January has been a tricky month for me – I’ve been ill, my horse has been ill, the nights are dark and having started a new job I am not managing to ride at the same time of night that I normally do.
My mojo and routine has been chucked in the air and landed on its bum with a bump – and as someone who thrives on processes, patterns and schedules this has knocked me for six. For me, some of the criticisms from other people and unwanted opinions has crept into my brain and made me second guess myself more than I have done for a while. Couple that with the normal challenges of family lives, being peri-menopausal and all round out of sorts, and – well you get the idea. So bootcamp for me seemed exactly at the right time and in the format for me.
I’ve signed up to bootcamps before, but I sometimes struggle to join the “live” sessions, I don’t have a pivo to record myself but I do like to have a plan. I don’t think I’d seen a bootcamp like this one before with the 5 strands and the ability to fit it around my own schedule and equestrian goals. What I liked was that the format works for anyone regardless of whether they are a dressage rider or a show jumper, or simply someone who enjoys time spent with a horse.
I’ll be honest and say I still haven’t worked through all the content, but I am actively doing that. I didn’t realise until I started practicing the exercises how much my focus had slipped from my own responsibilities as a rider, to putting the focus on my horse. Bootcamp has opened my eyes a fair bit – and having had a week of practicing my two up one downs, and riding transitions in light seat, I can see that there is lot of work ahead of me through the spring!
However, I feel quite excited about this and ready to work – which I guess is the ultimate aim of a bootcamp
Last week I listened to the podcast on “Dealing with Information Overload”, which is also part of my routine – Tuesday morning podcasts while I drive to work. Although not completely linked to the bootcamp, I felt that it was perfectly timed!
It would be easy to feel overwhelmed with the bootcamp content, but by breaking it into chunks I think it provides a good platform to structure my riding. I have now committed to trying to spend the first 10minutes of my riding working on my position by doing some of the exercises that were included. I’m going to start to do the fitness work and add that in each morning (it started today!) and I’m going to set realistic goals and expectations that support me – not ones that terrify me and put me off. I have Liz’s interactive video about goal setting ready to do tonight with the download that I printed off.
I realised while I was listening that I understand myself a lot more now that I did when I first joined EquiTeam. I remember to begin with thinking how I was probably the most inexperienced rider, with the least technical knowledge, and with so much to learn. EquiTeam has helped my focus and self belief probably even more than it has helped my riding. I now know that if I ride without purpose then I am really not helping my long term goals – although to be clear the purpose can sometimes just be to hack around the field in a nice contact and admire the view!
I now know that when I feel anxious, I lose the ability to hear what is being said to me, and that I shout “huh” I a lot when I need someone to help me out and calm me down. I know that when my fitness is not at its best, I make the most ridiculous breathing noises while I ride (my friends will know what I mean). I know that I let the opinions of others cloud my sense of self which leads to crippling anxiety and impacts on every aspect of my life.
The tools that I have learned through EquiTeam have helped me to find ways to become more confident, more focused and less self critical. I’ve started to form my own ideas about how I want to develop, the pathways that work for me and the opinions that truly matter.
Our horses should be our safe space, our happiness and our enjoyment as we need them as much as they need us. So if you haven’t taken the time to look through the bootcamp content please do! And do it, not with a panic about how much there is to do, or how quickly you want to do it. Don’t overload yourself.
Do it thinking how fortunate we are to have supportive content and people around us – and enjoy!
Gill x
