Ep 106: What Happens Outside Your Comfort Zone
If you’ve followed along with the past few episodes, you’ve heard me talk about my preparation for the A Bar Ranch Futurity. This futurity required me to compete in a few events that are outside of my horsemanship niche, and the experience taught me a lot about the power of stepping out of your comfort zone.
Jumping outside of your comfort zone is something that I believe we should all prioritize in our horsemanship journey. You’ll often hear me talk about the importance of getting comfortable with being uncomfortable… and let me tell you, this futurity was no exception.
The A Bar Ranch Futurity is a competition made up of events that involve a combination of cutting, working cow horse, roping and trail. While roping is definitely in my wheelhouse, the remainder of the events fell outside of my comfort zone. Preparing to work these other three events was an experience that was truly enriching for my horsemanship journey because it forced me to practice events that I don’t do on a day-to-day basis.
Any time you step outside of your comfort zone, I encourage you not to do it alone. What I mean by that is--seek out mentorship. When I decided I was going to tackle these new events, I leaned on a former training assistant of mine, Jess Morgan, to guide me in my preparation. He works primarily in these disciplines now, so he had a ton of insight into training methods that would help prepare my horses to smoothly transition among the menagerie of events at the futurity.
At the futurity, the horses I showed ended up placing 3rd and 4th overall, and placed in numerous individual events as well. Were there things I could have improved on as a rider? Absolutely. Am I pleased with the outcome of this competition? Yes, absolutely. Even if I had not placed in this event, I would have walked away with immense personal growth as a trainer. Challenging myself to learn something new and to work toward a new goal was a truly transformative experience in my horsemanship career.
If you have the ability to step out of your comfort zone and try something new, by all means, do it. It doesn’t have to be a big shift out of your normal routine; just try something a little bit different. If you are a barrel racer, try working your horse around the pole pattern. Switching things up from time to time can be a great way to keep things fun and fresh for both you and your horse.
My last word of advice on stepping out of your comfort zone is this:
Make sure your horse is fundamentally sound enough to try something new.
When you have a solid foundation of fundamentals in place with your horse, it is much easier to communicate with that animal. When you have good communication with your horse, it is much easier for them to pick up on new disciplines and perform well at these new events. Don’t ever take your fundamentals for granted, and don’t be afraid to go back and work on them (even if you think you’re already past that point.) You can never have too solid of a foundation on your horse.
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