I don’t know about you, but we can always use a trick or two to get our horse lives (and the rest of our lives) in order. That means get our wheels on straight and our head in the game (and the dishes done, maybe, too, to boot). Lucky for us, we have equestrian sport psychology expert Coach Daniel Stewart on call (a perk in horse book publishing) to provide all kinds of rev-your-engines-type advice. Here’s one we love from his new book FIT & FOCUSED IN 52:
You have good intentions in life, but sometimes life has a crazy way of getting in the way of your good intentions. When things like school, work, family, and a ridiculously short 24-hour day come in between you and your good intentions, it’s time for the “how come” trick.
If you’re like most riders, you have a few meaningful tasks you’ve been meaning to do for a while but haven’t yet gotten around to. They can be anything from cleaning your barn or house (really, when was the last time you saw the floor?) to speaking to your trainer about something that’s been worrying you. When you find the task, simply ask yourself, “How come I haven’t done it yet?” Be honest with your answer because it’ll help create the plan to finally achieve it. For example, “How come I haven’t learned to jump yet?” leads to the answer, “Because I don’t have a jump trainer, jump tack, or a jumper.” Armed with this information you can start looking for a trainer in your area with school horses and tack. Yay—the answer to your question is the answer to your problem!
FYI
The following “how come” questions don’t qualify for this technique:
– How come the word abbreviation is so long?
– How come the word phonetic isn’t spelled the way it sounds?
– How come the time of day with the slowest traffic is called rush hour?
– How come shipments go in cars and cargo goes in ships?
– How come the third hand on a watch is called the second hand?
Riding Focus Homework
This coming week, think of something related to your riding you’ve been putting off, and ask yourself how come you haven’t done it yet. Think about it for a while and write down your honest answers.
Then, get out of that chair and go do it!
FIT & FOCUSED IN 52 is available now from the TSB online bookstore, where shipping in the US is FREE.
CLICK HERE for more information or to order.
Trafalgar Square Books, the leading publisher of equestrian books and DVDs, is a small business based on a farm in rural Vermont.