EOFY Goal Setting

with Dr Kerry Mack for Equestrian Life

It is the first week of the new financial year. I like to keep to routines. We do things routinely. We check the electric fences every Monday, do the worming the first day of every second month, tetanus and strangles immunisation in the spring before the broodmares foal. We do teeth checks and saddle fitting checks in the winter when it is a bit quieter. Reviewing goals and setting new goals fits well at New Year and End of Financial Year (EOFY). You should take time to think about what you want to achieve. You may want to have short term (days to weeks), medium term (months) and long term (years) goals. You may want to ride at the Olympics one day, but the way you achieve it is in achievable steps of smaller goals, first learn to hold the reins and sit to the trot, for example, then train a horse to FEI levels, one grade at a time, then conquer the Grand Prix, and achieve qualifying scores, then get those high scores you need to

There is a well known anagram for Goal setting: SMARTS. The goals you set should pass the SMARTS test and be:

Specific.

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

Goals should be SPECIFIC.  Don't set vague goals like "I want to improve". You should think what do you want to achieve in the rest of the year. Is it to improve your scores or performance at your current level? Do you want to go up a grade? Do you just need to get mileage into a young horse, and get him to the point that going to a comp is like a day at the office for him? Do you want to qualify for a Championship event later in the year. All these goals are specific. You generally won't achieve as much if you are not systematic. It's no good to find out when you are doing the entries for the championships to find that you didn't actually qualify. Find out now what you have to do to qualify and get it done.

perhaps your goal is to just get more mileage into your young horse

Sometimes SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE can go together. Perhaps you want to improve your dressage score at your current level (specific) to achieve 70% (measure). Don't make your goals too connected to other peoples performance. It isn't a really good idea to have a goal of winning something, you can't know if someone will come with a superstar horse and beat you. But if you think you can achieve 70% and push toward that, you may win, and if you achieve your goal, great.

Your goal should be ATTAINABLE. If your horse can't move for a 7 you can't achieve 70%. If he is struggling to jump 1.2 metres he is not going to succeed at the Young Rider Championships, etc. If you are not sure if your chosen goal is attainable ask your coach.

Goals should be REALISTIC. Big goals require commitment. To achieve them you usually need to give something up. Maybe you need to get up earlier to fit more in the day, maybe you need to go to gym to build your fitness. A goal is not realistic if you don't have the commitment to do what it takes to achieve it.

You may need to really think about a series of steps to achieve your goals. If you want to get to Advanced dressage you need to have  flying changes, including sequence changes, counter changes of hand in half passes, training canter pirouettes, all with a higher degree of collection than Medium, maintaining rhythm, suppleness and contact. This may be quite a few steps above your current level. Think about all the things you need to achieve, work out all the steps and think about whether this is realistic for your horse. Goal setting with horses must take into account your horse's ability, and temperament. It is not enjoyable to set a goal too hard for your horse and find he cant cope with the pressure. Remember greed is a deadly sin. Don't be greedy and ask your horse to give more than he is able to. 

Something may in theory be attainable, but there might be other considerations that determine if it is realistic for you. If you are not able to work your horse often enough due to other commitments in your life, work, study, family etc then you may need to either reconsider the goal itself or make a longer TIME FRAME. Set a date by which you want to achieve your goals. This will be the review date, and time to set the new goals.

At review you may find that actually your horse isn't suited for the goals you want to achieve. If you are really committed to him you may find you are both happier setting goals more compatible with your horse's ability. Otherwise you might want to find him a home with someone who wants to do the job he is suitable for, and find a horse that is suited for the job you want to do.

So set to it. Work out what your SMART goals are, and get on with it. Have fun.

Kerry Mack

www.mayfieldfarm.com.au

Photos subject to copyright.