Staying Motivated to Ride

1. Make a playlist with your favorite songs to ride to. They can get your blood pumping!
2. Take a lesson. Your instructor will give you new exercises to try on your own.
3. Start a riding journal and jot down what you’re working toward.
4. Make sure you have warm clothes that aren’t too bulky. This will make for a more enjoyable ride!
5. Attend a winter show or clinic.
6. Get off the farm and check out some new trails.
7. Wake up a bit earlier and ride in the morning. At the end of the day, you’re exhausted and short on time. Make it a priority to tackle riding first thing.
8. Jot down some motivating quotes on sticky notes and put them everywhere- in your car, bathroom mirror, the barn, your work office…
9. Ride with friends!
10. Try a new discipline like working equitation, mounted archery, obstacle courses, etc…

Sometimes, it’s a simple change that makes a huge impact. By altering your schedule or trying something new, you can find your spark for riding again. Don’t give up! And remember, spring is just around the corner.

Torie Egger Photography is sending all of the good vibes for this new year.

Mood = instantly lifted!

If you’re ever feeling bad, remember there are cute pictures of cattle with quotes to lift you up!

We have to include a buffalo! A buffalo is a symbol of strength.

“Be your true self.” No truer words have been spoken.

You can always learn from your mistakes!

We need this as a lock screen for our daily reminder!

“You shouldn’t settle for anything less.” Yes ma’am!

If no one’s told you today, you’re doing great things and we’re proud of you, cowgirls!

Improving Your Motivation

• Take a lesson or attend a clinic. You’ll likely learn something new, which can be just the inspiration you need to keep practicing at home.
• Watch your trainer or a professional ride. You can aspire to ride like them!
• Plan for a show. Set your sights on a future show and work hard to get ready for it.
• Keep a riding journal. Jot down your successes and what you’re working through. As the weeks go on, you’ll be able to see all the progress you’re having.
• Dedicate specific days each week to ride.
• Set short- and long-term goals.
• Ride with friends! Riding with others can be a good change of pace.
• Try a new discipline. It’s always fun to try something different.
• Don’t be afraid to take a break from riding and do groundwork instead. There are plenty of ways to have fun with your horse outside of the saddle.

What works for you may not be the solution for someone else. Try a few different things!

Loretta Lynn is “the most awarded lady in country music history” with 45 million singles sold and being named the first woman to be the entertainer of the year. 

1. “In the long run, you make your own luck – good, bad, or indifferent.”
2. “I loved being outside. We’d hold lightning bugs in our fingers and pretend they were diamond rings.”
3. “Really, I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I retire. Wash dishes?”
4. “To make it in this business, you either have to be first, great or different.” 
5. “I love people and I love to sing, and that’s what keeps me going.”
6. “When something is bothering me, I write a song that tells my feelings.”
7. “My attitude toward men who mess around is simple: If you find ’em, kill ’em.”
8. “I’ve been married to the same man for all this time. The way we fight sometimes, you can tell.”
9. “I want more out of life than I’ve gotten.”
10. “I refuse to be pushed around anymore.”

Bonus: 

“I get along with all the women singers, but especially Dolly Parton. We talk the same hillbilly language.” 

Read Dolly Parton’s own quotes here! 

How to Avoid the Winter Blues

1. Attend a clinic: A clinic or lesson can be very motivating! Spark a new flame by receiving some instruction from a professional you admire. You can attend in person or watch virtually! Hopefully, the clinician will give you plenty to work on.
2. Buy some winter barn clothes: If you want to make the cold weather more bearable, then you need to dress for it.
3. Ride in the morning: Try to wake a bit earlier and squeeze a morning ride in before work. Riding in the evening without light can zap your motivation.
4. Stay organized: Create an effective system for cleaning and feeding, so you have more time to actually play with your horse.
5. Enter a winter show: Check out local shows and see what looks interesting. It’ll encouraged you to practice, practice, practice…
6. Connect with barn buddies: It helps to have a friend at the barn. You can plan a trail ride together or just plod around in the arena.
7. Play music at the barn: Turn your favorite tunes up and get busy! Sometimes, that’s all you need to get up and get going.
8. Work your horse on the ground: Instead of riding, work on your horse’s ground manners. It can be quicker and involves no tacking up.
9. Catch up on books/movies: There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a few good books or movies. Everyone needs a day off here and there! If you choose a training video, you might even get motivated to go to the barn afterwards.
10. Ask for help: It can be helpful to ask a spouse or friend to assist with barn chores so you can ride.

Winter is here to stay for a few months, so try to the make the best out of it!

The concept behind vision boards is to visually represent all you want to accomplish. With the new year, now is as good as time as any to create one!

You can create one digitally on your laptop or phone or physically by printing pictures and cutting out magazine clippings.

How to Start

1. Decide the time frame of your goals: one year, five years or ten years
2. Write down all of your goals
3. Decide what media you are going to use and find the supplies for it (i.e. glue, scissors, downloading an app, etc.)
4. Collect pictures and quotes to represent those goals

What to Include

• The goals you wrote down
• Pictures of awards you hope to win

• Pictures of places you hope to go to
• Pictures of people who inspire you

• Recipes you want to try
• Word of the year
• Quotes that motivate and speak to you

• Items you plan to afford
• Fitness, career, personal growth, etc. inspiration
• Daily affirmations

Vision boards are made by you, for you! They’re open for your interpretation and can have whatever you want on it!

For goal planning, check out these goals for the arena life!

It doesn’t always have to be like this though! It is just a part of the ups and downs of riding. It’s a slump. You can pull yourself back up though! Here’s how:

Take a trail ride

Sometimes, we place too much pressure on riding. When you look at it as something you have to do, then it feels more like a job. It loses the fun! Give yourself and your horse a break by enjoying a nice trail ride! Go back to why you enjoy riding in the first place- fun, relaxation, enjoyment… the list goes on!

Go to a clinic

Clinics are non-pressure situations where your horse and you can learn something new! It is not a competition, but rather an opportunity to take your horse somewhere new to try something new!

Take some lessons

If you do not already, it might be time to take some lessons with a trainer. Learning something new or finding help with your frustrations will take you and your horse out of your slump! If you already take lessons, maybe try a new trainer for one or two. Every trainer has a different approach. It could open your mind up to new experiences!

Take a break

This is a little contradictive to the above points. Sometimes, slumps tell us that we have been pushing too hard and it’s time to slow down. A step back will clear your head and give you the energy to start back up!

Ride a different horse

It could be you and your horse need a break, for at least one ride. Riding a different horse gives riders new perspectives. It takes your mind off of your own mount and lets you worry about another for a minute. You’ll be ready to rock and roll with a new outlook for your own horse!

Enter a competition

I cannot think of a more motivating factor than preparing to win a competition! There’s always a new pep to your step when you have a goal in mind!

Reevaluate your goals

It might be time to check in with your goals. Are you still passionate about what you and your horse are working towards? Are you pushing yourselves too hard? Ask yourself the tough questions to really grasp the why behind what you’re doing. It could just be a shift in goals to motivate yourself again!

Remember, cowgirls, it’s only a slump! You’ll get back to it!

You can include them before or during your warm-up! Ignore those negative thoughts and redirect them to more positive thoughts with affirmations. You will go in feeling more confident and ready to win!

Here are some cowgirls can repeat:

• I am confident in my riding ability and my horse’s ability. 
• I am prepared for this moment. 
• I am worthy and deserving of a good run.

• I am grateful to be here. 
• I am creating greatness here today. 
• I am blessed with my horse’s talent.

• I am riding to my fullest potential today. 
• I am excited and happy to compete today.

Stop settling. For God’s sake.

Stop saying yes to things you hate, dates you don’t want and jobs that you’re not fired up about clocking into.

Stop wearing clothes that don’t make you feel like yourself, living in towns that don’t excite you and buying cheap bras.

Seriously. That is B.S. and will end up hurting your back in the long run.

Start saying yes to things that make you happy and wear shoes that make you giggle.

Listen to music that makes you dance alone in your kitchen and cook food that makes you feel like you’re in a French film from the 1930’s. Seriously, it makes those early mornings saddling up before you’re totally awake way better.

Dear Cowgirl, life can be fun.

Exciting.

Joyful.

Full of passion and the absolute opposite of lackluster.

Dear Cowgirl, stop settling.