Another one of my resolutions is to spend more time daily with my horses. I'm not going to say "in training" because we all know that every second we're with our horses, we are training them. But I am (have already) set some goals which gives me the incentive to press onward, even when the going gets tough. (Or the weather is uninhabitable for man or beast.)
When I set goals, I reach for the ultimate then go back to set each major goal into smaller mini-goals. This helps me not to feel so overwhelmed (Oh, come on, Gwen! You've GOT to be kidding! You want to accomplish WHAT this year??? What are you, some kind of crazy?!!) Breaking things into manageable sized chunks helps us to accomplish so much more on an easier level. This then sets up a good feeling about ourselves and urges us to go on to the next step.
This same goal setting can be easily executed with our horses - in fact, it *should* be attended with our horses. We realize when our horse is having a difficult time performing the task which we've requested, we need to break that task into smaller individual tasks lest our horse become discouraged, frustrated and even, angry. When encountering a stumbling point, it's always good to go back to an easy, already accomplished task - this gives both the horse and the human time to take a breath, relax and re-assess the goal.
So one of my goals this New Year? To spend more time with my horses each day? Ok, doing what? I'll start with 5 mins. more for each critter. That means a total of 45 mins. more a day. No pressure - just lovin' them. No work during this 45 mins. Just "feeling". I'll go out to the barn with 8 carrots in my pocket and no agenda for performance. What a deal for a New Year's Resolution, eh? I know the horses will enjoy it! Who knows what kind of "feeling" and thinking will come of this? If 5 mins. for each is too much of a chunk out of my day? Well, heck, then I'll back up to an extra hug and scritch for the day and work from there ... *VBG*
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