Are Time, Energy & Money Parasites Stealing Your Barrel Racing Dreams?

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Are Time, Energy & Money Parasites Stealing Your Barrel Racing Dreams?

Listen to this article in audio form! It’s #12 on the Barrel Racing Tips podcast.
For the latest episodes subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Play.

“If you want your life to have impact, focus it! Stop dabbling. Stop trying to do it all. Do less. Prune away even good activities and do only that which matters most. Never confuse activity with productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what’s the point?” – Rick Warren

As we embark on a new year, are you full of renewed energy and enthusiasm for what lies ahead?

OR have some obstacles already presented themselves?

If you followed last month’s suggestions for determining what you want to BE, DO and HAVE to make your new year desires reality, then you might have created a plan of action steps and specific areas of learning to focus on. 

Ditching “goals” and embracing desires does loosen things up a bit when it comes to all this planning.  It creates a little more flexibility and releases the attachment to the end results.  It means we stay true to our personal path, even IF changes course throughout the year. 

Creating desires (instead of goals) also comes with the realization that through releasing such tight control on the future – we’re actually opening our lives up to success and experiences that are quite possibly even beyond our wildest dreams!  

However, just because we’re not quite as controlling and rigid, doesn’t mean that we’re not specific, or that we don’t write things down and create structure to set ourselves up for success. 

After all, the key to happiness and fulfillment is dependent upon the choices we make and how we spend our time.

Money, Energy & Time Parasites
Learn to Recognize Money, Engergy & Time Parasites

So, what if a barrel racing desire is placed in your heart, and you develop a plan to make it reality…

AND THEN, as it so often does…

LIFE HAPPENS!

Ugh.

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Out with the Goals, In with the New – What Do You Desire in the New Year?

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Out with the Goals, In with the New
Listen to this article in audio form! It’s #156 on the Barrel Racing Tips podcast.
For the latest episodes subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher or Google Play.

Every year, the excitement of the NFR inspires many barrel racers to blast down the alley at the Thomas and Mack themselves one day.

However, spectators often only see the more glamorous side of professional barrel racing, represented by the beautiful blinged-out women and horses that race through the pattern night after night.

What they don’t see or experience in the stands or in front of the TV are the many no-so-glamorous hours and miles that go into making a National Finals Rodeo qualification a reality.  With a ‘behind the scenes’ glimpse into the world of professional barrel racing, many of those with NFR dreams would be deterred pretty quickly.  But then, there are those few of us who are not deterred at all… Read more

So You Want to Be a Professional Barrel Racer?

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So You Wanna Be a Pro Barrel Racer?

Listen to this article in audio form! It’s #11 on the Barrel Racing Tips podcast.
For the latest episodes subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Play.

Is one of YOUR goals to barrel race successfully on a professional level, either this year or beyond?

If so, consider the following information we’ve brought to you on being a member of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association as the first of many doors opening to make those dreams a reality!

As stated on the WPRA web site,

“The competition is tough and the standards are high but the WPRA is the finest women’s sports organization in the world.”

Not only the finest, the WPRA is also the oldest women’s sports organization, having been formed in 1948 when thirty-eight cowgirls got together in San Angelo in the name of promotion and advancement of women in rodeo.

Although the WPRA co-sanctions barrel racing events outside of pro rodeos, has a roping division, and holds their own world finals rodeo in October, most of the members of the WPRA are barrel racers interested in competing in barrel racing held at PRCA rodeos.

Anyone interested in competing in barrel racing at PRCA rodeos must start their WPRA membership as a permit holder. The cost of a permit is $300 annually and requires the completion of a membership application. Once $1000 has been won in WPRA competition, members are eligible to purchase their WPRA card for $375.

To make sure these numbers are accurate, you’ll want to click here for current membership information.

Some benefits to becoming a card holder include the opportunity to qualify for Circuit Finals or the National Finals Rodeo and the ability to vote and hold office in the WPRA. Card holders are also given priority over permit holders when drawn for positions at pro rodeos, and some rodeos do not accept permit holders.

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Bareback Balance for Barrel Racers

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Bareback Balance for Barrel Racers
We’ve all heard the age old advice – to become a better rider, ride bareback!

However, you may write off that advice thinking that riding bareback is for kids or that you’re a perfectly capable rider – or are you?

Part of reaching your potential as a barrel racer means being committed to never ending self-improvement. To truly grow in our horsemanship we must be willing to look (deep) within – FIRST.

So what constitutes a good rider in barrel racing anyway? We might figure that if we can get through the pattern without falling off that we’re good enough, or that if we can lope circles, trot along the rail or even sprint full speed without major day-lighting in the saddle that we are accomplished riders.

When someone at the barrel race says “She can really ride!” they may mean that person seems to have an ample dose of balance, timing, fluidity & feel that is necessary to be ONE with a horse during a run. Any cues are made smoothly, which creates response rather than reaction from the horse. They are fluid in their body, appearing to move ‘with’ vs. ‘on’ their horse and rarely over exaggerate movements resulting in costly time off the clock.

A not so advanced rider might cue their horse too soon or too late (out of time), they might tense up and brace in the stirrups (lack of fluidity), lean one way or another (out of balance) or roughly jerk or pull their horse through a turn (lack of feel), trying to make up for the mistakes created by the previously mentioned missing ingredients – timing, fluidity and balance!

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How to Kiss Bad Barrel Racing Habits Goodbye!

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How to Kiss Bad Barrel Racing Habits Good-bye!

Listen to this article in audio form! It’s #9 on the Barrel Racing Tips podcast.
For the latest episodes subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Play.

Train your body, ride better, and unleash your potential!

Judging by the title you might guess that this article will cover steps to overcoming bad habits – quite the contrary!

This article WILL cover a step by step process that will allow you to embrace new habits in your riding; habits that will better serve you in an actual run.

There’s quite a difference between the two (overcoming bad vs. embracing new), but more on that later…

When it comes to the mental game, there is plenty of talk about the importance if quieting the mind. It IS ideal for us to hand the reins over to our subconscious and let go of “thinking” our way through a run.

To do this, however, we must rely on our bodies to operate in a way that allows our horse to perform to their fullest potential.

But what if our body doesn’t hold up its end of the deal?

Over time we find ourselves riding in a way that may have worked for us as a kid or may have worked for a horse we had in the past. When it’s time for a change – feelings of frustration are common.

Because barrel racing is a high speed event, there is only time to react, making it very difficult (if not impossible) to think about changes we must make in our riding during a run.

As barrel racers, we can be hard on ourselves when our riding doesn’t measure up to the way we want to ride in a run, and how we know our horses must be ridden to perform at their peak. 

Studies show that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Sounds simple enough. That is, until you apply it to barrel racing!

The reality is that most of us don’t have a string of finished horses to make several runs on every day for 21 days straight. And we wouldn’t want to jeopardize our horse’s physical and mental health to better ourselves. But if something doesn’t change, the wheels continue to spin.

The good news is that you don’t have to keep banging your head against the trailer! IF you are determined to accomplish your goals, it IS possible to create new habits, and do so without sacrificing your horse (or your sanity).

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Start Your Summer Barrel Racing Season Right

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Preparation is the key to stree-free hauling and peak performance.Preparation is the key to stree-free hauling and peak performance.

I’ve never believed in doing things half way.  Whether it’s barrel racing, business or relationships, when I commit to something, I give my all. 

I figure if I’m going to invest my time and energy in something, that something must be important. 

Otherwise, why do it at all? 

It’s interesting that such a large percentage of people walk through life just hoping to make it through with as little effort as possible.  Sometimes these people actually achieve some success in the barrel racing arena.  However, their success is sporadic at best. 

So how can you gain a definite edge? 

How can you set yourself up to achieve barrel racing success and stay competitive? 

One word – PREPARATION

This may seem obvious, or even simple, but it’s easier said than done!

Now is the time to analyze where you’re going, and if you are really prepared to go there. 

Have you set yourself up to succeed and come out on top of any situation that comes your way, no matter how unexpected? 

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Ride Your Barrel Horse Better with the Power Seat

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Ride Your Barrel Horse Better with the Power Seat

by Certified Centered Riding Instructor, Cathy Mahon

I don’t know if you’re old enough to remember the days when in order to get all of the items on your grocery list, you had to go to at least three, if not four different stores. There was the butcher shop, where you bought your meat, a bakery for your bread and donuts, a produce stand where you would buy your fruits and vegetables and if you needed anything for your medicine cabinet, you had to go to the “drugstore.” It was time consuming, inconvenient and frustrating if you’d forget something and have to make another trip across town.

Well, now there’s a simple solution for shopping – the superstore or supermarket! And just as remarkable, is a simple straightforward way to find your POWER SEAT when you ride. By engaging the supportive, powerful CORE muscles (no, I mean the REAL core muscles) of the psoas and iliopsoas, located deep inside the body, you’ll be able to sit deep in the saddle, wrap your legs snugly around your horse’s barrel and keep your feet exactly where they need to be: grounded with equal weight in the stirrups.

You will breathe softly and maintain your balance, and your joints will flex and absorb the motion of your horse. You’ll notice your horse immediately rate underneath you when you deepen your contact with a simple exhale allowing your weight to drop back and down. You can move through the barrel pattern with simple upper body rotation, avoiding the tendency to lean into the turns. You’ll be stable no matter what you do.

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