Because so much time, energy, and money is invested into these creatures we love, frustration may creep in when the reality of other life responsibilities interferes. It’s important not to internalize these restraints and allow them to make you feel discouraged. Instead, you must recognize and include them as part of your goal setting in order to make your goals more attainable from the start.

Get Started with Goal Setting by Gaining Perspective

A helpful exercise that I use for horse owners and riders is to ask them to write down all the important sections of their life. Examples might be work, family, relationship, other pets, hobbies/sports outside of riding, et cetera. Oftentimes when you see how many things are on the page, you realize that there are quite a few people, animals, and other commitments vying for your attention.

This is a great way to put it all in perspective. When you’re at the barn, nailing those flying changes may feel like all that matters, but no matter how much you love riding, it’s just one piece of your much larger existence.

Most things in life end up needing to be a compromise. You may want to participate in all of the shows on the local circuit, purchase a competitive horse for the division or class you want to show in, master the sitting trot, or ride the perfect pattern, but all of those things require an investment of some kind. You must be honest with yourself about what resources you have available.

This situation also becomes difficult for the professionals guiding your equestrian journey. We never want to tell anyone they can’t do something; good trainers will build you up and encourage you every step of the way. But it’s also our job to manage expectations when a client mentions goals that we know to be outside of their scope of resources.

Setting Goals for Ownership and Showing

Goals can be set in any sector of equestrian sport. A common one is horse ownership. Other than buying a horse, there are many options available, including leasing, half-leasing, care leases, or riding school horses.

Just as horse ownership causes you to compromise by allocating resources (i.e. time and money), choosing one of the other options may take less resources, but requires compromise on how many times you ride per week, how high you jump, what movements you school, et cetera. However, all of the above options will help you continue to grow as a rider.

Other common goals center around showing. Rated horse shows can be extremely costly, plus paying your trainer and your own travel expenses.

I find the best way to get the most out of show season isn’t to only commit to one show at a time, but rather to present your trainer with a show budget for the year that is reasonable to you.

From there, the two of you can brainstorm and put together a calendar of shows that fit your schedule, finances, and goals. This way you can also plan to use those shows to build to some sort of “peak.”

For example, if you can afford six shows for the year, your trainer may decide it would be better to do a cluster of three in the spring and three in the fall so that you get into a rhythm rather than just showing once every other month.

It’s also important to mention that not every rider enjoys showing, and that is totally fine. No one should ever make you feel “less than” for that.

Setting Smaller Goals as an Equestrian

The secret to equestrian goal setting is to use the time you have in the saddle to work on the basics that need brushing up. Rather than having a grandiose goal such as “I want to show in X class,” break down what would be needed to be successful in that class: A better sense of canter rhythm, tighter turns, cleaner lead changes—whatever it is, all of these things are achievable with basic exercises that can be done both inside and outside of a lesson.

Dedicating even 15 minutes of each ride to improving the basics you have targeted will result in reaching the next level. As your foundation builds and your basics and communication with your horse improve, more and more doors will open.

From a sports psychology standpoint, achieving lots of smaller goals on the way to the larger goal will make the journey much more rewarding!

Potential and Comparison

Another common occurrence when setting goals is feeling “I’m not using my horse to his full potential.”  The horse has no idea if he was born with fantastic bloodlines, perfect conformation, or great aptitude for a certain discipline. The only thing he knows is whether he has food, water and shelter, and whether his handlers treat him kindly or roughly.

Your horse doesn’t understand the significance of Finals or the World Show, the difficulty level of the exercise at home or class at the show, the color of a ribbon, nor the concept of what could be. Equines are very lucky to live in the now, and we humans could learn a thing or two!

Where do we as humans get these ideas of what we should be doing? Usually by looking around and comparing ourselves to friends, barn mates, and social media influencers. What they say about social media is true, though: people tend to only post the good.

This is also the case for what people tend to allow others to see in real life. Generally, only a person’s immediate family and closest friends will know about all of their fears, struggles, and hard work. The rest of the world tends to only see the very biggest failures and triumphs, and even those fade from the collective memory of society very quickly.

Social media just happens to be a place where all the happy and colorful win photos are curated and posted, whether you as a viewer have had the best day or the worst day. However, what you don’t know is what the other person gave up to be at the show, to buy the horse, or to finally be able to execute that upper-level movement.

The person posting could have sold their car, missed important family events, cried driving home from the barn for six months after tough lessons, or endured injuries and layups for their horse. Just because those parts of the journey are kept quiet doesn’t mean we don’t all go through them.

Key Takeaway

Overall, as an equestrian, it’s crucial to set goals that fit into the big picture of your life. Riding is supposed to be fun, and our relationship with horses should bring joy. If the time we have at the barn is spent stressing or rushing, then something needs to be adjusted. Throughout all of it, take comfort from your horsey friends and your trainer to help guide you through this balancing act that is the equestrian experience.

This article about equestrian goal setting appeared in the January/February 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Equestrian Goal Setting appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Spring is a crucial time to start getting your horse slowly back in shape and reach your goals for later this year. What do you dream of and hope to accomplish this year with your horse? What steps do you need to take in order to accomplish these goals? What exercises might your horse require to get back into shape and perform their best? Be sure to talk to your coach and veterinarian and let them know what your goals are so they can help you come up with a plan to set in motion.

Before setting your goals, take time to think about what you want to achieve. Then, once you have some ideas, write down your three separate categories: short-term, which are considered daily or weekly goals; medium-term such as monthly goals; and long-term, yearly or even multi-year goals. Once you have a vision of where you want to be, now you are ready to start the most important part of achieving success: tracking your progress.

Many successful riders create their own “SMART” goals for themselves and their horses, or goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Stay on track this spring by using this highly successful method below.

What Are SMART Goals?

Smart: “I want to improve” is not specific enough. Think what about what you want to achieve with a timetable in mind. An example would be, “I want to learn the USEF Dressage First Level Test 1 and memorize it by next month.”

Measurable: “I want to improve my First Level Test 1 score by 2 points” is a measurable goal that is specific as well.

Attainable: Make sure you and your horse can achieve the task. The task should be challenging but not one that is too difficult. If your horse is already struggling to perform skills at Level 2, don’t push it and ask him to do those tests yet at a show.

Realistic: Achieving goals requires commitment. Make sure you and your horse are motivated, willing and able to make your goal happen.

Timely: Every goal needs a deadline to keep you focused and working toward it. Set a date by which you want to accomplish your goal. Then, check in with yourself to see how you are progressing and if minor changes need to be made to meet your timeline.

An Example of a Complete SMART Goal

Instead of saying “I want my horse to listen to me,” a SMART goal would sound more like, “I want to improve my horse’s responsiveness to my aids. I will accomplish this by doing 15 sets of up and down transitions (walk to trot, trot to canter, trot to halt)—asking once, then demanding the second time—during each ride for two weeks.”

How Might Goal-Setting Positively Impact a Rider’s Mindset?

Writing down something about your daily activities with your horse is very rewarding to see the progress you make as an equestrian. Sometimes progress can take a while to see, as progress is not liner. You may find some days where everything is going well and other days not so much, but progress is not the moment. Rather, progress is a continuation of moments over the long run. When you have notes, photos and videos of your sessions, it really helps put everything into perspective as you work toward your goals, not to mention this makes for wonderful memories to look back on!

Journaling your daily progress helps maintain a positive mindset. Upon reflection, you will likely learn something new about your horse or yourself and feel proud of an accomplishment or progress after each session. In addition, it’s helpful to record behaviors, attitudes and anything about your horse’s health.

Finally, remember to celebrate and reward your horse (and yourself) for the daily progress you achieve together. It’s about the journey you are on as a team and the beautiful partnership you continue to build. If you need to reevaluate your goals, change them or make adjustments, that’s OK. Your long-term goals are made up of many small daily accomplishments. Good luck with your goals and have fun on your journey with your horses this year!

This article about SMART goals for horses and equestrians is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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