We asked our ambassadors Tim Lips, Isabel Cool and Lisa Coupe to give you their Top Tips for 2021 so that you can improve your organisation, efficiency and productivity in your stable!
Thinking about your new years resolutions? Right now, you’re in a window of opportunity. Everyone is busy this time of year. Day-to-day stable duties usually stay the same or overdue tasks fade away. Here’s the chance to get all the stuff you wish you could get done but never get around to by listening to some of our ambassadors top tips.
Read what some of our equicty ambassadors want to say to you. Tim Lips, Dutch international event rider speaks about his reliance on data and working digitally in his stable. Isabel Cool, Belgian international dressage rider shares her approach to managing the team and horses in her stable and New Zealand’s international show jumper and coach Lisa Coupe speaks about tips to keep you relaxed and focused on your job. Below you will find their exact answers to the questions we asked them!
Tim: ‘I begin to make the ideal plan for each horse and rider, we call it plan A, but we always make a plan B, C or even D’.
Isabel: ‘You need to work hard and efficiently. Always listen to your horses so you can adjust management and training. Ensure that the horses are happy and the riders are happy, then there is a good mind set to train really well. Also good communication within the whole team of grooms, riders, trainers and students is very important’.
Lisa: ‘Organization is key. Having a clear plan, and good communication with staff’.
Tim: ‘In my opinion it is important that every worker in the stable knows what the plan will be on time, and not last minute, that’s why we work with a yearly plan, monthly plan, weekly plan and daily plan, perfect with using equicty’.
Isabel: ‘With the equicty app it’s really easy to check what each groom and rider did already, so it makes communication and planning a lot easier. I always make my planning of the horses the day before. Each day we do some stable jobs to keep everything clean. Sometimes the work doesn’t go accordingly to the plan because it’s normal that horses can mix up everything. You should stay flexible and it will work out’.
Lisa: ‘Use equicty! It has made organizing the horses and communication in the yard so much easier. I can make a plan or any changes anywhere anytime from my phone and staff can see the plan. I can even see when tasks have been executed.’
Stable managers, riders and especially grooms all have their own principles that they like to stick to so that they get the jobs done. Habits form which allows us to repeat the actions that reward us with results. Equicty’s ambassadors are here to tell you their pro tips on what works for them no matter what.
Tim Lips
‘To create data, data never lies’.
Tim Lips
Creating data works for Tim because he knows how important it is to understand his horses. He relies on data without any extra work to monitor the horse’s health, exercise and goals. Data has also become a big part within the stable at Team Bavaria. Some of the reasons why Tim advises you to collect data for your stable and horses is because data helps you:
Isabel Cool
‘Perseverance is 1 key word that always helps! And stay calm’.
Isabel Cool
If Isabel has perseverance, then what exactly does this mean? This means that since the day Isabel started on her journey to become a successful international dressage rider, she has continued her effort to achieve her success despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. The road ahead is bumpy but Isabel believes that if you have perseverance and you happen to remain calm when the road is bumpy, you will come out the other end no matter what.
Lisa Coupe
‘Staying relaxed but focused’.
Lisa Coupe
Have you heard of the fight or flight response? Well, both humans and horses have this natural biomechanical response when they experience an event that is stressful or frightening. What happens a horse when they are fearful is not very different to how humans respond, but we very well know that productivity goes steeply downhill when a horse is frightened or stressed. The same goes for us and even so, our entire team. Lisa is a New Zealand equestrian coach with success in international show jumping, she knows how important it is to control our emotions to stay focused.
Everybody is different but if you are working in the stable and have difficulties staying relaxed or keeping your focus then start by identifying the triggers that cause this response and slowly eliminate or habituate to them, the same way that you would do with your horse.
‘To use Equicty, Polar & CWD iSport’.
Tim Lips
Tim has been data-driven from the beginning and if it’s working for him he is confident that it will work for you too! Innovative equestrian technologies are playing a big role in stables simply because they are helping stables achieve their goals. If you are not data-driven then somebody in your stable is and the reality is that they are probably waiting for the day to come when you make the transformation. There is nothing to fear when the equicty team support you with implementation and training and give you every chance to experience first hand for 21 days free.
‘Stay calm and do good work with the horses and students. Not rushing the work but keeping the quality in what you do’.
Isabel Cool
Isabel likes to have a solid base under her and sticks with her principles through her perseverance. As she mentioned before, the ability to be flexible is equally as important as the quality you provide but finding the balance in combining your principles may be the difficult part. Isabel uses a smart stable board to help her base that principle upon.
‘Not having a plan leads to chaos which is stressful.’
Lisa Coupe
Lisa is a strong believer in organisation for stress management. That is why she has a super selection of tips below.
When organisation does not play a key role in Lisa’s stable, ‘it leads to chaos which is stressful’. That’s why Lisa starts off her day with a good plan and she uses music to help maintain calmness across the entire stable. ‘I like to stay relaxed so I can focus on the job. Music helps! I love a good playlist’.
We are lucky to have three super ambassadors share their professional tips with you. To be able to have an insight into the working lives of international equestrian athletes and to learn what makes them successful just shows how strong we are as a community within the equine industry. We are here to support each other and wish each other well with success. Too often, we are disappointed by results which can be a difficult process to learn and deal with. All I can say is flick through this blog again and if you can take one piece of advice with you through 2021, then you will have improved your stables organisation, efficiency and productivity a lot more than you believe. Wishing all our readers, supporters and customers a very happy new year!
If you require a digital solution to help you improve your organisation and efficiency in your stable, try equicty. Save time, money and stress by finding the best way to manage your stable. Try equicty’s 21 day free trial today and receive expert support during set up.
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