Margarethe De Clermont asked:


Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.

Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad. With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take?

It is important that you are able to make definite decisions if you are to win your horse’s respect.

You do not know where a road will lead you until you take it. There are no guarantees that choosing to do the right thing all the time will always lead you to happiness. There are many possible outcomes, which you cannot control. The only power you have power is deciding how to act and react in different situations.

So use your power. Take the risk: make a decision, big or small.

Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure. Avoid being a lost traveller or an accidental tourist in life. Your horse will not follow you if you are indecisive. It makes him feel unsafe.

But do not make decisions indisciminately. Taking risks is not about being careless and stupid, especially if you are a horse back rider. Carefully weigh your options:

Gather as much information as you can about your situation.

You cannot make a confident decision when you know nothing about your situation. Ask the 5 W’s: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Why are you in this situation? Sometimes, the reason for your indecision is the lack of information about your situation.

Identify and create options.

What options do you have? Think out of the box. What do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? Then you create your own. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end.

Identify the pros and cons of each option.

Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option.

Trust yourself and make that decision.

Once you have assessed your options, you wll have to trust yourself to make the right choice.

Whether it is the right decision or not, time will tell. Most important is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life. Even if you made the wrong decision you will have gained your horse’s respect…and increased your own.



ANTONIO

Margarethe De Clermont asked:


Do you have a secret horse riding dream that you never had time or inclination to pursue?

A horse is the projection of peoples’ dreams about themselves - strong, powerful, beautiful - and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence. -Pam Brown

Then it may be time to enlist the services of a personal life coach that work exclusively with equestrians. A life coach who can share your horse riding dreams, work with you towards it and celebrate with you when you achieve it.

Your equestrian life coach is your horse riding cheerleader.

A life coach offers you support and commitment, and use specialised professional skills to provide inspiration, motivation and encouragement. You will greatly benefit from life coaching if:

You are a beginner, whatever you age, and this whole-distance-to-the-ground, why-does-he-go-so-fast, I-want-to-get-off-now thing is getting the better of you

Or if you had an unfortunate encounter with some errant hooves, teeth or a telephone pole

Or if your horse bolted for the first time ever and tried to rub you off on a fence

Or if you are getting older and are starting to doubt the wisdom of riding at your age

Or if you are frustrated because it feels as if you are making no progress with your riding whatsoever

Or if your riding performance suffer horribly from competition nerves

Coaching is a professional partnership between you and a qualified coach that encourages and supports the achievement of extraordinary results, based on the goals you have set. It is a form of experiential learning through conversation. The focus of the conversation is on the skills and actions needed to successfully produce well-defined outcomes.

The quantity and quality of results depend entirely on how much effort you are prepared to put in. Some people have major breakthroughs in the first session; for others it takes a little while longer. Everybody works at their own pace.

Common benefits people equestrians can expect from life coaching include:

Better performance during competitions

Improved sense of direction/focus in their riding

Increase self-knowledge/ awareness of themselves, their surroundings and their horse

Improved ability to relate to their horses and better understanding between horse and rider

Increased motivation (especially to muck out on a cold winter morning)

Increased ability to handle change and cope with horse riding challenges

The ability to master riding skills faster, making the riding experience more satisfying

Life Coaching mostly involve coach and client either meeting face-to-face or during a telephone conversation. Due to the time-deprived and demanding lives that we live these days life coaching has evolved to fit into our busy schedules in the form of e-coaching.

E-coaching is personal life coaching by e-mail. Equestrian e-Coaching is a fantastic, flexible, low-cost way to receive the wonderful benefits of life coaching. Its main benefit is that you can work at your own pace, in your own time and in your own home. No fixed appointments or deadlines hanging over your head. E-coaching is ideal for horse riders and horse owners who are already seriously stressed for time.

Horsemanship is not merely a matter of bodily skills, but is based on scholarship and, therefore, is a matter of the mind and intellect. Good horsemanship is based on proper character development and, therefore, is also a matter of mentality and spirit. Without the correct attitudes and insights, there cannot be the right sport. -Charles de Knuffy



NOEL