Contributors

Dressage


Dressage (a French term meaning "training") is a path and destination of competitive horse training, with competitions held at all levels from amateur to the Olympics. Its fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and appearing effortless. Dressage is occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet." Although the discipline has its roots in classical Greek horsemanship, mainly through the influence of Xenophon, dressage was first recognized as an important equestrian pursuit during the Renaissance in Western Europe. The great European riding masters of that period developed a sequential training system that has changed little since then and classical dressage is still considered the basis of trained modern dressage.

Early European aristocrats displayed their horses' training in equestrian pageants, but in modern dressage competition, successful training at the various levels is demonstrated through the performance of "tests," or prescribed series of movements within a standard arena. Judges evaluate each movement on the basis of an objective standard appropriate to the level of the test and assign each movement a score from zero to ten - zero being "not executed" and ten being "excellent." A score of nine (or "very good") is considered a particularly high mark, while a competitor achieving all sixes (or 60% overall) should be considering moving on to the next level.

Friday, November 10, 2023

Confidence

 

Carousel Coaching               Confidence                                                                

 

When you look confidence up in the dictionary, it is defined as the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust. When we use this definition, it asks us to look outside ourselves to find confidence. Are we relying on someone or something outside of ourselves, actually outside of our control, to feel capable?

If you look further, you can find a definition; the state of feeling certain about the truth of something.

 So, then I ask myself, is it possible that this truth of something could be inside me? Is it possible that I could wake up every morning and believe that there is something inside myself that is well-intentioned, loving, and capable of doing anything I put my heart and mind into? Could I actually feel certain about this truth? Could I wake up with confidence every day?

What is it that takes this confidence away from us? What is it that asks us to look outside of ourselves for certainty so that we can feel confident?

I was listening to a podcast yesterday and the podcaster said…

”I can change someone’s state from insecurity to confidence, and make them believe they can make changes for the better, but when they are no longer with me it all disappears.”

What that means to me is that the speaker created a situation where his listeners had confidence in his ability, but not their own ability. It got me thinking about confidence and how do we cultivate it for ourselves.

How many businesses are built on the need for the person to come back? We produce goods that do not last. We create lesson programs that give people just enough information to know that they need to come back for more. When I started teaching, and now as a coach, my goal has always been to give my students the information they need to make good decisions. I want people to be able to function when I am not there, as well as when I am there. As a coach my purpose is to help put the power back in the hearts and hands of my clients. I want to help them find out “who” they are so that when they make decisions they are based on their own goals, interests, and beliefs. This can be difficult because we have a lot of people to please. What if my mother, sister or husband does not like the person I really am on the inside?

The person that we are on the inside is the only person, this is the person we must have confidence in. The problem is that we become so out of touch with this person that we do not know who she/he is. We cover it up, on purpose or by accident, and then we act out, hideout or go down a road that is not ours. We have so many outside influences that we end up bouncing from this opinion to that opinion, this person’s idea or that person’s insult. We forget to remember who we are, we forget to be confident; the state of feeling certain about the truth of something, the truth of ourselves.

No one can tell us who we should be or what we should do. This is the hard part. Young people have often said to me they wish someone could just tell them they are good enough, or they wish the road was mapped out and they could just follow it. This is something we need to find on the inside. This belief in our self needs to override everything, all that people say, all the insults, negative energy, and doubt. Many times, these feelings and expressions of insecurity are about the other person, not about us. If someone tells me their goal is to jump a grand prix course is it my place to say they cannot do this? I do not ever see myself jumping a grand prix course with my horse, but who am I to say they cannot do it? This is often what happens, the other person is so insecure they project that onto our goals and aspirations. In addition, we may act on a sport or direction we are talented in but have no actual interest in. In this case, we might end up going down the wrong road because people believe in us, praise us and encourage us, but we have no actual interest.  A lack of belief causes us to abandon our dreams. When we have confidence, we have an inner knowing that what we want is possible and we are able to create it. We may occasionally make detours along the way, bad decisions or mistakes, but inevitably we walk our path, the right path to the truth of our goals.

How do we gain confidence? There are a million programs, books, and coaches out there to help us with this.

My challenge for you is this. Every night before you go to bed ask yourself was there any part of the day you could have managed better? Was there a time you actually did not act on your inner truth? What was the reason? Does this bring you closer or farther from your ultimate expression? Was it a close friend, family member or just a passing acquaintance that caused you to step outside of yourself? Write it in your journal. Ask yourself to think about tomorrow and how you can be relaxed and in your truth in the future. Not aggressively and putting other people down, just relaxed and confident in your true nature.  Can you find this peaceful feeling that you do not need to impress your feelings or actions on other people, you just need to be walking your path in your own way? In addition, can you find the feeling that you do not need reinforcement from other people to know you have done the best that day?

The strength to be YOU needs to be developed and nurtured.

When you wake up in the morning think about the day ahead. Are there things that might come up that have the potential to knock you off your path? What can you do to be relaxed and peaceful on your way? Do you have plans to eat right? Can you talk to the people that strengthen you? Is it possible to find time to take care of yourself and remember your inner strength throughout the day?  Sometimes it is helpful to put alerts on your phone, a post-it note in your car, or a poster in your house or office. What does your strong self know that you forget when life gets overwhelming? Your strong inner self is the only self to listen too, try to create tactics to remind yourself when you feel the doubt or overwhelm creep in.

Be youthful in your approach, connection is the key and

Remember, anything is possible,

Nancy

 

Monday, November 6, 2023

Finding Balance

 

Finding Balance!        Carousel Coaching    Nov. 6, 2023

I think that one of the most difficult things to do is find a balance between all of the competing priorities that stand before us in a day. There are many amazing people out there offering to teach us their tactics for high performance, productivity and time management, but I find the more I look at them, the more confused I become.

Throughout this past year, I have really had to challenge myself to let go of old beliefs in order to become more productive. The things I have learned have actually not come from others, but instead, have come from listening to myself. One of my mentors said that we should let go of menial tasks, hire someone to do the shopping and laundry for instance. Doing this would open the day for more productive endeavors. When I thought about it, I did think, yes, it would be nice to delegate these things some of the time. However, for me, doing laundry is self-care. I take time to fold my laundry and just be in that moment, perhaps with music or my own thoughts. It is meditative. So, giving that up would not be healthy for me.

I challenge you to think carefully about what you really love about your life, what makes you feel alive and makes you want to get up in the morning. On the flip side, what could you let go of? What does not get you excited? What do you do because you think you should, or someone else thinks you should?

A good exercise might be to take a paper, or write in your journal on one side the aspects of your day that bring you joy and fulfillment and on the other side tasks that bring your energy down or diminish your productivity. I imagine we can all find things that we could put on these lists and become more effective by doing so. By doing this exercise myself, I am finding a better rhythm.

I do not like to feel as if I am going a million miles an hour one day and then completely ineffective the next day. Ineffectiveness for me comes from feeling overwhelmed by the things I should be doing, but I am not good at and therefore ignore. There are definitely things that I could delegate and as I started to identify them, real change began for me. What I really need to get done (things I do not like doing or am simply not good at), I will delegate, and then apply THAT time to something that I AM good at and creates benefits down the line.

What things are on your to-do list that you could delegate to someone else?
If you did, what would you spend your time on? When you look at things this way, does it give you the push you need to reorganize your time?

I believe it is really about what strengths you have, not about anyone else’s program. The challenge is to start to create your own program, your own rhythm. The awesome thing is that there are a lot of great people out there willing to share their ideas and just get you thinking about options. But! If one program does not work for you that is ok. Keep looking, be curious and create the best strategy for your happiest and productive life, one day at a time.

I hope these ideas benefit you in some way.

Nancy

 

Friday, November 3, 2023

Daily Practice

 

Carousel Coaching

                    Daily Practice

                                               Nov. 2, 2023

 

Why is it that we seem to lose track of our positive daily practices just when we need them the most?

We all have things that get us down. We make mistakes, get sick or something can happen that is beyond our control. These things can take us temporarily off our path. The good practices and positive habits we were nurturing and were working for us drop by the wayside and the doubt and fear creep in. Productivity diminishes and this feeds the doubt, and we start to spiral down instead of up.

How can we hold on to our best habits even when we get derailed, depressed or lack energy?

For me jumping back in as soon as possible makes a difference. However! I also think we must take a bit of time to mourn the setback, recover from being sick or even take time for a loved one in need. Then we must jump back in as soon as possible to our best practices. Even if it is only for 5 minutes a day, set that time aside for yourself, then next week add 5 minutes and so on. Put the time for yourself in your calendar, set an alarm, do whatever it takes to notice yourself and take care of yourself.

We all know that exercise builds confidence and energy. So, we need to make time for it. We know that eating well and actually taking time to eat helps us feel healthy and mentally alert. We must make time for this. Hydration is imperative for optimum performance, no matter what we do. Let’s pay attention to this.

There is a kind of stigma around taking care of ourselves first. We are taught that self-care is selfish. Know that if we don’t take care of ourselves then we can’t be there for the other people in our lives. Put your own oxygen mask on first!

A few of my favorite quick tips for getting out of that rut as quickly as possible:

  • Talk to your good friends.
  • Start recording your wins.
  • Do 5 minutes of exercise first thing in the morning before you get lost in the day. Add to it over time because it feels good!
  • Spend one healthy meal with yourself (and others) daily
  • Drink water, add lemon, mint, cucumber whatever makes you happy, drink water
  • Change all self-talk to positive self-talk; I can’t do this becomes I can’t do this yet, or who can help me with this, or how can I figure out how to do this. It might be difficult when you start noticing all of the negative self-talk, it is necessary to notice it if you want to change it!

I hope this benefits you! And please share with anyone you know who might need a boost.

Please feel free to share your good ideas about getting out of a rut with me at nancylaterdressagehorses@gmail.com