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Dressage - Setting Goals

© Carol Woodworth

If you have read one of my previous articles, you know that I do not compete at dressage shows. That has made it somewhat more difficult for me to set goals for my horse and myself because measuring our progress by scores or by levels is not something that I choose to do. I am, by nature, somewhat of a goal setter, in that the primary way that I organize my time is by making and following lists. But I make lists so that I can make it through the week without forgetting to pick up my daughter from camp, not to measure any type of advancement.

I have some basic short term goals: I will ride the horse at least 4 times this week, I will try to work on transitions today (but not by overlooking whatever issues the horse tells me we need to work on), etc. But nothing that directs me toward something I want to attain six months or six years from now. This lack of direction has periodically been something I have tried to address, but without success. .

A friend of mine, Nancy, is really "into" getting and sending e-mail. She has people from all over that send her quotes, inspirational stories, etc. and she passes some of them on to me. She recently gave me a list of quotes discussing setting goals and several of them; I feel, relate to dressage. These quotes speak to me and I hope can help me to set some sort of goals for my riding and I hope you feel the same. "Choosing goals that are important to you is one of the most essential things you can do in order to live your dreams." - Les Brown, American bandleader and songwriter

The first part of the message that I need to think about is choosing goals that are important to me. By choosing not to compete, I have NOT chosen certain goals but that only narrows the field slightly. What about your riding is important to you? The feeling of accomplishment, the creative instinct, the chance to escape from the "real world" temporarily are only some of the motives that I have heard from friends. I think you need to define why you ride before you can decide what you want to accomplish.

Essential is something that riding definitely is for me. I have been married for 19 years and a mother for 12 but a rider for what seems like all my life. It is one of the first words I would use to define myself. Do you need to reconnect to the idea of riding being essential to you in order to (re)develop your goals?

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