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Writer's pictureRuth

New year, new goals to reach!

So this is my first blog post.... please bare with me whilst I get my head around this!

Now the festivities have ended, we have all put on a stone of christmas weight and the ponies are all looking a bit fed up in the field, its time to sit down and write a plan for the year ahead of us.

Sometimes writing this all down can seem a little daunting and it can be difficult to get started. Quite frankly, I have this problem! But whilst the evenings are gloomy and the weather is rather bleak, its a great time to get started!

I personally like to start off with SMART goal setting.


SPECIFIC - Who is involved? What do I want to accomplish? Where? When? Why?

This may be down to which horse you'd like to accomplish your specific goal on, who is going to help you achieve it (instructor,friends, family etc). Where will you achieve this goal? It is important to be realistic with this... if your horse has never been to a competition, choose a quiet competition venue. Is it within your time and finance options? When do you want to achieve this by? This can be a short or long term goal. If its a long term goal, it is important to set yourself short term goals in between to avoid being disheartened and unmotivated. Why do you want to achieve it? Has it been a life long dream, something you've wanted to try but lacked the confidence or is it to help your career? It is important to know why you are trying to do it, and think about how you will feel once you have achieved it.


MEASURABLE - How will you know if you have met your goal? Recording your progress along the way is really important, so break it down and set those short term achievements so you are using more of a stepping stone approach.

I personally benefit from having my progress recorded via video and photos. This can be based on the condition of the horse, its way of going and my riding.


ATTAINABLE - Make your goals realistic and try to resist setting them too low. You will need to have a certain amount of challenge to motivate you, but too much and you will be left feeling disheartened and stuck. By setting realistic and challenging goals, you will hit the balance you need and will then gain the most personal satisfaction.


RELEVANT - Stick to your guns and try to keep your goals on a fairly similar wave length. It is really easy to get excited and distracted, and when keeping horses, time is so precious. If you end up drifting in between goals, you are fairly unlikely to reach them. If there are a few things you'd like to achieve, use them as stepping stones in a relevant order towards your final goal.


TIME SPECIFIC - Set yourself a deadline and try your best to stick to it. But expect a few blips along the way. When you've got a horse in the equation anything can happen!

Remember, you can always revisit this plan and change it. Nothing is set in stone! Unless of course you don't hit the save button...

I've spoken to many people about their horses, problems they have had and how it all made them feel. I've come across many people who cannot deal with the heart ache and issues that come with owning animals. Horses are a great leveller, you can never be on top all of the time.


If I have had a great session with any of my horses, I like to write it on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. including what it was that was positive and how it made me feel. Stick it in a jar and get them out and read them when you have one of those dull and depressing days of horse ownership.

At the time it will feel as though its all doom and gloom, but this can be a great little reminder of those really great times!

I'd love to hear your goals for this year! and if you think I can help you achieve them, get in touch!

Nigel has been assisting me with my goal setting today. Accompanied by my lurcher mug and lurcher note book! He has recently had a hair cut! Doesn't he look handsome!




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