Alice Hallows, RingCraft Ambassador 2022, gives her January Blog
Goal Setting for the year - like the true professional Alice is fast becoming!!
HackUp RingCraft
January Eventing Blog
Hello and a warm welcome to my blog in the new month of 2022!
As always January is the turning point for planning competition goals and having positive conversations with owners about what we are looking forwards to with the horses in the coming year.
I have the ethos that eventing is not about just performing on the day, it is an adventure that you take a whole team of people on throughout the weeks and months working together to be the best we can be for each other, and most importantly the horses.
We are getting a bigger lorry…
However, it did boil over on the way home from purchasing. I hope you all can sympathise with how incredibly stressful that moment was as it has been quite an investment (not an Oakley Supreme with popouts instead it is a cool retro-vintage with a classic yacht spirit).
Quickly, I hasten to add the engine is being sorted out, thankfully we have bought it from a reputable business, so fingers crossed we will be back on the road with a 17.5tonne lorry. There are so many positives to look forwards to, such as it has a loo, shower, oven, big wardrobe, wine rack and fridge. A big plus is it has a single bed behind the driver's seat that my Dad can sleep in, so he no longer has to sleep in the horse area. Now if that is not a commitment from your Dad, I don’t know what is…
Having a bigger lorry opens up opportunities to expand with competing 4 horses and taking all the gear. Another bonus is improvements to the owner and supporter hospitality with the space to have lunch or cake after a good days eventing without sitting on each other’s laps. Ultra organisation can be achieved with a whiteboard inside the tack locker doors to write down my times, and a cool shelf for the kit, or it is just more surface area for things to get lost!
Like I said it is not physically at home, parked up on the drive so in the meantime we are borrowing a horsebox from our great owner and friend, Clare, who owns Faerie to go out cross country schooling and practising show jumping.
The saying ‘go big or go home’ definitely applies to this lorry.
Have you set your eventing goals? - The British Eventing Fixture List is Out!
For a long time, I have been setting goals to give focus, but most importantly it is a great tool for reflection.
I do not go to the extremes of a 5-year plan I am more spontaneous in actions and hugely open-minded about the path of life. I like to be creative and not follow the standard status quo of setting competition goals with a measurable result and time frame. Make it personal to you. Read on and you will see what I mean.
These goals can be personal improvements, competition goals or the really big dream that you are pursuing. Here are a few examples of mine:
Hop, Skip and Jump.
(Everyday)
Tackle it over 3/6 months
Yearly Whopper
Ultimate - “Scary Monster” *
Riding position
Advanced Horse Trial
Sponsorship
Badminton HT
Pilates
Expand teaching network
Blenheim 4*-S - September
Burghley HT
Energy management
HGV
European Cup 3*-S in Switzerland - 1st -4th September
Running equine business
*David Bowie fan.
So you can have some fun as I have with making up names for each category of goals so it doesn’t feel so serious and full-on. For example, David Bowie’s song “Scary Monster (And Super Creeps)” is going around in my head like a vinyl player.
Goal Setting Philosophy
I will not pretend that any of the following ideas about goal setting are unique or original. The ideas are absorption of a collection of ideas from books, movies, podcasts, people I have met and life experiences that have made me explore and think for myself.
It doesn’t matter how big or small each set of goals is as long as it is relevant and personal to each of us. With the influence of social media, and I will not lie sometimes I get the ‘green eye monster’ about better riders in my age range who have already achieved more than I have. In this instance, accepting this discomfort and having sportsmanship allows the feeling of the heavyweight of not being enough to lessen. It is more than likely there is someone who sees your posts and thinks the same thing - you never know it might even be them. We are all on our path, doing the best with what we have during the time experience we are in.
Result-driven goals are necessary for being a competitive event rider - no doubts about it. However, not jumping that double clear because a show jump fell or you have had a runout, and or, tumble cross country doesn’t mean it is a reflection of your self-worth. My identity and belief in myself aren’t compromised by any result. Don’t get me wrong it can feel like an exploding volcano of emotions that suddenly consumes you and it can be difficult to manage. This happened quite a bit in my teenage years. I remember being 15 and I was in 4th place going into show jumping at a 3DE Championships. Unfortunately, 4 show jumps fell plummeting us to 11th. It was a hard moment for not just me, but my parents too. However, on reflection, if I had the opportunity to time travel and change that moment I wouldn’t. I am the rider that I am so proud of today because I had to get better.
Luckily, there isn’t the possibility of time travel (yet). My relationship with the showjumping is healthy. I have had many great rounds in 2021 and my statics show I am jumping more clear rounds on different horses across varying levels. I enjoy it and it is a friend, not a foe.
I have learnt strategies to keep a level head (and it does help to be older) but I am no mindset expert so I did get sports psychology sessions. Talking to someone you don’t know takes away the personal emotions and it is private so you can speak openly if a relationship with an owner or family member is a little bit sore. Courtesy of the Tv series ‘Big Bang Theory’ when Penny is helping Sheldon out with his usual predicaments she explains it is important to acknowledge nothing stays the same and change whether “bad” or “good”s is a significant constant to embrace.
At college, I studied a BTECH Applied Science and I had a great biology teacher (thankfully loved horses) who taught me how to study for exams. My practical intelligence is a strength but remembering theory is a bit of a push. I had to learn how to simplify information, expand my knowledge by using my curiosity to keep it interesting and then simplify the information again. Simplify. Expand. Simplify. Applies to everything I do including goal setting.
1. Simplify
Write down a set of goals like I have.
2. Expand
Explore the details.
Why do you want to achieve it? Who is going to help you achieve this? Is there a time frame? What is going to be a problem? Strengths? Weaknesses?
You don’t need to answer it straight away let it sink in and see what you come up with over time.
3. Simplify
You now have an action plan on how you can achieve the goal that isn’t complicated as every detail has been thought of. Positively break it down to key building blocks that you can act on.
And this leads to why I love my RingCraft sessions with Alex. They work because Alex is very good at explaining key information and I feel confident to ask questions about the most basic principles of riding. We discuss an exploration of ideas sharing experiences about how to ride different types of event horses for certain movements. The earpieces allow for clear instruction and knowing what you are scoring whilst riding through the dressage tests helps to gauge what it looks like to what it feels like. Ultimately, I am training with a professional judge who has fair expectations of what an event horse can do. Alex is fully committed to improving the partnership with my team of horses to achieve the goal of scoring low 20s regularly. We are in it, to win it.
February Blog
February will be the month of preparation for the start of the season. On the 27th of February, I will be training with Alex with his Ring Craft know-how, to prepare for my dressage tests for Poplar Park.
Thank you once again for reading my blog and I cannot wait to write about this year's adventures. I wish you the best of luck with your goals. Alice x
