Expectation dressed in Black

Welcome to the mental game section. 

I have studied SO many books on sports pyscology to further my own mental game. I highly recommend the champions mind, born to win, and the four agreements. 

From the hours of study, and my own personal experiences. Expectation is the root of all evil to an athlete. Now, that does not mean, we do not set goals. Because without goals we have no direction or purpose. But maybe we were not setting appropriate goals. Goals must be made to push your limits (growth), but not so far fetched that they are unreachable. 

Example: A goal for myself going to a jackpot for the first time on a colt that has never seen a barrel, may look similar to the one choking back at my first Canadian Finals Rodeo. “Get a time, dear god please get a time.” 

You must have confidence in the ability of your horse and yourself naturally. But under  that type of stress, you must be realistic. You can always build from there. 

Now this is where it gets tricky, expectation comes in many faces. Yourself, your spouse, your traveling partner, your owners, your breeders, and your competitors. You can only control you. So focus on keeping your head level and on your target whatever that may be. 

There is nothing harder than a crowd of people “expecting” you to be a certain caliber that day, and you not living up to their expectation. The chances are that their expectation for you, is an unrealistic one. Maybe this is your first jackpot in 6 months and you brought a horse that has 2 months of training to hopefully hit a D, or more importantly “get a time”. Maybe your horse is recovering from a flu. Maybe you are recovering from a flu. 

The bottom line is once you can master the ability to handle and accept all those expectations, the more you will excel as a competitor. My strongest advice given and to be given for this is simply “do your best”. 

Your best that day May be getting a time. Your best that day May have been as much as arriving and entering. It may be winning the race. Everyone’s best is different, and as long as you are doing your best for every situation, you should not feel the bend from those expectations placed on you. 

At some point in your barrel racing career you will feel the darkness of expectation. Mine came from stepping off a winner and getting on a colt (loser lol at the time anyhow). Winners allow you to “expect to win”. They increase your confidence, they make up for your weaknesses. They put you in a good position every time. 

Now take away the confidence that winner placed in you. When you step on a colt you must always remain humble. And you must become the winner in the team. You must increase that colts confidence, make up for their weaknesses, and put them in a good position every time. In order to do that, you have to throw expectation in the closet of the furthest room in the basement. When you arrive At a show from being on the winner, people will expect the same results on every horse you bring from then on. Can you imagine the pressure associated with being a world champion? People expect you to be first. Reality is, your not going to win first every time. World champion or not. So as a world champion would do, and I’m recommending you to do, if you start to feel the pressure of those expectations, simply remind yourself to do your best. The best you have to offer that day, under whatever circumstances present themselves.