I recently had a phone call with Bonita from Equine-Edge coaching as part of my prize from the Equine Business Assistant. We talked about my time with Scottie and what I would ideally like to be doing with him. From this we then went on to talk about setting goals to get there.
What are my goals
During our conversation I explained that my end aim for Scottie is to be eventing at 80/90cm happily. If we can do this affiliated that would be great and if we get to the point where we can step up a level then fantastic! But I would be happy if we can get to the point where we can compete unaffiliated at this level.
Obviously, with all the setbacks and confident knocks we have had recently, this isn’t a short term goal for us. So instead we talked about things I would like to achieve in the next year. I said something I would love to achieve would be to enter our first Hunter Trials, even if it’s small and we don’t do very well. I think this will be a good step to start next year to push on and try and get a bit more involved in eventing.
Injury is no excuse
The first thing what really struck home for me is the fact that I have lost so much motivation because Scottie has been injured. Even now we are back in work, I am finding it hard to find the time to ride, I don’t want to plan anything as Scottie has had so many setbacks.
But Bonita basically said stop worrying about setbacks and start building goals into our rehab and return to work. She said I can do this by starting to plan smaller achievable goals into our rehab work. So I have been looking at Scottie’s rehab schedule and trying to plan some competitions in.
I am still working this out, but I think I am going to aim for a Prelim dressage test in May/June and then a 30-40cm jumping class in June. If I have the money I might also see if I can get an Intro dressage in before this. But I haven’t properly looked at dates yet and Bonita said it’s not good enough to have rough dates, you need to set specific dates and enter these classes to motivate yourself.
Routine Changes
Another thing we discussed was my routine and if there are any changes I can try to improve things. One good example she had was that I struggle to find the motivation to ride after work during the week. So maybe I should try riding in the morning and see if it makes a difference. She said to try it one morning a week and compare it to riding after work. I can then see which one worked best and make the change slowly.
3 month booklet
Now luckily, I didn’t have this phone call and was sent off to fend for myself. I was sent a fantastic booklet to work through. It basically helps you focus yourself and evaluate your weaknesses and find ways to improve on them. I haven’t finished working through mine yet, but it is in here I am started to make short term goals and setting competition dates etc. So far I am finding it really helpful and it is free to download if any of you are interested in it! You just need to get in contact with Bonita.
Once I have finished this booklet I will update you all on my mini goals and competition dates! Not only because you might be interested, but also because I think the more I talk about it, the more likely I am to actually follow through with it all.
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
