Welcome to our first standardbred education episode for 2023!
Please enjoy this edition via your favourite media format:
Podcast:
YouTube:
Article:
Raising the Standards is embracing the new year with renewed energy and excitement, after seeing yet another positive paradigm shift in the standardbred space.
Across the last few months of 2022, Raising the Standards was involved in several public events and collaborative initiatives. These projects operated with a goal to promote the many wonderful traits of the standardbred and to work cohesively other standardbred groups, businesses and breed associations within our region, to create more opportunities for standardbred beyond the track.
On a personal note, I am thrilled to have picked the pen back up and resumed storytelling about standardbred success, as a freelance journalist (my qualification).
I’m humbled to have been invited by Harness Racing Victoria’s HERO team to help to tell tales of inspirational standardbreds and the people who love them.
After several years potting around my farm raising two rambunctious ‘human foals’, it’s been wonderful to slowly turn my attention back towards professional pursuits and be able to do so within an industry (life after racing) which I am deeply passionate about.
You can read some of the inspiring standardbred stories I’ve been fortunate to share, via the HRV Hero newsroom.
In 2023, Raising the Standards will be firing the Standardbred Podcast and our YouTube Channel back up, with a mission to continue to share information and support to our global community of standardbred owners.
We will also be sharing lots of interesting, fun and informative content via our Facebook and Instagram channels, so please be sure to click the ‘follow’ button to keep up with our adventures.
For this first ‘episode’ for the year, we’re focusing on my top tips for experiencing your best standardbred year ever!
Over the past few days, I’ve taken time to reflect on 2022 and share my 3 biggest lessons, as a guide for how I’ll be bringing the positive vibes – and a whole lot of smiles, ‘little wins’ and momentum – into the new year. Hopefully some of these takeaways help you in your own standardbred journey!
Tip 1:
Build your support network.
2022 was a really tough year for me, in terms of personal challenges and even heartbreaking loss with my horses.
As explained in the video/audio version of this episode, my plans to return to the saddle have been plagued by setbacks from horse mismatches, unsuitability and health issues (all very normal for retrainers – or people like me; taking horses through a range of initial post-racing health and behavioural assessments!)
My commitment to horsemanship has been threatened with each experience of disappointment and loss. There have been many moments over the past 18-24 months where I have questioned how much more I can take and whether the anguish is worth it.
I can honestly say, hand on heart, that it has been the support, encouragement and pick-me-ups from my amazing friends and the members of the Online Standardbred Club, that has kept me going.
To be surrounded by people who have (metaphorically) wrapped their arms around me, expressed empathy and encouraged me to keep going during the tough times, has, without a doubt, been the defining factor in my resolve to keep pushing on.
I also know from discussions in our Online Club’s private Facebook group, that many other standardbred owners have found the support from the group to be the little ‘push’ they’ve needed, to grow and progress.
Nobody is born knowing how to retrain a standardbred.
There will inevitably always be challenges that pop up when working with half a tonne of animal with a mind of its own (particularly one which has been bred and trained for a very different purpose to what we’re asking them to do under saddle!)
The reality is that everyone needs help with their horse at some point, or even just a positive place to celebrate with people who will clap and cheer the loudest at your success!
Being a part of a friendly, encouraging group of likeminded people puts the joy into horsemanship. It takes the challenging moments from being hidden in the back paddock, riddled with frustration and despair, out into a safe space. Communities create reassuring conversations and perspectives.
So, whether you start to explore local options, like what is available here in Victoria through standardbred-specific HRCAV clubs and breed associations like SPPHAV, or whether you decide to connect online – via a program like our Online Standardbred Club – expanding your support network is the easiest and most enriching way to keep your standardbred journey on the path to your best year, and experiences, ever.
Tip 2:
Set some goals, to keep you tracking forward.
Right now, you might be seeing a lot of friends posting on social media about their New Year’s resolutions.
The thing about resolutions is that they rarely are followed-through on, once the party winds down and the daily grind shifts the focus away from those dreams.
Likewise, those big horsemanship goals can easily be forgotten, if we don’t put an actionable plan in place and start to take steps towards achieving them.
I tend to set goals at the start of the year and then review and redo as needed.
I’ve put together a video tutorial which will walk you through my goal-setting process to set plans in motion (having a clear path to your goals is very motivating) and to know what to do when a little ‘pivot’ is needed, to avoid getting stuck in a retraining rut!
I’ve included this tutorial in our Online Standardbred Club member content, main Retraining the Standardbred: Track to Hack course and our 10-Day Standardbred Challenge program (which is super helpful and affordable, at just $10!)
So if you’re a student in these programs, or join them, you’ll be able to follow a process which has been such a game-changer for me in my standardbred pursuits.
Alternatively, I’m sure there will be a few resources available online, for setting goals (great time of year for it!)
Tip 3:
Shift your from ‘can’t do’ to ‘will do one day’.
We live in a fantastic time for information-sharing, via the Internet (something I wish I had access to when I got my first standardbred!)
However, we can also be swept up in a perilous cycle of comparison paralysis and the skewed perception of how much smoother, and more successful, other people’s standardbred journeys are going.
This is because we’re exposed to the shiny, happy moments and blue-ribbon smiles saturating our social feeds, rather than the realities of the challenges or the long road that often precedes achievement.
It’s very easy to fall into a mindset of lack, failure, or being so much further behind everyone else.
I recommend a good dose of perceptive and flipping your thinking, from what everyone else is doing, or those skills that currently elude you and your champ with a stamp, to focusing on the skills you’ve mastered so far in your retraining journey, or the little things you can do today, that you couldn’t a week, or a month, or a year ago (depending on how long you’ve owned your standy!)
Having now conducted several interviews with riders doing incredible things with their standardbreds, the thing that has been glaringly apparent is the amount of dedication, patience and steady training going on behind the scenes.
The timeframes from racetrack to success under saddle has also been a tremendous perspective leveller, with the average combination training together for about 5-7 years before reaching those big dreams.
It is my hope that by surrounding yourself with a great support network, setting some actionable goals (and a plan to reach your dreams) and by keeping your mindset focused on the positives ahead (and being mindful of the artificial nature of social media), you will find yourself experiencing immense joy throughout your best standardbred year ever.
– Nic Tassone
(Founder of Raising the Standards/crazy standardbred lady).
