Inside you will find insights and encouragement 
to take your riding to the next level:

Proven mental strategies for all riders for successful riding from the inside out. Discover solutions for those pesky, negative feelings that hold you back, like fear or a lack of self-confidence.

Riding and showing information for cutters to keep improving your skills. You will receive ongoing concepts to help you overcome your cutting challenges.

A vehicle for you to share practical tips that work. Blogs on the Home page, Personal Performance page, and Cutting page will give everyone the opportunity to share positive ideas with each other.

Encouragement for you to know you CAN overcome your challenges and live your dreams. This site is dedicated to providing those boosts for you.

I enjoy Valentine’s Day because it evokes the best of the best feelings … LOVE. How great it is to celebrate all the people, great animals, and good fortune in our lives.

And celebrating others is a great way for you to feel good, too. During February try this idea … share the love!

Each morning, plan how you will express your caring to someone in a small but kind way. Give a compliment. Spend some time. Make a phone call. Write a thank you note. The best part is you will feel so good doing a little something extraordinary for someone else each day this month.

I chose this picture of roses because I LOVE ROSES! Our Texas yard has over 60 bushes. Pink roses are one of my favorites. They are very soothing to me and make me smile.

(Guys, you can never go wrong by giving a girl roses!)

I hope you have a great month sharing the love and riding your horse.

Most years during the Christmas holidays my husband and I take a trip to a beautiful place to renew ourselves. This past season we ventured to Washington state where we lived early in our marriage. We visited a bustling Seattle, saw bald eagles as we drove over the Cascade Mountains, visited dear friends, and stayed in a high mountain lodge just east of North Cascade National Park.

It was a wonderful time of ease and reflection about our blessings and our future dreams. This photograph, taken as we departed our lodge, seemed to perfectly symbolize all of our lives. Our roads are winding. There’s always a light of promise amid all the peaks and valleys.

Instead of the usual New Year’s resolutions, I invite you to be grateful for the present and get excited about the future. Ponder what you truly love. Let your passions and personal dreams guide your decisions as you embark on this new year.

Acknowledge a Great Person in Your Life

Submit a Story About Someone Who Makes a Difference in Your Life and I Will Post It On This Website Under the Blog Category, “Great People”

Submit your story today! This person could be a direct family member, trainer, mentor, equine professional, or friend.

The purpose of these stories is to thank and acknowledge someone positive in your life and inspire the rest of us at the same time!

Please fill in your name, your email, and enter your Great Person’s name. Submit your story by typing it into the “Story” box below. Please limit your story to 500 words or less and submit a picture if possible. (A picture is not necessary, but we would all enjoy seeing him or her!)

Within 2 to 7 days, your story will be posted on this site. Thank you for taking the time to share your story about this extraordinary person.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

I LOVE MY MAIL!

I love hearing from you and thought you would enjoy these letters, too.

When I use the term “Personal Performance,” I am referring to the skill set
within that gives you the tools to achieve your dreams. One person may want to overcome the fear of getting on a horse after a horrific accident. Another rider might dream of a world title.

Each desire is equally important. It is “personal.” It is what you want ….. so much so that you get super excited even thinking about that ride. That’s how you know if you have hit the PERSONAL part of the equation.

“Performance” is the going for it, the “doing” part. How you think and how you feel prior to, during, and after your ride have EVERYTHING to do with the results at the moment and in the future.

Enthusiasm and calmness can blend into an experience of confidence for you. You can achieve the results you desire.

The secret is to enjoy the journey as you learn very specific mental, emotional, and physical skills.

Now you are on your way to your best “Personal Performance.”

Time and time again, I have left the herd feeling all the way from terrific, to close to suicide watch.

We’ve all felt the pain after a poor run.

One time during a clinic, a woman said to me, “I bet you’ve never cried like this.” I said, “Are you kidding? I have the corner on that market. You are an amateur crier.”

It’s easy to lump the whole run together as really good, or really awful, and not think another thing about it. (Well, maybe you ponder it a bit longer if you experience the low end of the totem pole.)

I once had a friend suggest that I should make a decision about how long I was going to feel badly about something based on how truly wretched or slightly off my error really was. She was not speaking about cutting. Her advice applied to any poor performance or social faux pas. Hiccupping in church might be a one minute embarrassment, while crunching your car in a parking lot might be three or four hours. Set a timer. When the time you set is over, let it go. It’s great advice.

I have always known that I am not particularly talented on a horse. Now my sister Nicki, who never really pursued riding, is a natural beauty on a horse …. seat, hands, the whole thing. However, I have used my apparent weaknesses to my advantage. I have worked to figure out (and still do) all the bits and pieces every step of the way. I know that way of thinking helps me continue to learn. It can benefit you enormously, too.

What really matters over the long haul, to take your cutting to a world-class level, is your ability to see your experience in very distinct segments. This includes everything from how mentally focused you were, to how well prepared your horse was, to your ritual before you went in, to watching (or not) cattle, etc., etc. You get the idea. I have only just started my list. Any ONE of those I have already listed could be out-of-whack and you would be riding below your potential. Ignore this fact and your progress will crawl at a snail’s pace.

And just as importantly, if you don’t acknowledge what you did well, you will take the looooooong road to getting confident. So few people say to me first thing after their run, “Boy, my herd-work was so good! Did you see that second cut? And also, I FINALLY sat still through the turn.” Most people shake their head and lament everything that went wrong. It’s easy to wallow around in beating yourself up. Some are so stuck on their mistakes they refuse to even see one good aspect of their run.

You might say, “Well, Barb, if I don’t mention those negative things, my trainer sure will.” Here’s a revelation. Obviously you have no control over your trainer or anyone else. But you can still mentally or verbally acknowledge all your good stuff. You are in charge of your own confidence building.

I see learning to ride and show a cutting horse as consisting of seven large skill sets. Each one of these has many, many sub-skills. I don’t say this for you to feel like, “Geeeez, I’ll never get all that.” Instead I am breaking it down so you can figure out where you are within each one and then take the next step from there.

All of us (I don’t care if you are a multiple world champion) have a spot somewhere along the continuum from 0 (I don’t know anything about this) to 10 (I have nothing more to learn). Every one started at 0 and no one ever gets to 10. Since you are never going to be finished learning, a HUGE secret is to enjoy where you are as you enthusiastically look forward to learning the next step.

So here are my seven categories. It’s not that I feel these have to be everyone’s absolute seven. They have just worked for me in my own learning and in my teaching:

1. Mental and emotional skills to perform at your peak under pressure as well as make the best out of difficult times.

2. Horsemanship knowledge and skills to be able to effectively communicate with your horse in and out of the herd.

3. Herd-work skills to maneuver well in a herd, choose the best cow in a particular situation, and earn credit for your score.

4. Ability to be accurate and in the correct position as you work the cow; anticipate and counter a cow’s moves with grace and speed.

5. Ability to school your horse so you can maintain his correctness and become pro-active instead of a vulnerable passenger.

6. Showmanship skills to escalate your competitive advantage and be consistently successful in competition.

7. Ability to design your own program and your horse’s program according to what you enjoy and stay compatible with your personal standards.

In the future I will often refer to these categories. I will break the skills down within each section.

Sometimes as you master one seemingly small element, many other things will fall into place.

It doesn’t matter so much about your God-given talent. What does matter is your willingness to build your confidence by improving your technical abilities within the skill sets, giving yourself credit for what you have learned (and can do with relative ease), and then taking the next step to improve.

About a year and a half ago, I embarked on a journey to update BarbraSchulte.com.

I thought I had some pretty good ideas. I knew I wanted to expand our information business, as well as re-do the site.

Little did I know I would encountered huge stone walls the size of Mt. Everest. Throw in the fact that my ideas about what I wanted to do kept evolving, and I had quite a trip.

There was the first roadblock. Then the second. Then the third. Then the fourth. Every one of those walls seemed to erupt from nowhere, out of the earth, tower above me, and shout, “No, no, Barbra Schulte. I don’t think you will be doing THAT”. No one was at fault along the way (except one company which misrepresented itself).

Honestly, I was exasperated. I was thinking, “What’s wrong with this picture? We’re talking about a simple website … there are a jillion of them out there. It’s been a year and a half! Guess I won’t be changing my career to a technology expert anytime soon.”

Then I decided it was time to walk the talk of turning difficult situations into the greatest gifts. I hate when I have to do that!!!

I did two things. First, I turned it over to God and told Him that He was in charge. I wasn’t doing such a hot job. (What a revolutionary idea.) Second, I scheduled a private consulting session with a woman I had studied along the way who was an authority on internet information. In a one-hour session she made the suggestion to turn BarbraSchulte.com into a Blog site.

"Blog site? I can’t do a Blog site.” Then another ‘duh’ question came to me. “Barb, if you paid this woman to help you, and she is an expert, why are you resisting her advice?”

Initially, BS.com was going to be a landing page to direct visitors to two other sites, one dedicated to cutting and the other one for personal performance training.

Long story short, I took her advice and ran with it. Every step of the way, I absolutely knew on the inside that I was doing the right thing. I combined all three sites into this BS.com Blog. (Now …. don’t allow my name initials to worry you about what’s to come on this site!) I also combined the best ideas and designs from all those past experiences and wonderfully creative people along the way.

I couldn’t be here now, with this exact format, if I hadn’t traveled that road. So I graciously thank all those who have helped me this past year and a half ….. and express to them, right here, right now, my sincerest appreciation.

So here we are, and I am so totally thrilled! This is why:

Three pages on this site will contain ever-changing Blog posts … Home, Personal Performance, and Cutting. The design of these Blogs is intended to give you new articles from time-to-time. Some of them will come from my monthly newsletter. Then you have the opportunity to comment on what I have said as well as share your own ideas on the topic. (As long as you agree that what I have written is terrific, you will be fine!) (-:) When you share, you will have the opportunity to help others, as well as learn from their posts.

This is interactive. It is much more expressive of my personality …. and ultimately intended to be so much more helpful to you.

I also plan to do fun stuff, like picture contests and polls. I want this to be a place where you feel comfortable and have fun.

So there you have it. A good ending is just the beginning.

I always want to know what you would like to explore within these topics. Feel free to send an email to me or comment on a Blog. I will do my best to get you the information from either myself or someone else.

Also, know this site is NOT a political forum (that’s covered very well throughout all the horse industries). It is a site to help you achieve your riding dreams. We will concentrate on that.

I feel so appreciative and excited about what’s to come.

Maybe you were not in the moment before you entered the herd, much less during your run. In fact, you might have been shaking in your boots wondering why the heck you pay good money to put yourself through this misery!

There are lots of reasons for feeling like you become less and less grounded during a run and more and more vulnerable. The key is to figure out why and then apply the solutions.

Here are some of the top reasons why people “blank out” during a run and some suggestions to fix the problems:

Reason Number One: You don’t feel confident in your skills, so you are unconsciously thinking of all that might go wrong.

In this scenario, you worry and visualize all the past mistakes made by you and your horse. You are nervous before you go in. Try this to ride down to the herd with more confidence:

Before you show again, take the time to think of your run in clearly defined segments. For example, herdwork has its own set of skills, while working the cow has its own skills and feel. Think about the things you feel uneasy about and address those areas specifically with your trainer. Develop a focused practice plan and a show plan that helps you shore up the weaknesses that haunt you.

Adopt the attitude that neither you, nor your horse, nor your trainer are ever going to be perfect. At the show it is time to execute what you do know, and exhibit the best of your horse’s talents. You don’t have to have it all together perfectly. Get a plan, get focused, and go for it.

Make your warm-up time a time to get focused. Repeatedly go through all the steps of your run in your mind as you lope your horse. You will become calm. You will get grounded in the job ahead.

Develop a ritual right before you ride down to the herd that grounds you in positive emotions. Talk to yourself. Pull your hat down the same way. Back your horse up the same way. These tiny rituals are key to putting you in a focused mental state before your run.

Reason Number Two: It gets fast, or if you or your horse make a mistake, you get ridged in your back, stop breathing, and ride worse and worse as the run progresses.

Because of the mind, body, and emotions intricate connections, when we ride poorly, our mind gets faster, our heart rate goes up, and our vision narrows. So we need some tools to help get back to the job at hand when something goes awry during our run.

When you feel yourself ridged, or riding poorly, talk to yourself. Develop a specific script to coach yourself like, “Get down. Watch the cow. Everything’s cool. Stay cool.” Count on yourself to recognize when things begin to get flighty and bring yourself back down with a pre-determined script. It works wonders!

Pause between cattle and reset your physical body with a recovery ritual. For example, quit with smooth hand motions. Begin to breathe. Turn your horse around slowly. Pause and breathe again. Plan your second cut before you re-enter the herd. Make this 5-10 second recovery sequence something you can count on to get you grounded again in the middle of your run.

Reason Number Three: You don’t feel confident in your horse. He’s too green or too difficult for you to ride.

When you don’t feel great about your horse, it can be very difficult to stay focused during your run. This is because subconsciously you are looking for errors and things to go south. As the run progresses it feels worse and worse.

I believe it is important to do one of two things in this scenario. Either decide to show your horse and go for it as a challenge of showing well and showing your horse’s finest qualities (instead of his weaknesses) … or … decide not to show the horse until it improves or you feel more comfortable. You don’t have to feel 100% comfortable, but you do need to feel good enough to focus on the situation as a challenge.

Entering the herd feeling badly about your horse without responding to the situation as a challenge is no fun and rarely produces good results.

Reason Number Four: You get frazzled when multiple helpers speak at once.

This is a very common challenge. There are several things you can do.

The first is apply the same suggestions I outlined in Reason Number Two. Outside the show pen mentally practice saying something like “Stay cool” when it gets confusing.

Choose your helpers carefully. They should be considered for how they communicate, as well as their ability to help. Some people like chatty helpers, others like it more quiet.

Decide who your primary helper will be regarding his or her instructions. Consciously tune-in the most to that person if the chatter seems to be saying different things.

Pre-program your helpers to let them know what helps you. Ask them to remind you to relax, for example. Let them know if too much talk is confusing to you and what kind of words keep you grounded. All helpers I know really appreciate input. They will respect your focus.

1. How can you get enough physical practice off the horse to build enough time to be really world-class (the 10,000 hours)? Will visualization really work?

2. The closest trainer is 2 hours away, so I do the best I can on my own and take clinics as often as I can. I was wondering how often I should be riding my two horses to stay competitive? I really seem to get hard on myself when I can’t find the time to ride as often as I think I should.

It can be frustrating when you can’t spend the hours in the saddle you want. This is a common brick wall because of “real life” work and family. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged that you are not getting anywhere or even backsliding.

The key is to find solutions that will help you make friends with your situation. Resistance and frustration unchecked can cause you to keep spinning in the thought pattern that there’s never enough of whatever … time to ride, time to improve … to the point that you don’t enjoy and appreciate what you do have.

Looking for and adopting solutions (although not perfect), allow you to make the most progress possible.

Here’s a three-step sequence to help you maximize whatever physical practice time you do have.

Step One: Sort out your goals.

What do you want to achieve in the big picture? What do you want to achieve this year? Break these two questions down into both measurable goals and riding goals. A measurable goal would be to qualify for a year-end award. A riding goal might be to develop your seat, feet, and hands.

Focus on performance-based riding goals like better balance. This is the only thing you have control of.

Consider the time you can dedicate now to your riding. When you set your goals, did you set yourself up for success by making the time period realistic? You can determine if something is “realistic” FOR YOU by tuning into how good you feel as you think about it. It’s as simple as that. We can all get into trouble by pushing too hard, too fast. How you feel as you think about something is always your best personal gauge for making decisions. ALWAYS. Challenge yourself, but make sure you keep it fun. There’s no one standing over you with a gun demanding you go at breakneck speeds.

Step Two: Maximize (put a power punch into) your physical and mental practices.

The best possible scenario anyone could have to develop their skills as fast as possible is to dedicate almost all of their time to physical and mental practice; like Olympians do, for example. But most of us lead lives that demand we juggle priorities. So here are some suggestions to maximize the time you do have:

Give serious time to mental practice. Nothing occurs without happening in your mind first. While you cannot develop technical skill without physical practice, your mental practice can accelerate your progress incredibly. Research has shown that your body does not know the difference between something vividly imagined and the real thing! You actually develop neurological pathways with mental practice! Learn the tools of self-talk and visualization. Practice getting into a state of focused, high positive emotion and then experience wonderful rides in your mind. I cannot overstate the power of this.

Map out a clear, sequential riding practice plan with your trainer that is precise. Let him or her know how committed you are. Bounce ideas back and forth in terms of the number of times you can show up and how your sessions will be structured. Strive to work on your weaknesses in targeted small chunks. So instead of some generic practice, go for the throat of where you need help!

Step Three: Make sure you enjoy your journey. Keep reminding yourself that nothing is more important than this.

Trust you are where you are meant to be. Appreciate your current skill level as you get excited about the future. As you review your most passionate dreams, think of it as only a matter of time until you get there. Know you are on a path that has blessings to be enjoyed now (in both the “good stuff” and the challenges) and … have a view of the future that thrills you.