Preparation, Patience, and Priorities

Preparation, patience, and priorities.  These three words swim in my head as I'm thinking of my barrel racing goals for this year.  Sitting out a year leaves a person craving to return to the arena but sometimes life doesn't always let that happen right away. Mother Nature and calving sure has put a damper on my hypothetical barrel racing schedule among other things. Spring weather and above freezing temperatures are coming, sooner or later. Although, patience for such things hasn't ever been my strong suit.

This year I feel it will be a fly-by-the-seat-of-your pants kind of year. Never knowing what is to come, in what order to do it, or when it's going to happen, these three words come back into my mind. Preparation, patience, priorities. I might not know when I will get to go to a barrel race, but I can prepare as best I can and have the patience that it will happen someday.  One thing I've always felt is if I have my priorities in line, then the rest will fall into place. I just have to be ready for when the opportunity is within my grasp.

I think these three words can be applied to our horses as well. Especially for those goals with timelines such as Futurity horses. Lately I've been asking myself these three questions when I'm riding.

1. Have I prepared my horse for the task or job that I'm asking to complete? Whether it's getting them in shape enough to run barrels or making sure that I've given them the foundation in our training to have the tools to complete the job, this question is valid in every level of horses and can also be applied to ourselves.
2. Have I had the patience? Getting a horse in shape doesn't happen over night so being patient and making sure I'm preparing my horses go hand in hand. In the same token, it's hard for a horse with a kindergarten education perform a high school level task.  These things take time.
3. What are my priorities? This follows the same line as what are your long term goals but also short term day to day goals as well.  Am I rushing a process for short term gain/long term loss or am I operating for the long term?  There might be a barrel race this weekend but is my horse in shape? Am I ready? What is more important, running to run and not being prepared, loosing confidence, etc, or working hard to be ready for the next one and setting your horse and yourself up for success Whose agenda is more important? Your's or the horse's?

I heard legendary Coach Wooden say, "Failure to plan is preparing to fail." This year I might not be able to control the circumstances but I can control the outcomes by being prepared, having patience that our time will come, and making sure that my priorities are in line with my long term goals.

Overcoming the How's

A year ago My husband and I found out that our lives were going to drastically change.  With three boys already, we were pretty content and happy with our family of five but God said we weren't done yet....and we found out we were pregnant.  When I say that we were content, I mean we had given away pretty much every last shred of anything baby we had.  We were done having kids...done!   But God's plans are greater than our own and we welcomed another baby boy into our family in October. Now there's no way I could imagine our life without those four boys that I'm proud and blessed to be their Mom.

However, I'm going to admit that baby #4 has came as a shock and certainly rocked our world as we were in the midst of buying a place, fixing it up and eventually moving to.  Our plates were beyond heaping full with all that we had going on in addition to our horses, cattle and of course our boys.   As a result, my horses have been set to the wayside as I try to care for and do the things that are set on a strict timeline.  Suddenly with a baby, our little trailer house was not going to fit our family and the house we had been working on got a huge promotion on the priority list. Horses I never planned on selling, were sold, and we just got by this last year, doing what we could. Survival mode.

When you have so many dreams and goals of your own, spending a year sitting out and being on the sidelines sure is hard.  It's even harder when you don't even get to watch the game due to your hectic schedule! The hardships that have came with the baby to be able to work on my horses and goals for some reason have been much harder with this time than the others.  Most of the time I feel like I'm drowning.

I'd be lying if I said that I've been upbeat and positive about my horses and our program.  I'm one of those "all in" kind of people and haven't felt like I've been able to devote enough time into the horses and with that I thought very hard about selling out. Quite frankly I was throwing my sucker in the dirt and maybe stomping on it a little too.

I recently started reading a book by John O'Leary called "On Fire". I haven't finished it yet; something about four little boys makes it hard to read much at one time.  However, early on in the book something grabbed me, a quote. "When you know your why, you can endure any how."  As I fight back to my journey to the saddle, I have been saying a lot of "How's"? My life feels consumed by "How's". "How am I going to ride with a brand new baby?" "How am I going to get my colts rode?"  "How am I going to foal my mares out at our new place?" In addition to all the how's of just every day living with four kids. "How, how, HOW?!?!?"  The list of "how" grows by the day that it becomes overwhelming - crippling almost.

It was about this time that I finally was able to bring our stallion, Frenchmans Elvis home.  It wasn't a plan to bring him here yet. But due to safety concerns where he was at, we brought him home early without a safe place to put him but in the corral.  After spending his whole life out in the pasture, spending his days in a corral left him bored and you could tell he wanted to stretch his legs.  Luckily for me, one day Philip got home early from feeding cows and kicked me out the door to go ride.  He expected me to go ride Honey but I wasn't eager to walk the quarter mile in deep snow to go catch her with Elvis in the corral within easy reach. After not being rode for over two years I wondered if I was crazy as I saddled him up to give him a little exercise.

You know the saying, "fits like a glove"?  That's how it felt that day as I stepped on him for the first time in years.  I rode him through the cows as they were happily munching on their hay and headed out to the back pasture. As we were riding the hilltops, deep with snow, that quote came to me and hit me hard.  "When you know your why, you can endure any how."   Right there was my "Why", Elvis. There is a connection to everything I do with a horse and Elvis.  From the breeding side of things to personal barrel racing goals; he's part of it in some way, shape, or form, through himself or his foals.

As much as the horses are a part of me, this season of life that I'm in with my kids is something that I don't want to miss out on. While the obstacles ahead of me or the "How's" may be great, the simple reminder of "Why" has helped change my attitude.  It might take me a little longer this time, but in the end it will be worth it.

What is your "Why"?

 

It's Not Always Beautiful

As with everything that we learn, there are struggles as we go through that learning curve.  Despite the front that social media allows us to portray, not everything is beautiful; not everything is rainbows and butterflies.  So often we only see the triumphs instead of the failures leaving us with the sinking feeling of why are we struggling so much on our own journey to do the same thing?  The fact is, that we all have our own struggles, just not many people are willing to share it.

The past year I've started doing a horsemanship and barrel racing clinics.  It's been a great experience being able to help people learn how to communicate a clearer picture to their equine partner and to help share the love of horsemanship to my students all the while helping them succeed in barrel racing. It's been rewarding and something that I love to do. Teaching has become a passion. At my clinics, I start out by doing a demonstration on one of my more solid horses so that I can paint a clear picture to my students what my end goal is. My demo horse has gone through these motions every day that I've saddled her up since she was two (she's now seven). It's easy for her and second nature. A foundation build on willing submission, she makes things look simple when they are not.  Although it's valuable to visualize that end goal the demonstration doesn't show the rocks we climbed to get to that point. I get a lot of looks like "you make that look easy" when in fact in the beginning it wasn't.  It didn't get that way over night and it's not going to stay that way without working at it every-single-day.  We live in a world of instant gratification but the real world doesn't work that way.

I was doing a drill yesterday on my demo horse that should have been easy for her. For what she can do, it really should have been a cake walk but I'd never done this particular drill before on her.  I thought, if only my students could see me now. It wasn't pretty.  However as we chipped away and broke down the barriers of miscommunication, it did become "beautiful".  I wished I could have had a video of that process to show my students that we all struggle, and not everything is piece of cake.

As proud of my mare as I am when we do these demonstrations, showing that we are working together as one and with willing submission; I was even more proud of her yesterday as we found holes in our foundation and we fixed them.  Life isn't like Facebook and Instagram where all that is shown and thrown at us is rainbows and butterflies. If you look past social media you see the blood, the sweat, the tears, and the endless hours of dedication to hone your craft.  You'll see the times that we take two steps back after taking just one step forward.  You'll see those that are not willing to give up just because they had a set back or things didn't go their way.  You'll see those fighting, working, striving to always get better and not always looking for an opportunity to post to their social media page how great life is. Life is hard, but keep working at it. Keep working towards your goal and know that those of us that are in the real world, we're right beside you - working with you, supporting you and here for you the whole way!

DON'T. GIVE. UP.

Destruction Or Destiny?

I don't know where you are but here in Montana, it's COLD! I mean, C.O.L.D. cold! Although we have only just begun the winter season, it feels like a lifetime ago since we've seen even sweatshirt weather.  This winter has been brutal. Brutal on the livestock and the people that care for them.  With near records amounts of snow and cold, it's not an ideal time to be riding for horse or rider, leaving us susceptible for the winter time blues.

It's easy to get in the winter time blues. Just stand out in the cold cutting baling twine on bale after bale until you can't feel your fingers as you're trying to feed cows.  Or see your horse trailer get buried under snow after your husband had just cleared it and the road the day before. Or dealing with frozen water hoses for the umpteenth time.  Or... Or.... Or...The struggles of winter have a way of wearing on a person and in case you haven't noticed already, they've worn on me.

Beating the winter time blues can be easily remedied by going somewhere where it's warmer for the duration; so in Montana, expect to be gone until June.  Unfortunately for me, my life situation doesn't quite allow me to pick up and leave.  As I was wallowing in the blues, I started thinking about things.  It's easy to sit stagnant in the house, wishing you could be somewhere warm, riding, not worrying about frozen water hoses, thawing out your coveralls and if your toes will return back to normal color, etc. Right now the opportunity to ride is slim, but the opportunity to grow, to prepare, and achieve your goals is right at your grasp!  I've decided that since moving to Arizona right now is impossible,  there has to be other ways to beat the winter time blues and be improving myself and my barrel racing game.  I started asking myself with everything I was doing, "Am I walking towards destruction or to destiny?" That time that I'm wasting time and energy wishing that I could be in the saddle, I can be putting to good use to improve my barrel racing game without actually stepping foot out of my warm, toasty, climate controlled house.

Here's a couple things I've found to help me beat the winter time blues:

• GOAL SETTING - I'm not a big goal setter, you know the "2017 is a whole new year - whole new life" kind of person. But when it comes to my horses, I need to know and focus on where I'm going with each individual, what is my ultimate goal and where I do I need them to be by a certain time, etc.  If I don't have that in mind, I won't know if I'm behind or on schedule.  Because I ride mostly colts that I hope to futurity, this is an important factor for me. 

• DIET AND EXERCISE - yeah I know, we're coming off the holidays and we've been packing on a couple extra pounds, now is the time to take careful watch over what you eat and start working out on those six pack abs (they've gotta be in there somewhere right?) 
• So at first glance I realize this doesn't sound all that fun, but once you get into the habit, the feel good feeling you get after completing a work out, you'll be seeing what I mean about beating the blues. 

• MAKE A GAME PLAN - Get out  a yearly calendar and write down the races that have been scheduled.  Some you may make and some you may not, but focus on the ones that you're wanting to make. Refer to your Goal Setting to know what will be most beneficial to you, your horse, and your ultimate goal. 

• IMPROVING THE MENTAL GAME - The mental aspect of barrel racing is vital.  You may have the horse and you may have the ability but if your mind isn't in the game, your ship has sunk.  I listen to a lot of motivational speeches or read up on mental toughness. My favorite book is Mind Gym by Gary Mack but there are several out there that I've enjoyed and revisited through the years. 

• RESEARCH - Instead of scrolling through Facebook seeing all the videos and pictures of your friends riding in t shirts in Texas or Arizona, spend some time researching a topic that would be beneficial to you and your horses.  For instance, if you have a bleeder, learn more about EIPH, what is it? what does it do? how to prevent it? how to treat? you get the picture.  Have a problem last fall with a horse, watch barrel racing or horsemanship videos. Study, take notes, and be prepared to use it when you saddle up. Knowledge is power and here's a chance to educate yourself. 

• CLEAN & DECLUTTER - Get your equipment ready to use. Now's a great time to clean those saddles, check chicago screws, make repairs as needed, etc.  Get everything in order and ready to go so that when the day comes to ride, all you have to do is saddle up! 

• CATCH UP - For me being a mom of three boys, trying to help my husband with the cattle, my horses, all the while managing the house, I realize that now is a great time to be catching up on things in the house so that when it's nice outside, I can utilize that sunshine.  Spring cleaning starts now (it may be 8 years late but better late then never right?), meal planning and making freezer meals, doing things now that will make my life and my family's lives easier come spring. 

In thinking of ways to help improve my barrel racing game as well as life in general; I was amazed at all that I could do and work on from the comforts of home.  There's so much more that you can do, maybe you do this already, maybe you do some of it. Regardless I hope that this helps those that are in the same position as me and needing to beat those winter time blues.   Ask yourself, are you on the road for destruction (wasting time when you could be doing something to benefit yourself and your family) or are you on the road to your destiny (taking meaningful steps that will improve and help you reach your ultimate goals). Make your your actions meaningful!  

Hold strong my friends, there's light at the end of the tunnel!  I see 20s and even 30s in the 10 day forecast!

Humbleness Of A Champion

There are people out there that you'd never guess that they won some big event, were incredibly talented or had the rightfully earned bragging list a mile long. They walk humbly, ready to give a lending hand at any moment's notice. These people are quick to bring up your accomplishments and slow to tell their own. I've been around some that walk humbly, but there is one man that I've been blessed to know that really embodies the word humble.

Growing up in a non horse family, I had to rely on others to learn all I could. Many kids have their parents to teach them, be their coach, and provide them the horse power they need to succeed, mine took me to the best people they could find to nurture my love for horses and rodeo. It might have been a blessing in disguise that I had to rely on others because in doing so, I had the opportunity to learn from some of whom I consider to this day - the best. As I entered high school rodeos my freshman year, I had always wanted to breakaway rope. It was then that Lowell Faris took me under his wing. Lowell, who is a very accomplished calf roper and trainer has more titles to his name than some can count, but you'd never know it by talking to him.

Lowell invited me to his and his wife Jan's home and we spent countless evenings in his arena roping calves. He helped me not only learn how to rope but to work with the horses that I was riding. With his quiet demeanor, I always thought he was a master at teaching these horses to do their job but to love it as well. I loved getting to opportunity to watch him work with a young horse and seeing those young calf horses grow in confidence with each run. When I would be struggling with something, we would go to the loft of his barn and rope the bale. Over and over, Lowell would critique each swing, the throw and the catch. I was never a natural and many would have given up trying to teach me. However, Lowell would stay and work with me as long as I needed, many times until long after the sun had went down.

The horse I started roping on, although a nice horse, did some things that were making me develop some bad habits. One night in the practice pen, Lowell offered to let me rope off his trusty backup, Duster. For once I didn't have to worry about my horse doing his job and I could focus solely on my roping. Never asking for anything, Lowell just said take him home and ride him. It was a gesture that I will never forget and allowed me to gain so much confidence in my roping game. Later when I was college rodeoing for Montana State University I called Lowell after my first rodeo and told him about the trouble I had that weekend in the roping with my horse. His response was come and get his good calf horse Doc; who would have anyone drooling and jumping at the chance to ride. He never thought twice about sending a horse that he could have sold time and again to NFR calf ropers with some piddly college girl that just hoped she could make the short go at a college rodeo. He just wanted to help and knew Doc would be the answer to my trouble. I was just one of the many kids that he helped over the years.

Lowell always looked out for the kids that he helped. I don't know how many times he came to my rescue in changing a tire or fixing lights on my trailer or even making sure that I made it safely home. In high school I got the itch to rodeo at the amateur rodeos. My parents with 4 other kids and businesses of their own, weren't always able to take me or be gone for the weekend so once again, Lowell took me under his wing and let me travel with him, his daughter Ali and son-in-law Chad to the rodeos. The time spent traveling with Lowell and his family, I was able to see even more into what an amazing man he is. He was always there to pick you up after a bad run. Telling you to shake it off and giving you the encouragement for the next run. He'd make a run to lead the rodeo and turn around and be quick to aide anyone else that needed a helping hand as others congratulated him on a good run. He'd say a quick "Thank you." and continue helping whoever was in need. You never knew by his demeanor that he just won the rodeo. I always admired his humbleness. A true champion in every sense of the word, you'd never guess with his humble and gracious manner.

Lowell has been such a huge mentor in my life. He taught me many lessons inside the arena and out and became a second father to me. I will never forget my time spent at his place roping and his teachings beyond the arena. He took me in as one of his own and for that I'll always be thankful. He taught me a true champion is humble and ready to give the next person a leg up to become a champion themselves. It's one of the many lessons from Lowell that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I hope that I am able to give someone else that leg up that he so graciously gave me!

Soft As A Post

A few years ago I had the great fortune and pleasure to attend a horsemanship clinic with Doug Jordan.  I had a horse at the time that when I was running, I had a hard time picking up the shoulder and moving over.  There was always a hesitation, a resistance if you will.  I remember telling Doug my issue.  He watched me ride my horse who really was well broke and you could place him anywhere doing slow work.  It was the fast work that I would get in trouble with.  I was expecting some sort of high powered drill.  Something that involved a lot more pressure mentally and physically than what I received.  Instead, I received a post.  Yes a post.... 

 Doug had me position my horse at an angle to this post (about a 45 degree angle) that when I put pressure on my leg that the horse could go forward (avoiding the pressure) or turning into the post (giving into the pressure).  Doug put me and my horse in position next to the post (and fence) and told me to put a little pressure (and by little, I mean slight, barely readable) as if you set a post right there, and just leave that pressure on until my horse responded.  You didn't increase the pressure, you just left it the same. Then he left me! Like, literally left me to make his rounds to the rest of the clinic participants.  I thought, well what in the world am I to do now?  There is no way that this horse knows I'm asking it to do something with this little of pressure.  

So I kept the pressure the same as when he left and watched him as he made his round to the rest of the clinic. Probably 5 minutes later my horse finally moved.  He didn't move just to move, he moved away from that pressure and turned into the post, giving to pressure.  I let him basically do a walking roll back and walk out.  Bringing him back to our original position I thought he was bored and that's why he did what he did.  Heck, by that point I was bored myself! I was prepared to sit there again for awhile.  Much to my surprise as soon as I put that slight pressure on my leg, he turn and gave way to the pressure.  I'm talking as light of a pressure as a fly would put on him if it landed there.  So slight I didn't know if I was putting pressure there or not. Doug didn't care how long it took to get a results, that's why he left me and gave me but most importantly my horse time to get uncomfortable with that pressure and move away from it.  I needed time, patience, and a steady pressure.  As Doug said, I was like a post.  

Sometimes we can get in a hurry.  We think we have patience but really we expect results right away when we ask a horse to do something.  We don't give the horse time to figure out the answer by itself. I've found that if we give the horse the option and opportunity to put the pieces of the puzzle together by itself, that that lessons sticks much better than if we force it.  We make the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy but not always do we give the horse the time to make that decision for itself.  

My husband is an excellent horseman and his forte is starting colts.  The colts he starts have a confidence about them that is undeniable.  They are soft in the mouth and their sides and they have little if any resistance, working under willing submission. He can have those colts trotting backwards on a loose rein.  Something that I am NOT good at doing.  I have a tendency of getting my colts stuck.  When they get sticky in their feet, it's easy to start pulling on them, even ever so slightly.  As I'm riding a colt by Philip and struggling to get this colt to back the way I want, he reminds me of the lesson that Doug had showed me before.  Leaving my hands still and giving those colts time to figure it out, it took nothing before my colt who was sticky in her feet started driving from her hindend, picking up her feet and backing up on a loose rein. 

September seems to be the month of weaning colts and of course halter breaking them.  Every year we bring the colts home from the ranch and go through the process of gentling them down, halter breaking , picking up their feet and getting them accustomed to life without their dams.  Some take it harder than others, but most are halter broke within the day.  One critical item I use in halter breaking training is a tie post.  A regular sturdy post buried into the ground with nothing else is invaluable to me.   Much like the lessons mentioned above, the post gives those colts the opportunity to sort things out themselves.  The post never takes slack away from the colt if it pulls back, it's pressure stays steady, the same.  Sometimes that post can be the best teacher in halter breaking a colt as it learns for itself that when it gives to pressure, it gets a reward, a release.  

I think often to how much the lesson Doug and Philip gave me has helped in my riding and everyday working with a horse. When people have fairly soft hands but have a tendency to pull on one as we all can get, I think of being soft as a post.  There is a pressure there that doesn't change.  It doesn't pull harder, it doesn't snatch or take a horse by surprise.  It literally gives the horse two options - give to pressure or pull against pressure.  There is only one release and that's when they fully give themselves into the pressure. They can't lean and get the release. They are not pressured to give the release.  The post gives them the time to figure it out for themselves. They learn the right thing is to give to pressure, and they crave that release, that reward.  Sometimes to get the best response you don't need to pull harder or put more pressure on them; you just need to be as soft as a post.

Champions Don't Always Wear Gold Buckles

On my daily scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed I came across a post that caught my eye.  It read something to the extent that thanks to Facebook and social media that anyone can make themselves a world champion and trainer.  This person mentioned that they missed the days of having to prove yourself with a gold buckle to show your worth.  I'm of course paraphrasing but that was the jist that I received from it.  I agree - to a point.  

Today the people that you can interact with and "follow" thanks to social media is astounding!  Getting to know these people through the net we get the opportunity to see into their lives.  The people we have access to range from the next door neighbor to the world champion barrel racer, celebrities, and well beyond.  There's a thing about social media though that many over look.  Many who post their lives on social media only post (or mostly post at least) about the good in their lives.  We don't see those that have fallen and gotten back up.  We can't see those that are riding the high under false pretenses.  It's a take what you see with a grain of salt kind of world on the net.  You don't see those with all the talent of the world but choose to stay home for various reasons, are injured, etc. You need to be the judge of who is worthy of "following". 

Here's what rubbed me a little off on that post.  That the only true champions and ones worth paying attention to are those with the buckles to prove it.  Let me be the first to tell you, if you think that only those that are worthy of learning from or listening to are those with a "gold" buckle adorning their belt, then you are sorely missing out.  Having had the opportunity to ride and train with many who have not won the gold and a few that have, I have learned far more from those missing that bragging right than those that have it.  A champion doesn't always wear the buckle to prove they are a champion.   

A champion can be many things.  I know many who have just as much talent as anyone around that instead of chasing those lines on the road are busy tending to a ranch, getting a college degree, taking care of their children, running the family business, etc.  Their priorities weren't on the gold buckle and the bragging right that comes with it although they could give those going down the road a run for their money on any given day. If a "champion" is the only one worthy of learning from then a champion to me is someone who works hard, has a level of grit and determination, a master at their craft, humble, and always willing to lend a helping hand among other things. 

If we judge someone by their accomplishments and not by their talent, we are missing out on a huge opportunity to learn and better ourselves.  I've always said that you can always learn something from everyone; whether it's something to do or something not to do.  You see the real champions don't always wear gold buckles.  They could be your parents in the stand, your spouse, your grandparents, a family friend, someone that showed you the ropes and took you under their wing; each one helping, supporting and rooting you on as you work to reach your full potential. If you feel that only a champion with a gold buckle to prove it is worthy of learning from, your losing out on a huge education and opportunity. 

I'm so thankful for the "champions" that have been involved in my life and journey.  I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for them!