FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES MARCH 2012 69
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Five Lethal Self-Talk Mistakes
Equestrians Commonly Make
(and how to fix it now, before it’s too late to win this season!)
All good athletes
review their
performance
mentally, and most
give themselves
hundreds, even
thousands, of mental tips
leading up to and during a
horse show. But what about those negative
thoughts that creep in and stir up fear and
angst? Having a negative thought once in a
while really doesn’t do much, but the
nagging ones can turn into self-ful lling
prophesies of your future performance. So
even if those thoughts may seem harmless, it
is important to monitor your internal
dialogue and watch for these ve worst
self-talk mistakes:
1. Focusing on the past or the future: “I
chipped my rst 3 fences last time I was
here.” “I can’t believe how badly I messed
that transition up.” Classic examples of
not letting go of past mistakes; and it’s
just as counterproductive to worry about
what may happen.
2.
inking only of the outcome: “I need to
win,” or, “I need to impress the judges”
are thoughts about the outcome,
something that riders have little control
over.
3. Focusing on outside factors beyond your
control: “I hate riding when it’s humid,”
or, “I never do well when there are so
many people watching.” ese types of
thoughts only hurt your con dence and
therefore your performance.
4. Focusing on weaknesses during
competition: “I don’t even belong riding
at this level,” or “I’ll never be as good as
she/he is.”
5. Demanding perfection: “is needs to be
a perfect go,” or berating yourself for
small mistakes while in the ring. All
athletes make mistakes, but it’s the really
great ones who can make a mistake and
continue their performance unfazed.
Learn to eliminate your negative self-talk
with hypnosis, and focus on the present
moment where your thoughts need to be.
Many equestrians, including Olympians and
their trainers, call upon Laura King,
Certi ed Sports Hypnotherapist, Life Coach
and Director of Summit Hypnosis and
Wellness, to help them prepare their “mental
winning game.”
Negative thoughts can be detrimental to
your riding performance. Call the
professional Certi ed Sports
Hypnotherapists at Summit Hypnosis and
Wellness and put an end negative self-talk.
Visit www.laurakinghypnosis.com for
Laura King’s latest Equestrian Self-Hypnosis
products.
Summit Hypnosis &Wellness
Wellington Palm Beach Gardens
Phone / Skype sessions available
Mi Forest Amor: this 6-year-old Thoroughbred, 16 1/2hh,
chestnut gelding is waiting for someone to fall in love with
him. Adoption fee: $500. Bet he’s gone when you visit the
New Vocations website - bet you fall in love with another very
adoptable ex-racehorse: horseadoption.com
Bad things can happen to good people: they might run into
job or fnancial trouble or the home might break up in divorce.
It’s stated clearly in the adoption contract that we will always
take the horse back. We have as many as 100 graduates of
our New Vocations program returned each year; but we have
going on 4,000 horses out there.” Dot is very humble about the
scope of New Vocations. It is the biggest racehorse adoption
program
in the country. Because the founder herself comes
from a family of horsemen that have raised Standardbreds
for more than 100 years, the program is rooted in time-tested
horse-keeping and training practices. “All the people who
come to work for us are horse people who have experience at
the racetrack and/or the show ring, most of them are college
graduates and many have degrees in animal science,” stated
Dot, who earned her B.S. in Agriculture from the University
of Kentucky. “We can identify injuries in the horses, we have
excellent access to veterinarians and once we sort out a
horse’s soundness issues, we can deal with their schooling.
When a horse is ready for adoption, we can offer a high level
of confdence that a horse is suited for this or that discipline.
We put our resources into equipping the horses with skills: we
get on them, get them to go through water, get them going well
in the ring and out of the ring, and when possible we take them
on the trail.”
New Vocations receives applications from a few pleasure
drivers; but most adopters
want to ride their horses. Dot
and her people spend time
preparing them for under sad-
dle work and videotaping them
being ridden. Thoroughbreds
out number Standardbreds,
about 60% to 40% in the New
Vocations’ program, but many
of the Standardbreds end up
becoming successful feld
hunters, dressage and event
horses. What happens after
a horse is adopted depends
on the new owner. The ideal
adopter either has the skills or
will seek out good trainers so
that horse and rider achieve
partnership and success in
their sport or discipline.
Apples Don’t Fall Far
From The Tree
Anna (Morgan) Ford, directs
the Thoroughbred side of New
Vocations. Born into a family
of horsemen and racehorse
trainers, she learned to ride
when most toddlers take their
frst wobbly steps. At the
tender age of 10, Anna was
riding a leased gaited horse
with a reputation as a “bad
actor”: she was such a strong
rider that the duo won theWalk-
Trot World Championship in
Louisville (KY).
“My daughter is incredible,”
says Dot. “She was 13 when
I started New Vocations and
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