11/18/2021
Good inspiration for motivation!
Ok, real talk: motivation
The days are getting shorter and darker. It’s cold, maybe windy. You get off work and the last thing you want to do is work with your horse. It’s really easy to let work with them slip away til the weather gets better in the spring, but we know that fitness deteriorates quickly if not kept up on; and that training doesn’t lie in wait for you for the next sunny day. It needs maintenance.
How do you stay motivated during these dark, dreary, no fun days?
Some tips, from somebody who makes their living being outside in the heat, cold, dark, wet, frigid, blazing, windy, and whatever else nature has to offer:
1- just commit to ten minutes. If you really don’t want to, tell yourself you’ll do ten minutes of easy, quality work. More often than not, you’ll get into the work and spend more time, but if not, you still put in a good ten minutes.
2- get good gear! As the adage goes, there is no bad weather, only bad gear. You’ll be much happier working if you’re warm and dry.
3- make your expectations reasonable, fair, and easily achieved. If you’re tired at the end of the work day and you just want to have a carefree ride where you don’t have to pay attention, on a fresh horse on a cold day- let me just stop you right there and say this is a
Setup for failure. Take a nice hand walk. Do pole work. Do something you know you and your horse can succeed at.
4- frequent, simple work is much better than irregular fancy stuff. It’s much better to do short, good sessions regularly than try to achieve the world on the weekend to make up for the week.
5- when you get home from work, go to the barn before going inside if you can help it. If you’re like me, once you go inside and sit down and get warm, it’s all over. If you can muster the energy to go straight to the barn before sitting on your couch, you’re much more likely to get that ride in.
6- download a good podcast or some good music. These help keep me motivated to stay moving when the weather sucks.
7- brush up on the basics. Winter is a good time to check up on how your horse leads, halters, picks their feet up, stands tied, trailer loads and all those other small but important details. The good thing is they don’t require a lot of time, and they make a world of difference.
8- tea, coffee, or a little extra something special in your thermos 😉 who cares, I won’t tell
Happy winter riding, folks! You can do this
