Tip: Periodically record video of your riding and store it away for later.
Why would you want to do this?
It is really normal and common to get to a point where you feel like you aren’t making progress. You may even feel that you have slid backwards and things are getting worse. Our perspective can get so skewed. We are influenced by others we see around us. And we THINK we should be on a faster progress schedule. We THINK we aren’t making progress fast enough.
But here is the thing. Good work takes time. One of my old teachers used to always say. “Time and distance overcome the resistance.” We can take this to mean that it just takes time and really, steady work to really overcome the bigger issues.
It is about every day showing up and doing the work.
It is about paying attention to details.
It is about polishing, polishing, polishing.
But the problem with that is that when we are “down in the trenches” doing the day-to-day work, we tend to get hyper focused on the problem we are working through. And we tend to not see the progress we have made.
So we THINK we are not making progress fast enough, or at all. We might even THINK things have gotten worse.
But how can you know for sure? How can you reset your perspective if that is actually NOT the truth?
The best way to do it is to sit down and compare video taken very recently to video taken 3 months, 6 months, 12 months ago. THEN you see all the little things that were so prevalent back then, but are no longer issues now. We forget about these things because we get hyper-focused on the next things to focus on. When you do this, you see the polishing that you have done.
This gives you a chance to, for a moment at least, step out of the “trenches” and take a look at the work you have done and how far you have come.
As Dressage Riders, we tend to always be looking at the next hurdle to overcome, the next issue to fix, the next whatever. But for our mental health and wellbeing, it is really important to also take these moments to remind ourselves that we ARE making progress.
And take a moment, then, to celebrate that. Share it with those who will understand what a big deal this is. And in doing so, you have an opportunity to transform your “success” to a dose of inspiration and motivation to another person, who is perhaps feeling down about her own riding or lack of progress. Remind her that success is possible by just showing up and doing the work (and remind her to look back at HER old videos for her own “reality check”).
Tip: Periodically video your Riding [+ VIDEO]
