How competitive are you??

Just as the title how competitive are you within your horse sport??

I used to be very competitive but I think I was too competitive and now I just focus on improving a little bit every time!

So what about you guys? How competitive are YOU???

Shauna xXxXx

I'm not, haha.

Well I guess that's not entirely true. I'm really competitive against myself. I always want to best my last try. And I do like to race, and I usually win, but that could very possibly be because my horse is in shape and my friend's horses usually aren't, lol.

Lol Yeah I suppose I have changed though from beating myself up about not being as good as I was before to trying to see the improvement in little bits instead of disappointment all over if that makes sense lol

I'm actually not that competitive of a person but used to get kind of competitive showing! Now that the vast majority of what I show is super green, my only hope usually is to get in the ring, mostly get over the fences :), and let it be a good experience for the horse. There's so much less pressure when you aren't in it for the ribbons! (although, ribbons are nice...)

Um...I'd have to say that it depends on what day it is. I'm a very competitive person in general, but when it comes to horses I've had so many bad show days that I don't break down if I don't win anymore. I am however, really trying hard to do my best more now than I was before. I'm beginning to really improve, too.

I'm a pretty competitive person, and Cheyenne is even more so competitive than me. She hates losing.

I love good healthy competition I will try as hard as I know my horse and I can to win. I won't push my horse, though, if I know he's not up to it, even if it's against a competitor I know he could take...

I am SO not competitive. I've never had a show quality horse, so I've never done that. However, husband, daughters and I used to go to playdays at our little local arena. Husband and daughters were pretty competitive, but when it came to be my turn - I just kind of plunked around. I was happy with a nice trot or slow canter around the barrels. My mare - not so much. Right after I got her I discovered she loved to run barrels, and I just hung on for dear life - never touched the reins - and prayed no one opened the gate until she came to a stop at the end of the run. (shouldn't have worried about that too much - the one time they opened the gate too soon all she did was head for the trailer). I enjoyed the pole bending and keyhole racing - at a slow speed. It was just something fun to do with my horse. She was never afraid of anything that took place in an arena or on a trail (that was not on a paved road or went under a bridge.) I hope my new mare is as good as my old mare.

I'm not very competitive... I joke about it, but not really. I only show locally, and I know full well that most the people I'm showing against have many more years of experience than I do, and in some cases, a few of them have even gone to State. I'm only showing Magic and Tanner now -- neither of them were ever Western Pleasure horses -- they've always been barrel racers and worked cattle on a farm. I don't intend to make them into Western Pleasure horses, either, I just show them in it to keep them from walking into an arena and expecting to run-run-run! I also know that the previous owners hadn't ridden them for nearly five years, and I have never run barrels in my life before I started experimenting on Magic. So we're far from the most experienced team out there.
But even a run that's a second better than the last makes me smile -- my biggest achievement is when both Tanner and Magic ran 25 seconds yesterday, and I learned how to use barrel racing reins to help Tanner make her turns quicker (I'd always used split reins, since that's what I'd been taught on when I first learned to ride).
So maybe I'm a little competitive against myself.

I'm very competitive! Not to the point where I don't have fun or where I push my horse too hard, but I ride to win. If I don't, it's not a big deal, but you can bet I'll be training my butt off until the next show! I love hearing people praise my riding; I live off that! If someone in the arena is riding better than me, I push push push myself to be better than them. I have really stressed my muscles out at times. I guess I am a little too competitive sometimes, but I always have fun!