very challenging, especially as you move up within the ranks of your discipline or division. To ride well requires a long-term commitment. It is ultimately very satisfying, but you have to be interested in making the most of your abilities.
In any case, realistic expectations are essential. In the case of my older student, her dream of consistency was as unrealistic as riding in the Olympic games. I had to tell her that she was being completely unreasonable. She will never be consistently in the ribbons. She will never be a great rider. And that’s fine.
After thinking about her situation overnight, my student came back to me and said that for her, studying equitation was like going to college and never being smart enough to pass, but enjoying the parties anyway.
This student knows that if she studies very hard, once in a while, everything will come together. When that happens at a show, she will ride well, she will receive high scores, and do well in the placings. If it happens at home, she will still have great personal satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.
I believe every rider needs a certain amount of competitiveness to survive. A good rider will want to be able to push and give everything he has when it counts. But, you only set yourself up for failure if you ask yourself to do something that is completely beyond your ability. Realize that everybody has limitations. Just relax and enjoy the parties along the way.
4.2 Riding at the front of the field is a coveted position— an “Ultimate Goal”—in foxhunting. If you hone your skills and keep an eye on your goals, you will someday be in a position to realize them.
Planning for Your Future
There is tremendous benefit in setting long-term riding goals (fig. 4.2). Planning for the future can help you more readily identify what you need to work on right now.
Goal planning always follows a predictable path:
1 Start at the end: identify your “Ultimate Goal.”
2 Set a feasible date for achieving that goal.
3 Identify key things that will help you achieve your goal. Write them down in order of which must happen first.
4 Periodically reevaluate and reassess your goals.
Riding toward the Ultimate Goal
Let’s say your Ultimate Goal is to be the World Champion Hunter Rider/ Amateur Owner Rider of the Year. Determining a reasonable date for achieving your goal will depend on your current abilities.
Your pathway toward reaching that goal would include learning to ride hunters at home, beginning to compete as an Adult Amateur hunter rider, becoming successful as an Adult Amateur, beginning to compete in the Amateur Owner Hunter division, and becoming increasingly successful within this division.
If your Ultimate Goal is to be able to foxhunt competently and safely in time for a particular season, you would start out riding in the ring in lessons. Then, you would ride cross-country in lessons, and then you might do a little hound-jogging or ride cross-country more extensively and over rougher terrain. Next, you would learn to cub hunt. Finally, your hard work would culminate in having the horses, the confidence, and the ability to ride on an easy hunt. More difficult hunts would follow.
If you approach your Ultimate Goal from the bottom, looking up, it is too easy to become overwhelmed or bogged down in the details. Coming at your goal from the end—knowing what you want to achieve—will allow you to identify the various mini-goals along the way.
Step 1: Start at the End
So go ahead: ask yourself, “What is my long-term goal?”
Let’s say that your answer is “riding in the Olympics.” Though becoming an Olympian may not be terribly realistic, there is nothing wrong with having big dreams, provided you have the talent, the resources, and the time frame to allow you to achieve them.
Step 2: Set a Date for Success
Once you have identified an attainable Ultimate Goal, determine a reasonable time frame to allow yourself to achieve it.
If you are twelve now and just learning to ride, you may be ready to try out for the Olympic team, if you are lucky, when you are forty-two. That leaves thirty years of training ahead of you. (If you are currently in your forties and just learning to ride, you must come to terms with reality. In all likelihood, riding in the Olympics is not in your future. If you don’t have the necessary resources, don’t stubbornly cling to unrealistic goals and take the joy out of learning.)
4.3 Before you can achieve your goal, you must know what it is. It is critical for both you and your instructor to understand your goal. Here, both the student and I are aware of her end goal, and we’re discussing specifics for one round along the way.
Step 3: What Has to Happen First
The next question you must ask yourself is, “What will I need to know in order to make my goal possible?”
For our example, let’s say that you think doing well in the Hunt Seat Equitation Finals is an important step in your Olympic quest. Therefore, winning a ribbon in the finals now becomes your temporary Ultimate Goal. Dreams of the Olympics are fine, but your immediate work will be toward the finals.
This means that your entire focus will be on equitation for the time being. When you are done—when you are successful in the Hunt Seat Equitation division—then perhaps you will move on to riding jumpers as you identify the next step toward the Olympics.
Set actual, mini-achievable goals. These might include:
Qualify for the finals this year.
Make it into the second round next year.
Win a ribbon, or win the finals, the following year.
As with everything in life, finances must be a consideration in your goal planning. If you can only afford one horse, you will have to make a conscious decision to do the Hunt Seat Equitation divisions first. Then, plan to sell that horse and get one better suited to the Jumper division when you are ready to advance.
Your goals need not be so lofty as being a rider on the Olympic team or a World Champion, but aiming high can be inspiring. Try to be realistic in your dreams so you don’t set yourself up for failure, and try to understand what shortcomings you might have, and take them into consideration.
There are any number of things that can keep you from your goals. But nothing will ever happen for you until you set a plan for yourself. Decide what you want to do. Then plan a series of steps to bring you closer
