Whether you’ve been riding forever, or if you are brand new to the world of horses, you know that riding properly entails much more than simply sitting astride your horse’s back while he carries you around the arena or up the side of a mountain. Simply sitting there just does not work – in fact, the fitter you are, the better off both you and your horse will be. Here are five tips that can help you gain fitness to ride.
Get Enough Cardio and Do Weight Bearing Exercises
Chasing your horse around the pasture with a halter in one hand and a carrot in the other doesn’t really qualify as a workout, although a traipse through the field might help you to get a little extra cardio. In order to be at your best though, you are probably going to need some intentional exercise, unless you are physically active most of the time. Try to do cardio at least three days a week, and be sure to get your heart rate up. Do weight bearing exercise at least twice a week.
Improve Flexibility
No matter how fit you are, you should spend a little time focusing on flexibility every day. Yoga is a great way to stay limber, and so is regular stretching. When you are flexible, you will feel much more at ease in the saddle, and you’ll find that your endurance improves as well.
Watch Your Waistline
The extra pounds you might be carrying translate to extra weight your horse must carry too. An important part of being fit to ride is weighing the right weight for your height. Eat properly, basing your food intake on vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and whole grains. Talk to your doctor about how much you should weigh, and if you are overweight, lose the excess as soon as you can safely do so. Not only will your horse thank you, the two of you will look better together and your performance will improve.
Ride As Much as You Can
Riding well is something that doesn’t happen all by itself, and no matter how fit you are for other activities, you still need to focus on riding. Watch your posture and stay alert; and work to improve constantly. Try new things when you are riding, too. Not only does learning different disciplines help keep your horse from becoming bored, it helps to keep both of you in good form.
Work on Mental Fitness
An important part of fitness for riding is your mental preparedness for problems that might arise. Many of us have deep seated fears that hinder us from riding as well as we possibly could; fears that prevent us from pushing our limits and extending our boundaries.
If you want to be the best rider you possibly can be, work on mental fitness. First, be honest with yourself about any stumbling blocks that seem to stand in your way. Second, learn different meditation techniques to aid you in ridding yourself of those mental hurdles that prevent you from doing your best. Third, celebrate each time you make progress in overcoming difficulties. As you become accustomed to clearing problems from your path, you’ll gain more confidence and you will find that your riding improves as a result.
Great riders are not normally created overnight. If you are overweight, for instance, those pounds didn’t suddenly leap onto your body, and it is going to take some time and consistent effort to rid yourself of them. If you are out of shape, it’s going to take work to gain fitness to ride. Be patient with yourself, and be consistent. Soon enough, you’ll notice the difference, and so will your horse.
Sometimes I wake up full of ambition and ready to take on the world. Then the phone rings and the neighbor stops in and before I know it, lunchtime has arrived and I’ve accomplished nothing. Instead of taking charge of my day, I realize my day has taken charge of me. Don’t become a procrastinator or an easily distracted person-instead become trailblazer. Here are some tips how:
Ride out Distractions and Focus on the Finish Line
Have you ever seen a racehorse speed to the head of the field, lead into the homestretch, then pull over to taste a succulent looking patch of grass on the side of the track? No, of course not!! Why-because racehorses are trained to focus on the finish line and if they aren’t able to learn this focus they don’t become racehorses.
Consider your day and strive to keep on track by focusing on the finish line. Distractions are everywhere! Text messages, phone calls, emails, TV, and the list goes on. If your sister calls right before feeding time with big news, give her a few minutes, but be upfront and tell her that’s all you have-a few minutes. Tell her you can call her back later, at the end of your workday, when you have more time to talk.
Another example-Let’s say later on in the morning you’re cleaning tack and your phone vibrates in your pocket. You pull it out and it’s a text from your friend. You text her back, put the phone back in your pocket and go back to conditioning your favorite bridle. Your phone vibrates again, you pull out your phone again and text back. Ten minutes later you realize you are still on the throatlatch.
Do you see how ineffective this is? If you’re right in the middle of a task-finish what you are doing! Realize the choices that we make day-to-day can define our lives. Focus on the finish line and designate a time during the day to reply to texts and emails-possibly over your lunch break. You will get more accomplished and this will improve every aspect of your business.
Prioritize, Set Goals and Keep a Schedule
It’s true, business used to be done on a word and a handshake, but today everything is computerized and digital. Change is good and change can help you manage your time. Keep a schedule on your computer and phone to track your time throughout the day and stick to your schedule as closely as possible. Make a list of tasks to complete during the day.
Tackle the largest ones early on when you have the most energy and cross them off your list as you go. Set both short term and long-term goals and write them down along with action steps to reach them.
Farm management software like LaRaedo can also help maximize your time and can be accessed on the go from your blackberry, iphone or other portable device. Utilizing the tools available to you will help you stay competitive in the market and maximize your time and your profit.
Be A Workhorse First And Then a Playful Pony
We’ve all heard the expression “work hard and play hard” and it’s something we should all do. No person’s life should be completely consumed with work and only work. This leads to cranky mares and stubborn irritated stallions (or people.)
Make time for your work and put your work first-completing all of it to the best of your ability. Then kick up your heels (or feet) and take a spin around the pasture (or living room.) When you finish your work first you will enjoy your recreational time more. People who allow themselves relaxation time are hands down more even tempered and well balanced. This type of attitude and work ethic will flow into your business and show, in both your happy customers and your profits.
Using the data gathered from an article on What it Costs to Own a Horse by Rebecca Sweat, the average YEARLY cost to own a horse is around $11,000.
“Each year it would cost about $200 for clothes, $1,750 for riding, $7,500 for board, $250 for routine veterinary care, $300 for farrier care and $350 for mortality and medical insurance (for a horse valued at $5,000). It is clear that for the healthy horse, the board will be the biggest expenses” states Rebecca.
The initial purchase of a horse is most often the smaller price factor in owning a horse. There has to be more than just a minor interest in horses to keep a person paying month after month for the care of this horse. There must be a tremendous emotional connection.
So from my perspective it appears that engaging in the sport of horses requires a bit of financial backing and a true emotional connection with horses. Not too many people that I know of would set aside $11,000 per year minimum for any animal unless there was some kind of huge driving force that negates costs.
I have to laugh when I think about the nameplate of ‘BEEMER’ on a horse stall at a barn. I often wondered if that horse was the replacement for the sports car.
Everything in life has a price tag of sorts. I have discovered that the ones that are the most costly generally have a huge amount of emotional connection to them and that would certainly include horses.
What have you discovered about owning a horse that has filled you with great emotional joy?
Every one of us has said those words at one time or another and with great reason, too. We have busy lives growing our businesses, raising families or working everyday to keep the money flowing. Usually we have no time for things, that to be honest, we really don’t want to do. So very often, it’s those things that don’t have an immediate payoff that get put aside indefinitely.
At one point in my life, I could have just blown off getting my college degree because I was working full time and a single parent. But my boss told me that if I wanted those promotions to keep coming, I had to get my degree and the journey began.
I decided that five years was going to come and go anyways, wouldn’t be nice to have my hands on a college diploma. So at night, once or twice a week, the babysitter would arrive and off I’d go. This continued for a long time and finally I started seeing light at the end of the tunnel (hoping it wasn’t a train heading toward me). I recall one time having the baby sitter cancel at the last minute. I grabbed the crayons, coloring books and my daughter and told her to be very quiet as we took a seat in the back of the classroom. Stuff happens and you just roll with it.
The point of this story is basically that we do have time for things if we can actually see some kind of benefit. The rewards, though, don’t always happen immediately. But I can tell you that making time for my education did in fact bring me many more promotions.
What are some of the things that you have been putting off that you know would bring more clients but think you just don’t have the time for it?
Are you learning how to use technology to help attract more customers? Many of the things that I’ve learned in developing my software business, I learned on-line. I would ‘Google’ questions and find the answers on-line which has been a large part of the way I’ve learned:
It only takes one or two hours a week to begin learning something new. What the heck, a couple of years will come and go anyways…. wouldn’t it be nice if you had jumped on the social media / technology bus and learned a few new things. You are worth it and so is your business!
Imagine giving up everything that you owned, selling your car and leasing your home so that you could travel throughout the country to work with local business owners, local governments and education systems to help build a healthier, happier and economically stronger America.
That is exactly what Greg Hartle is doing right now having started out with $10, his laptop and a few miscellaneous items. He has been documenting his journey everyday with his blog postings and video tapes. I have known Greg for a couple years now and he has always been accommodating any time I have had questions about growing and moving forward in my business.
I would like to take this time to share with you a short video he taped on Day Sixteen of his journey. It was so inspirational to me because he sums up in just a few short minutes exactly how important it is for the horse boarding business to use technology as a means to reach out to their clients. He suggests to businesses to find ways to use technology as a tool to create human experiences.
What better way to help clients feel that a horse farm business will go over and above the call to keep communication lines open then to use a software that will do just that.
What new technology methods are you using in your horse business to help improve communication with your clients?
Here are 3 phone questions you get all of the time. The caller asks:
1. “How much do you charge for board?” or,
2. “How much do you charge for riding lessons?” or
3. “How much do you charge to train a horse?”
Your palms sweat and your head aches as you begin to recite your price list for the 18th time this week. You feel if your price isn’t as low as the competition’s, then you’ll lose the prospect forever right on this phone call.
These prospects use an approach similar to finding the cheapest seat on an airline for their next Disney World visit. It’s a research mission based entirely on price. Seats on a jet are a commodity. They are all pretty much the same.
You sell unique services that aren’t commodities.
Choosing to be the lowest priced professional horseman is a choice that will guarantee you many new customers and a long list of former customers. When price is the main decision factor, you’ll find that your clients come and go on a rapid basis. What does that mean for you? It means you’re miserable because: you’re always overworked trying to save on labor, you’re stressed about not having enough money to maintain the business and you are emotionally drained putting up with client demands for first class service at steerage prices.
I’m a big fan of marketing expert and author Seth Godin. Seth writes books with a non- traditional viewpoint about marketing. Okay, admittedly, he’s a little wacky some of the time as he makes his points. Read “Purple Cow” to understand the concept of having remarkable products and services. Seth makes a good point about being cheap as a marketing strategy here.
He writes, “Cheaper is the last refuge of the person who’s not a very good marketer.
Cheaper is easy and cheaper is fast and cheaper is linear and cheaper is easy to do properly, at least at first. But, cheaper doesn’t spread the word (unless you are much cheaper, but to be much cheaper, you need to be organized from the ground up, like Wal- Mart or Jet Blue, to be cheaper).
They are, you’re not.”
So you are not Wal*Mart! You aren’t even selling retail goods. You are selling all or parts of a “BLT” (Boarding, Lessons, Training). And best of all, Wal*Mart will never be your competitor.
Which means that your prices don’t have to be the lowest.
Never the lowest price, always.
Market You. That is what your clients will pay for. Your brand is only available from your business.
Get out of the cheap seats, and find clients who want your brand.
They are out there. Clients are willing to pay more for friendly service, clean stalls, a regular feed schedule, ample bedding, kind voices during riding instruction, a horse trained from the fundamentals first, with advanced training to follow.
The answer to “how much do you charge” can also be,
“Our rates are reasonable, but I’ll tell you right now they are not the lowest. You’ll find the reason for that is because we are high on service. The best way for you to find out about our programs is to make an appointment to visit and find out if our program is right for you. When would you like to visit?”
Become a marketer; stop being a discounter.
Doug Emerson trains consults and coaches professional horsemen struggling with the business half of the horse business. He writes a free electronic newsletter about making money in the horse business. Free subscription available at the homepage: http://www.ProfitableHorseman.com
This is kind of off topic from my usual excitement over creating an awesomely running horse farm using LaRaedo but today is a day about freedom and I am feeling free to talk about whatever.
I went for a walk today with my German Shepherd, Naiya, and had some ‘wonder’ moments. I have those moments a lot and it used to drive my kids crazy but it’s just me.
Funny thing about my dog and walks. She gets so excited at the mention of the word ‘walk’ that she follows me around the house until I get the leash and the ‘bag’. And then, we are about ten minutes into it and I am pulling her along saying ‘Let’s go, come on’. So I am not sure if she forgets that she really doesn’t like going for walks each time I say the word or not. Well she is ten years old so I guess I should give her some leeway.
But while I was walking, I came by a huge house, I mean it must have been worth $400 to $500K at minimum. From the front, it was gorgeous and then I noticed the backyard view. It overlooked the highest crime and drug haven mobile home park in the city. And I began to wonder…. why would some family decide to build a brand new house on a patch of land that had a view like that? Imagine having your outdoor Bar-B-Q’s and watching a drug transaction go on. I would love to go up and ask the home owner but that might be a bit crass. Maybe they got the land for dirt cheap and didn’t care what the view looked like. Maybe it was a constant reminder to the owner that once lived in a low income mobile home park of how appreciative it was to now be able to own a beautiful home such as this one. Not that mobile home parks are bad, some are absolutely gorgeous, but this one – not so much.
And then as I was walking by a grave yard all nicely manicured with all the fine tombstones, and got to wondering again. There were squirrels running around and birds chirping and thought where do all those squirrels and birds go when they die? It’s not like you see them laying around on the sidewalks or grass, maybe on the side of the road some times but that’s a different story. They are so neat and tidy about their transitions, aren’t they? They just go off somewhere and die; no one has a funeral for them and spends tons off money on caskets and tombstones. They just move on. We on the other hand like to take up lots of land that can never be used again except for the traditional resting place of the dead. Don’t get me wrong here, I mean my parents reside in a nice grave site not too far away and once in a great while I drop by to ‘say hello’ but it is just their physical memory and their spirit is with me everywhere. Maybe someday, the traditional grave site will go by the wayside to more meaningful methods of celebrating the death transition.
I had the opportunity to do a short, fun and totally impromptu interview with Dorothy Mueller at the 2010 Stallion Expo sponsored by the Michigan Horse Council in Lansing Michigan at the Michigan State Coliseum on March 13.
Dorothy has been involved with horses for many years. She is a Grand Prix trainer and exhibitor and demonstrates her talents at various expos and horse shows throughout the year. Ironwood Farm is a 20 acre park like training facility is located in Leonard, Michigan.
Included in this video is a brief demonstration of Dorothy’s skill in the discipline of dressage.
I could watch videos like this one all day long. To me the discipline of dressage is simply elegant. To watch the rider and horse perform is like a graceful waltz between to beings that are tied together through a connection of the mind.
This is one of the many reasons why I love to watch horses perform in all the various disciplines. Although they are one of the largest animals to train; they appear so poised it is almost as though they are floating on air.
Do you have any favorite dressage videos that you would like to share with us?
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