Jane Savoie - That Winning Feeling!: Program Your Mind for Peak Performance

That Winning Feeling! Program Your Mind for Peak Performance is all about choosing your future as a riderand perhaps as a human being.

Jane Savoie presents a revolutionary approach to riding by which you can train your mind and shape your attitudes to achieve higher levels of skill than ever imagined. Using the WIN mechanism, you will learn how to replace your negative perceptions with creative, constructive, and practical ideas.

The book deals with such concepts as luck, worry, dreams, losers limp, commitment, criticism, frustration, and inspiration. You will learn relaxation exercises that will not only rid you of stress and tension, but will also enable you to benefit fully from the use of imaging as a working tool to achieve desired ends. And you will skillfully invoke the As if principle to think and behave as if you are already experiencing your wants and needs.

The author also explains how words, and word-images, play a major role in determining your actions. For instance, if you say challenge instead of problem, you will positively enhance your performance. Conversely, if you speak negatively, you will decrease your chances of success.

The Training chapters of the book take all the general principles and apply them to specific riding situations. The books final chapters deal with Competition, focusing all the tools and techniques learned earlier on actual performance scenarios.

Throughout the informative and spirited text, there are scores of personal anecdotes about some of Americas leading ridersand their affinity with the ideas and teachings of the author.

We all have dreams. How many people are fortunate enough to live them? Jane Savoie not only knows howbut shares all her insights, creativity, and inspiration so that you too can experience the high of That Winning Feeling!

Jane Savoie, born and raised in Massachusetts, attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and received a B.S. in Animal Science. She rode hunters as a child, evented in college, and began specializing in dressage in 1976 when she moved to Vermont. She ran the riding program at the Vershire School Stables, 1976-80. Since 1980, she has been a freelance dressage instructor, traveling clinician, trainer, and competitor with her home bases in South Strafford, Vermont and Wellington, Florida. She was the reserve rider for the Olympic Team for Barcelona in 1992 and dressage coach for the Canadian Three-Day Event Team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

The Author on Jolicoeur

Published in 1992 by

Trafalgar Square Publishing

North Pomfret, Vermont 05053

First published in paperback with a new sub-title and new preface in 1997

Copyright 1992 by 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 or newspaper.

We have made every effort to obtain permission for all photographs used in this book. In some cases, however, the photographers were not known and therefore are not identified. Should any names become available, the photographers 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, 1949

That winning feeling! : program your mind for peak performance / Jane Savoie ; drawings by Beth Preston ; foreword by Robert Dover,

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 1-57076-049-7 (pbk.)

1. HorsemanshipPsychological aspects. I. Title.

SF309.S33 1997

798.2019DC21

97-121

CIP

ISBN-13: 978-1-57076-049-5

ISBN-10. 1-57076-049-7

Printed in the United States of America

109 8 7

Interior design by Mark Gabor

Cover design by Sally Sherman

Of all the pages in this book, this one is the most fun to write. I am pleased to be able to acknowledge the enormous contributions of those who helped turn this dream into a reality.

To my husband, Rhett, whose love and support have been the constant in my life, enabling me to pursue my dreams wholeheartedly.

To my parents, Benjamin Elkind and Lorraine Kaplan, who sometimes believed in me more than I did myself. From as early as I can remember, it was instilled in me that no task was beyond my capabilities.

To all my mentors for their skill and knowledge. To Dr. John McCauley, my sports psychologist, who guided me through much of the material in Part One. To Jane Hamlin, a gifted teacher and trainer, for her expertise with the jumping segments. To my illustrator, Beth Preston, for the imagination and artistry which allowed her to interpret concepts that existed only in my head. To Susan Sexton, who so very generously donated her beautiful photographs simply because she believed in this project. To my editor, Mark Gabor, for his genius and enthusiasm as well as the countless hours spent editing and arranging the book. To my publisher, Caroline Robbins, who took a chance with a first-time author. I have tremendous admiration for her scrupulous attention to detail as well as her enormous patience deciphering my sometimes unclear, wordy stories.

To my dear friends, Jane Ashley, Susan Blinks, Sally Dininny, Jane Hamlin, Ann Kitchel, Mimi Regamey, and Mary Savidge for their unconditional love, support, and encouragement throughout this and all my other endeavors.

Lastly, to all my students and acquaintances whose affection for their horses motivated me to write such a book in the first place.

Dedicated with love to my husband
Rhett B. Savoie
who taught me how to have
that winning feeling

Its been several years since That Winning Feeling! was first published, and Im delighted to say that Ive heard from lots of readers who have figured it out. They realized that this isnt just a horse book. Its not about competition; and its definitely not about ending up in first place on the scoreboard.

Instead, its a life book. Its about struggling and picking yourself back up when you feel like theres nothing left inside of you. Its about doing your best and facing the consequences of your efforts with no excuses. Its about taking the principles described within and courageously applying them to so many other areas of your lifefrom your career, personal relationships, other sports, as well as to your health.

Surprisingly, many people who train and compete dogs were among the first to write and tell me how they had adapted the concepts in That Winning Feeling! to their work. They were excited as they celebrated the joy of communicating with their animals and striving for peak performance.

Im particularly pleased for those who have used this book to find the strength to deal with the grief of losing a loved one, to actively participate in their own physical healing, and to soldier on in spite of all the cards being stacked against them, like the woman who wrote to me after having suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. She could barely talk or control her body, and the doctors gave her little hope; but this determined young woman is now riding again and has set some very lofty goals for herself.