To learn more about Virtual Obstacle Shows, visit our website at www.virtualobstacleshows.com or join our facebook page where riders are posting their videos and score cards.
Hope to have you
on our next ride!
40 / Sport and Trail Magazine
Virtual Obstacle Shows
By Stephanie Rivers
survive and come out better on the other side.
Before that very first show, you likely weren’t sure how successful you would be. And yet, here you are, cruising along in your comfort zone. And you are very possibly happy in the division you are in, not feeling a need to move upward, but wondering when that day will come.
One of my most treasured mentors, Appaloosa Horse Club Hall of Fame member Suzanne Koch Gleason, told me many years ago that you are only ever as good as your competition.
It took me several years to figure out what that meant, for I was fairly new into competing. It wasn’t until much later, when I was winning everything I entered in and I stepped out of my safety circle to enter above my abilities that I began to understand. I didn’t get it right away of course, I didn’t know the depth of “as good as your competition.” No, I wallowed in the bottom of these new challenges for some time, but I also got better. I took more lessons, traveled to clinics outside my discipline to learn new things, new ways of thinking about horsemanship.
I continued to enter beyond my abilities at that time and slowly I found myself closer to the top.
And I won’t say it was “before long” that I found myself in contention. It was not “before long.” It took time, dedication, learning and training for both myself and my horse.
Eventually though. Eventually it was normal for me to be right in the mix at this new level of competition. When I looked back at where I had been, I realized that my abilities were so far beyond that and had always been. I was limiting myself by staying small and to be honest, I was taking away the opportunity for someone else to grow into my spot because I was afraid to move out of it.
So if you are questioning if you are ready to move up, move forward and on to the next level? Then you’ve already answered your question. If it’s even a thought in your head, your ability is there. Go find your way through to move forward!
It took me several years to figure out what that meant, for I was fairly new into competing. It wasn’t until much later, when I was winning everything I entered in and I stepped out of my safety circle to enter above my abilities that I began to understand. I didn’t get it right away of course, I didn’t know the depth of “as good as your competition.” No, I wallowed in the bottom of these new challenges for some time, but I also got better. I took more lessons, traveled to clinics outside my discipline to learn new things, new ways of thinking about horsemanship.
I continued to enter beyond my abilities at that time and slowly I found myself closer to the top.
And I won’t say it was “before long” that I found myself in contention. It was not “before long.” It took time, dedication, learning and training for both myself and my horse.
Eventually though. Eventually it was normal for me to be right in the mix at this new level of competition. When I looked back at where I had been, I realized that my abilities were so far beyond that and had always been. I was limiting myself by staying small and to be honest, I was taking away the opportunity for someone else to grow into my spot because I was afraid to move out of it.
So if you are questioning if you are ready to move up, move forward and on to the next level? Then you’ve already answered your question. If it’s even a thought in your head, your ability is there. Go find your way through to move forward!
I found myself in contention. It was not “before long.” It took time, dedication, learning and training for both myself and my horse.
Eventually though. Eventually it was normal for me to be right in the mix at this new level of competition. When I looked back at where I had been, I realized that my abilities were so far beyond that and had always been. I was limiting myself by staying small and to be honest, I was taking away the opportunity for someone else to grow into my spot because I was afraid to move out of it.
So if you are questioning if you are ready to move up, move forward and on to the next level? Then you’ve already answered your question. If it’s even a thought in your head, your ability is there. Go find your way through to move forward!
afraid to move out of it.
So if you are questioning if you are ready to move up, move forward and on to the next level? Then you’ve already answered your question. If it’s even a thought in your head, your ability is there. Go find your way through to move forward!
WHY YOU SHOULD
MOVE UP A
DIVISION
In all sports, including equestrian sports,
there are levels of competition that allow
someone to get started in their
endeavors. We all have to begin and the
beginning. For some of us, that was so
long ago that we forget what it was like.
For others, they are living it now.
What about that group of people that
aren’t at the beginning, but they aren’t at
the highest level yet either? For many,
they find they are in the same space show
after show, even year after year. It’s not
because they lack the experience, nor
because they lack the talent, but they
lack the confidence.
When you find yourself still in a division
that you aren’t sure you are ready to
advance out of, because the next level
seems beyond your reach, remember
that at one time your current division
seemed out of your reach.
Do you recall the very first time you
entered a horse show of any type?
Maybe it was a local fun show or all breed
open show. Perhaps your trainer threw
you right in the deep end of the pool and
had you enter up in a breed show or a
higher rated show, confident you would