Winners Edge Issue 1 | Page 4

How Strong Can You Be ?

Getting fit , mentally , takes training and is something we can work towards . But this type of strength is not something that you get from a one-time effort , any more than you get in shape with one lap around the track .

Mental strength is having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to :

1 . Generally cope better than your opponents with the many demands ( e . g ., competition , training , lifestyle ) that are placed on you .

2 . To do a better job than your opponents in remaining determined , focused , confident , resilient , and in control under pressure .

Mental fitness training doesn ’ t just help athletes to improve performance . It also helps people cope with everyday problems and prevents these problems from being overwhelming . The resiliency that comes with mental strength is a way of thinking that allows us not to fall into self-defeating traps .

Sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves because we forget why we are out there .

Maybe you ’ re a novice and unsure . Others show professionally and feel pressure to deliver wins for an owner . Others feel financial pressure to win .

Sometimes we let our urgency get us off kilter . We ’ re ready - right now - to see results !

So , let ’ s get this into perspective . Our job is to do the best we can . We will either win or we won ’ t .

A great friend , Dr . Bud Siebenlist of Marshall , Texas , told us once . “ This is a really good horse . Be good to him and to yourself . You ’ re going to win . It ’ s going to happen . It may not be this run ... or the next one , but it will happen . Just go do your best .”

Think of that before you compete . Tell yourself , “ I want to do my best with this horse , this run , and I know if I have prepared and my horse is capable , then I can win . Maybe it won ’ t be this run or the next one , but it will happen !”

Battling the Butterflies

What works for you ? As you battle your pre-competition butterflies , try to find what works for you , as different methods work for different people . Try different things and make a record of how you feel right before you compete along with your subsequent performance .

Once you ’ ve isolated the time and situations that make you nervous , you ’ ve taken a big step toward overcoming the problem .

The good news is , like any other competition problem , nervousness can be fixed . The not-so-good news is that the same cure doesn ’ t work for everyone .

We are not cookie-cutter barrel racers stamped out from the same mode so it will take some work to find your best tactics .

For some , admitting to nervousness is a help . Telling your travelling partner that your nerves are bothering you and getting it out into the open might be helpful . Talking about it sometimes makes it seem less scary ..

Others report that exercise , a few jumping jacks or running around the trailer a couple of times , seems to help them loosen up when they feel nervous or anxious .

Still others say that they like to have a whole agenda of things to do before the

Perspective on Winning

barrel race and they make a list of everything from cleaning out their horse trailer to actually warming their horse up .

Some people say they get nervous if they eat ; some say they get nervous if they don ’ t eat .

If you do feel you need to eat , don ’ t eat something so heavy it makes riding uncomfortable . Also don ’ t go without food for so long that it makes you weak and shaky . Avoid snacks that might give you a sugar high then let you drop about the time adrenaline hits you . For some people , caffeine is a “ no-no .”

One barrel racer says that chewing gum seems to help her for some reason . Another says singing softly to her horse relaxes her .

Try everything . Try anything . It may or may not work . Either way , you are closer to curing your problem , because you either eliminated something that didn ’ t work or found something that had a positive effect . Something .

Martha ’ s Comeback - Cont . From P . 1

my great horse Cebe Reed . But it actually took quite a while to get over the head injury . I had the drive and determination and want to because I wanted to win . I knew I had the great horse in Cebe Reed . I worked diligently getting my balance back – I would do everything from swimming to running to even thinking about doing walking on a tightrope - anything to get my balance back .

It was probably six months before I felt right again . I rode before then and actually made NFR that first year but I was not 100 percent for a while .

My second bad accident was in 1981 right after I had won the world and was doing a training video tape and I was using a young 3-year-old to show how to train a young horse . He had been very gentle but we had changed his headgear and he just dropped his head and started bucking like a bronc . He bucked me off so hard that it broke my right arm and my pelvis in so many ways that the doctors said I would never ride again and probably never walk again .

I was in a wheelchair for three months and at first I was partially paralyzed . We had a swimming pool we had built for the school so when R . E . would go to town , I would have our barn keeper , Andy , take me to the swimming pool and put me in because I knew I had to be able to move my arms and legs .

So I swam . I had Sonny Bit O Both at that time and at the same time I was swimming myself , we were also swimming Sonny .

I knew I had to keep him in shape as well as getting me back on track .

The last accident was in 2004 . I had decided to make the NFR for the fifth decade and I was going to several rodeos and I had found the horse Red Man Bay that was certainly capable of making the finals .

We had not been to NFR since 1998 when I was on Orange Smash . But I felt we could make it that year so we started out with that in mind .

I entered Austin , Texas . For me , it was just the right kind of arena where you run in the alleyway . I had made a really good run and as we came out of alley the gateman had left the gate open by mistake . They saw it and tried to shut right in front of me .

Red Man Bay and I both went over the gate and we both ended up on the ce-