Show Preparedness: Make Sure to Set Goals! By Linden Thompson, MSc
As we all start to anticipate the glorious spring weather and the return (for many of us) of horse show season, it’s time to start thinking about preparing for our adventures in the show ring! If you’re anything like me, it’s about this time of year that I start making packing lists and taking inventory of what I need for my show adventures. I typically make an appointment to have my trailer brakes checked and start trying on those horrible white breeches to make sure I can still squeeze into them. It’s about this time that I also start cursing the snow and it’s on these cold winter days when my drive and discipline start to exhaust. In all of my preparations and excitement, it is also routine for me to set goals for myself and my pony. Throughout my careers, both as a competitive athlete (running and dressage) and as a mental performance coach, one thing remains very clear: athletes who FEEL prepared PERFORM at their best. This is as true for a swimmer as it is for an equestrian athlete, as well as for our equine athletes! For years I have coached all of my clients to not only build a healthy set of goals, but to understand and respect the process and why we set them. I’ve used the SMART goal setting technique since my NCAA DI running days at the University of Washington and I am going to share with you the simple path to setting meaningful goals for yourself and your equine partners. The S.M.A.R.T. system was developed in the early 80’s as a guide for business management and has since made a mark on athletics, education, the workplace and beyond. SMART is a mnemonic acronym and has gone through a handful of adaptations. The constants are typically the S and the M, standing for Specific and Measurable. It’s the A,R and T that have been altered to fit various situations. For our purpose, we’ll use Ambitious, Realistic and Time-based.
20 Winter 2018 • Haflinger Horse
Every goal you build should be:
SPECIFIC
the more specific, the better
MEANINGFUL
to you and to your sport
AMBITIOUS pushing yourself
REALISTIC
for me and my horse?
TIMELY
or time-based
The first step in the process is to work backwards from your largest goal. It’s important that you practice achievement, and we do this by building small goals that lead us down the path toward a larger goal. Here is the Goal Map I use with my clients:
