FEBRUARY 2024 THE RIDER /39 Rider Fitness: New Year Edition!


while I know that most of them would score any horse of any kind within a similar ballpark as ac- curately to the criteria as possible, there is some- thing of a bell-curve effect, and scoring is more or less strict depending on the level of competition. Similarly, a goal of placing is also most likely des- tined to lead to disappointment, because you aren’t in control of who else shows up and how their ride goes that day. By setting competency goals (such as train-


Congratulations on getting through 2023!


The year end newsletter in the fitness industry is often all about New Years’ resolutions. If you’ve been hanging out in my rider fitness space for a few years, you know that I’m not usually one to harp on that theme. Don’t get me wrong: the end of a year and beginning of another can be a very meaningful time to take stock and set goals, whether that’s the lunar or Gregorian calendar, the academic year, or some other anniversary that is important to you. I am actually a big believer in setting goals or intentions for upcoming seasons in your life, whether that is the next three months, or a full year. If the timeline slips while you’re at it, at least you have had the joy of the process of mov- ing toward something that was important to you. Research definitely supports the power of setting clear goals. However, it also supports focusing on process, rather than outcomes. Process is within your control more than out-


comes, which is why process goals are also more satisfying and feel more meaningful while you are working on them. Process goals rarely disappoint, because part of any process involves encountering unplanned challenges, limits, or bonus success or hacks. You never know what you will get on any day with your horse, but you can always know that you got somewhere useful when you are chipping away at a process-focused goal from different an- gles.


A common goal in the fitness industry is ‘lose


more weight’, but there are many issues with that goal. First, it isn’t specific. Second, even if it was (i.e. lose 10kg), it is purely outcome-driven, setting you up for constant critical self-evaluation. Third, it isn’t a functional goal. Weight doesn’t have in- trinsic meaning. Goals like that are fraught with layers of cultural values and judgement, without intrinsic ties to joy or meaning. No wonder stats show that most diets fail. A goal that would have more meaning could be to reduce your waist meas- urement to improve muscle-fat ratio, to increase your long-term or current health while achieving more ability to do activities that are important to you (because the goal would require building phys- ical capacities that support movement). A rider might translate a goal like this into


further meaning for riding, such as being better at controlling weight aids while riding, and having more self-carriage to assist the horse ergonomi- cally. As long as your goal had a functional use, you would be more likely to focus on and feel in- creasing confidence and self-esteem about the tasks you chose to do to help you get there, than if you were simply trying to drop weight to meet the approval of a (black and white judging) tape band or scale. I encourage riders to focus on a goal that has


higher meaning, and includes meaning within the process. Specifically in conditioning for sport such as riding, I prefer to get clients to focus on compe- tency goals. For example, while I have only ever once scored in the 80’s in a dressage test (on an Arabian!) and would love to do so again one day, I don’t set the score as the goal. I set the dressage test with the movements I want to accomplish ‘re- spectably’ as the goal. This way, I always know how I am spending my training time as I work to- ward my goal, but I remain flexible to the events of life that might make the route less direct. The score on a test is too subjective. Your horse could have a bad day. Someone could run with a scary horse-eating item near the ring at the wrong mo- ment. You could have missed a night of sleep. However, if you have worked on your


process, you will be able to use what happens in your four minutes in the ring to keep moving for- ward, rather than let it ruin your day or year. I’ve scribed for national and international judges, and


ing my horse to do a nice half-pass that meets the criteria), I’m almost always going to be in the ball- park of good goals, but psychologically I’m fo- cused on ability not assessment, and on elements within my control. After working with so many clients with eating disorder, I also discourage get- ting too focused on weight goals. While they ap- pear objective, they are actually quite subjective because they are disconnected from other factors like bone density, muscle mass, fitness, and body phenotype, but tied strongly to highly subjective (culturally shaped) judgements about standards of beauty or purpose of appearance in public. Fortu- nately, riders can be effective in all shapes and sizes. However, you can always be fitter, more flexible, or more precise with aids which is what makes riding interesting and engaging as a lifelong passion and learning experience. When you set a competency goal, you are


often setting a goal that is indirectly related to a specific outcome (achieving the score or a healthy body weight), but directly related to specific tasks you can focus on in your training (to keep it inter- esting and keep you moving forward). Going back to the goal mentioned above, you could move a step past ‘lose weight’ to ‘carry myself better so that I can (barrel race, jump a course of a certain height, ride a dressage test at end of year, ride with- out pain)’. Then, your goal is doing that activity, for which you need to achieve a number of things directly within your control, such as improved core strength, leaner body mass, or sharper responsive- ness to the horse’s movement. You might indeed lose some weight depending on your nutritional and training decisions, but the weight becomes a by-product of training your inner rider-athlete in ways that are satisfying and meaningful to you. So…what would you like to achieve this year


with your riding or training ability? How does achieving that goal represent something that is meaningful to you? What activity or event can you go to or do that would demonstrate to yourself that you have made progress toward your goal? What areas of physical ability do you need to work on to support your goal? Do you need to work on your flexibility, strength, co-ordination, balance, heart and lung stamina? How can you break your inten- tion into monthly or weekly steps? Remember, most plans involve recalibrating as you navigate. You will always win if the journey is meaningful to you.


Your horse has given you a lifetime of love and it is hard to walk away when the time has come to say goodbye


Honouring the life of your horse.


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Wishing you a purposeful 2024! Remember, Equifitt has offered boutique


style support for riders since 2007. Coaching, train- ing programmes, realtime personal training or rid- ing instruction, education sessions for groups, and support to work through one of my rider fitness books are all available virtually through tailored online coaching or workshop facilitation. The best way to reach out


personaltraining@equifitt.com . Safe and Happy Training!


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