique, I can stop a bad mood that used to last for a few hours (or longer) to a few minutes. It takes practice, but the good news is, during the holiday season you will have lots of opportunities to turn a bad situation around in a few seconds, and get back on track, and I don’t know about you, but that is a skill that could come in handy in the show pen.
Kirsten Farris is a Certified Sport Consultant, Certified Equestrian Fitness Trainer, and the Author of The Workbook for the Equestrian Athlete- A Guide to Showring Success. For more information contact her at: kirsten@equestrianathlete.com
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