Jane Savoie - Its Not Just About the Ribbons: Its About Enriching Riding (and Life) with a Winning Attitude

Also by Jane Savoie

BOOKS

That Winning Feeling! Program Your Mind for Peak Performance Cross-Train Your Horse: Simple Dressage for Every Horse, Every Sport More Cross-Training: Build a Better Performance Horse with Dressage

VIDEOS

The Half-HaltDemystified!

Tape 1 Learning the Half-Halt

Tape 2 Putting Your Horse on the Bit

Riding in Your Minds Eye

Tape 1 Getting Started

Tape 2 First Level

AUDIOS

That Winning Feeling!

Tape 1 Choose Your Future

Tape 2 Learning Relaxation and Imaging Skills

First published in 2003 by
Trafalgar Square Publishing
North Pomfret, Vermont 05053

Printed in Hong Kong

Copyright 2003 Jane Savoie

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means, without written permission of the publisher except by a reviewer quoting brief excerpts for a review in a magazine, newspaper, or website.

The author has made every effort to obtain releases from all persons appearing in the photographs used in this book and all photographers. In some cases, however, the persons and photographers identities and whereabouts were unknown. Should any names become available, they will be credited in future editions, assuming permission is granted.

Disclaimer of Liability

The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. While the book is as accurate as the author can make it, there may be errors, omissions, and inaccuracies.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Savoie, Jane.

Its not just about the ribbons : its about enriching riding and life with innovative tools and winning strategies/by Jane Savoie.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-57076-255-4 (hardcover)

1. HorsemanshipPsychological aspects. I. Title.

SF309.S318 2003 798.2019dc21

2003010654

Book design by Carrie Fradkin

Typeface: Weidemann, Rotis Sans Serif, Rotis Sans

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedicated with love to Rene and Myrtle Savoiemy favorite father- and mother-in-law. Youre the best!

I want to thank all my cheerleaders for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout the process of creating this book. I couldnt have done it without you.

Thank you also to:

My husband, Rhett, who has always been the wind beneath my wings.

Both my families: David and Lorraine Kaplan, and all the Savoies.

Caroline Robbins, who wears many hats as my publisher, editor, advisor, and, most importantly, friend.

Martha Cook, managing editor at Trafalgar Square Publishing, for her quiet efficiency and enormously valuable input.

Beth Preston for her incredibly brilliant illustrations.

Lynn Palm and Marcia Kulak for being so generous with their time while answering my questions about Western riding and jumping.

To all my wonderful students and friends for always being there. I appreciate your enthusiastic pompom waving more than youll ever know. And, to all of you who have invited me to speak and allowed me to share my message at your eventsIm honored.

I n Its Not Just About the Ribbons, Jane Savoie has done it again. After a lot of research, she has produced a second dandy book about her favorite subjectusing mental training to enhance riding, and life in general. It is an important sequel to That Winning Feeling!

This new book expands on some of the wonderful ideas she gave us in the first book, and adds to them with new questions to answer and new ways of answering them. She presents new images and explains why they are successful. She introduces many new ideas and techniques, and adds actual real-life accounts of problems that have been solved with the sensible use of her procedures and strategies. She makes it all look so easy that you realize with a little self-discipline you can do the same thing!

The book moves along in logical sequence. Each chapter covers specific tools for improvement using information from earlier chapters and building on the foundation established. Jane never lets you feel lost in a sea of details; sometimes, she uses material that will be discussed in a future chapter, but she always makes it known so you constantly have a feeling for the whole, which keeps expanding as you read. She frequently intersperses her text with real, often fascinating examples of riders she knows, and how they and their horses have benefited from the techniques she is presenting. This makes the book even more interesting and potent.

As you may know, I have a special interest in the use of visualization and use of the mind in all disciplines of riding. Jane has packed this book full of such information and more, and made it very easy to digest. Its a very satisfying and stimulating read.

Sally Swift

Author of Centered Riding and Centered Riding 2: Further Exploration

I n 1992, after several years of studying the work of peak-performance experts to help me deal with my mental monsters, I wrote my first book, That Winning Feeling! Program Your Mind for Peak Performance. The sports psychology tools and techniques I described had been a lifeline for me during the four years I was making my bid for a spot on the 1992 U. S. Olympic dressage team destined to go to Barcelona. By writing the book, I hoped that the ideas that had helped me through those difficult times could be useful to other ridersnot only to improve their skills, but also to help them better enjoy the time they spent with their horses.

I was delighted that readers in all riding disciplines found the concepts helpful. It was even more exciting to me that many of them figured out how to take those ideas and apply them to other areas of their lives such as career goals, personal relationships, financial aspirations, and even challenges like dealing with a life-threatening illness, or the loss of a loved one.

My research didnt stop when That Winning Feeling! was published. All I had to do was look back over my own personal growth to be convinced of the value of this sports psychology stuff. I had gone from being an insecure, nervous competitor filled with all kinds of self-doubt and fears, to a confident and calm contender. I remember one of the other short-listed riders, Hilda Gurney, saying to me at the final selection trials in Orlando, Florida that I was the only one of the twelve riders who looked as if she was having a good time. My response was that I was having a terrific time! Thanks to all my mental training and preparation, I was able to really relax and savor the entire experience.

My own transformation was enough to get me hooked on mental training. I found that in a very basic way, mental training is similar to learning how to ride. That is, in both my riding and my personal growth, I am constantly searching, learning, changing, and growing. My education comes in stages much like peeling away the layers of an onion. The more I learn about striving for excellence in every area of my life, the more I find there is to know about this fascinating field of human development.