Last year I joined the Dream Team in a bid to take me to new heights (literrally) in my horse riding journey. Participating in the Dream Team meant that I had far less time to update my blog, but, it was worth it.
For starters, I can honestly say that I have never felt so disorganised, and so organised at the same time. You see, you "organise" your own success. That's right. Generally, I am a pretty organised sort of person. To fully participate in the Dream Team journey, I had to learn how the people at the top of my game organise themselves. Not only that, I had to model them - adopt their way of getting organised towards success.
Planning success was only part of it though. I had to re-define success - or perhaps, "define" success. Yes, that's right. What does success really mean? I had to define my goals. I had to strip myself of all my excuses - yes, all of them, even the ones that seem genuine - and really understand where I was going, and what it would take to get there. How much time it would take to get there? How much money?
The Dream Team course also forced us to face our fears. Isn't that a dark area where no one really wants to go? Then the course gave us tools to deal with our fears. To help us do what we feared to do the most. It showed us how to break down our fear, and deal with it one step at a time.
To say that the Dream Team is a one year course is a total misconception. It introduces you to a whole new paradigm of how to live your life. It doesn't just apply to your horse riding. It applies to your entire life. Horse riding is just one aspect of it, as is your work, your relationships, your chores, and your fun time. And should you choose to live the paradigm, you're in the Dream Team forever.
So, ok, I have obviously enjoyed the course, and got a lot out of it. But what are the tangible improvements? Has it taken me to new heights? Well, to put it bluntly, YES!!! At the beginning of last year, Dingo was graded level 5 in jumping, and I was warming-up over tiny cross rails, and sporting the look of fear as I jumped 45cm at the end of my session. Since then, Dingo has done three horse trials - and that is a success in itself - and he has been re-graded to level 4. I now warm up over 45cm straights, and by the end of the session we are clearing 80cm (which means we are ready to be re-graded to level 3). Dingo is about to do his first Introductory event, and I am already looking forward to seeing him compete at Preliminary level (hopefully next year) - even though some of those jumps currently look huge to me.
I guess the sceptics would ask the question - but wouldn't you have got there anyway? Well here is my answer ... remember that look of fear when jumping 45cm? I had been graded level 4 in jumping for over 10 years!!! For a while I had regular showjumping lessons with a proper showjumping coach. Physically, my horse could easily do level 3 and level 2 jumps. Physically, I had the skill to do level 3 and level 2 jumps. It was my mindset that was letting me down, and the Dream Team gave me the tools to fix that.
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| Dingo clearing the last fence at Yarrambat PC Horse Trials, while I am sporting a smile on my face. |
