It’s about that time of year when we begin brainstorming and searching the depths of our desires for a goal to achieve or a way to improve ourselves in 2015. As horse people, our world is often revolved around feed times, vet appointments, trimmer visits, counting hay bales, cleaning paddocks, and all the while making sure the horses are getting enough exercise. Make a New Year resolution for ourselves? Who has time for that?

45% of Americans create a New Year resolution. The Journal of Clinical Psychology says that people who make a resolution are 10 times more likely to change their behaviors than those who don’t. On the other hand, only 8% end up succeeding with their goals. Why? One reason is due to the lack of strategic planning and another reason for fall-through is setting too many goals or setting one that isn’t really achievable. Here are a couple tips to get you started on being a part of that 8%.

Make it real. If you’re not willing to change your lifestyle of traveling to shows or riding adventures every other weekend, don’t ask yourself to keep a clean house. Your home entry way may be confused as a tack room; filled with gear bags, muck boots, and dirt clumps that escaped your boots while trekking through the house… and so it should be!

Make a plan. Maybe your goal is to attend three dressage clinics in riding season 2015. Identify the clinics, write them on the calendar, and budget for them. List any preparation that needs to be accomplished before you attend and put that on your schedule as well. The more detail, the better. A study by researchers attempting to improve dental flossing among a group of people revealed something about our human nature. The participants that scheduled an actual time and place to floss were more successful at creating regular flossing habits than those that didn’t create a time and place. Telling ourselves to run a marathon in 4 months sounds good, but the key is doing. If we build a training schedule and participate in races up to the marathon, we can be more effective.

One of the biggest desires that many of us riders have is finding the time to ride more. Each day, I have the opportunity to chat with many, many horse people from east to west. The phrase “I’m not riding as much as I’d like to” or “I am hoping I can get out more next season” is a regular. To me, that sounds like a great resolution. Write it down, build a calendar, and make it happen.

EasyCare can provide you and your horse with products to carry you over many, many miles of trail; from Stowaway Saddle Packs to comfortable EZ-Ride Stirrups to Easyboots and EasyShoes. We are excited to help you achieve your 2015 riding goals. Contact EasyCare today.

Mariah Reeves

easycare-customer service-mariah

Customer Service

As one of the customer service representatives, I am happy to help get your horse into the right boots. I promote holistic methods of equine care and will assist you with finding the perfect fit for horse and rider.