We Can Hustle
We are riders, athletes, people working towards our own versions of success and we don't need to go through this journey alone. Shelby Olyschlager joins you weekly to bring a wide variety of guests and insight to what is possible; in and out of the arena. Tag along as we have conversations with everyday people with extraordinary stories, inspiration and knowledge; with the horse always in mind. Together, We Can Hustle!
We Can Hustle
65 | The Joy is in The Journey with Barbra Schulte, Cutting Horse & Performance Coach
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Barbra Schulte is a Professional Cutting Horse Trainer, Personal Performance Coach, Author, Clinician, and Equine Consultant.
Barbra’s training is highly energized with powerful messages, tips, and skills to help riders develop their full potential, perform under pressure, and overcome fear. They learn to ride, live, and compete with focus, fun, and high positive energy.
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Yay, you made it to another episode of the Week in Hustle Podcast. My name is Shelby Ollerschleger and I'll be your host as we dive into barrel racers, athletes, and just people of the world to share, motivate, and inspire us all to be the best that we can be. Like it's just so neat that technology is able to bridge this gap and we can do this. So I know it's so great.
SPEAKER_01It's really it's great. Well, how's the weather in Ontario?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it feels like fall's coming, which makes me kind of sad. At night it's getting kind of cold in Celsius, anyways, it's going to like 12-ish.
SPEAKER_01Yes. So I um sorry, I was gonna turn the light up a little bit. But anyway, I was in um Calgary last springtime. And uh first of all, I had a heck getting into Canada. And um then they wanted to send me back, which they've already done that one time, a long time ago. Anyway, but I made it. I made it that was good. And and uh I love Canada, it's great.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's good. I enjoy it. I um always like my goal would be to go down to the states or be able to have the flexibility to like live in Texas area for half the year and then come back home.
SPEAKER_01I know, right?
SPEAKER_00That ultimate balance.
SPEAKER_01That would be the best of everything because it's definitely the time to get out of here, out of Texas in the summer and time to get out of Canada in the winter, really.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, it'd be perfect, like the best balance. And I actually was in Texas, I was in Oklahoma and Texas a couple years ago, just interning and working for trainers. And people are like, Do you not know? Because I've left in July to go down there, and they're like, Do you not know like what the weather's like? And like you're doing it backwards. Usually people go in the winter down there, and I'm like, Well, it was like it just worked out. I'm like, I'm just gonna go now, and I did it.
SPEAKER_01Go when you can, right? Yeah, for barrel trainers or cutting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, it was a few uh futurity trainers for barrel racing, and um it's very interesting, it's cool, like it's such a world down there.
SPEAKER_01Just it's a it's like another country, it's a culture, but it's fun, even within the culture of the horses, there's the cutting culture and the barrel culture and the raining culture and the rain cow horse, you know, and and our lives cross over now more because of podcasts and some of the multidiscipline events, but for years, you know, we just didn't.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like you just kind of stuck in your lane a little bit and did what the cutters did, and we did what the barrel racers do, and yeah, it is it's cool, and that's why I'm like I'm really excited to chat with you today and just hear a bit more of the cutting side and your experience because I don't have a lot of experience with that. Like, I'm it's a new world to me, and I'm sure some of my listeners feel the same way. So it'll be interesting to just hear a little bit, hear the the similarities, you know, that come with it. Cause I've really realized a lot of there's a lot of common denominators when I've been talking with people, and it's cool how they all relate.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Riding a horse is riding a horse, it's just getting them, you know, asking them to do what we want.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So you have your own podcast show as well.
SPEAKER_01You know, I do. Um it's um, I'll make a long story short. I there was a young man working with me to help produce it. And um about the time that he decided to take a different track in his life, that was fine with me, but I couldn't I couldn't get it together to keep it going. You know, I had to get the pieces, and so I'm getting ready to pick it back up. I haven't done a podcast since April or May. I think maybe May. So it's there waiting for me when I'm ready. So yeah, exactly. And that's fine. I love doing it. Do you do you like to do it?
SPEAKER_00I do. And I've actually like I did an episode yesterday, but I haven't done one for quite a while. Like I just kind of the same thing. It's hard when you're doing it all yourself, and then before you know it, a month goes by and you're like, oh, I haven't interviewed someone or I haven't published much. Yeah, so I really I enjoy it. It is fun and just hearing different stuff. But at the same time, like I'm secretly very introverted and putting yourself out there it can be scary, but I find it's like a muscle that you're just working. And I like the personal development aspect of all of it. So it's like, oh, this is something that I'm kind of scared to do, or that, you know, it's scary. And that's kind of my reason usually, or my guide to be like, this is something I should do. And yeah, here we are.
SPEAKER_01I'm introverted too, actually.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, you get you get over it, like, or no, I don't think it's like it's not a bad or good thing, it's just what it is, right? And if you're someone that when you say something and it actually means something, you know, it has so much more weight than if you just talk, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, I think that to me, I just um because I have to force myself to do certain things, that I just decide that I'm gonna focus on the connection with the person, you know, that that's what I really care about. So exactly.
SPEAKER_00And it makes it easier because you know the reason behind it is pure and genuine and it's what you actually want. So yeah, it's just kind of that method to get there if it is scary. But when you know like your reason, it does make it a lot easier. And yeah, you have you have quite a resume. So I just kind of want to get right into it. Um tell us a bit of the backstory of how you have become the speaker coach, the performance coach. Like, tell us, is that something you thought was gonna happen, or where was this spark coming from for you to really pursue, you know, like sharing your voice and doing all this work?
SPEAKER_01Well, I didn't realize it, but looking back on my life, I was always really interested in personal development things. Like when I was in college, um, I was I didn't study psychology there, but um also just really uh interested in spiritual things, just very personally oriented and the same in other people. And then fast forward, and I won't go into all those details, but I was a professional cutting horse trainer, and I noticed that it wasn't always the same, or it wasn't it wasn't always the best horse that was winning, but it was often the same people riding many different horses. So obviously there was something going on with the person's ability to present the horse to the highest level and and to do well and to win in the show arena. So that was very, very curious to me. And so um that led me down a path to uh the Human Performance Institute just to do a seminar for myself and also three or four other cutting buddies. We went, thought it would be fun to go to Florida and and do this seminar, which we had a great time, was with Dr. Jim Lair, who is a world-renowned um performance sports psychologist. And so we hit it off, and he it was my timing was great, and he said, you know, we are looking for people to specialize in specific sports like you know, golf and football. And so I think we'll try it out with you, Barb. We'll make you our equestrian coach. So that's and I thought, boy, if he's gonna try it out with me and I'm carrying the weight of all the other sports, I don't know about that. But anyway, so um that was how it began as far as me becoming certified to be a high performance coach. And that that one uh seminar, which was the first of many, but that one seminar really changed my life. Um, I had no idea how the whole uh high-level accomplishment, high-level performance under pressure, the ability to access your best when you want it, the role of emotions in our performance and our ability to regulate it, you know, all of those things I had no idea about before, and I was completely fascinated. And I I jumped in hook, line, and sinker, and I um started doing everything visualizing, scripting. Um I applied the concepts to my horse training, not just to me, but with my horses. And I within a year, I won, was the first woman to win two major national level cutting titles. And I know the power of the information, and it's just really learning how to tap into the best of us, and um then that led to speaking, and then that led to teaching, and I developed a course back then with cassettes and some kind of ancient technology now. But um anyway, it's just always been something that I've done, and I really had two full-time careers. Uh the personal performance career. This is beginning like in the mid to late 1990s, and training cutting horses full-time as a professional trainer showing all over the country. So um that's the story.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. I love that. Just how things naturally seem to fall into place where you know you're at the right place at the right time. And I love that you are like the equestrian like category for this performance coaching. And I feel like, you know, that's a huge honor. And, you know, you really stepped into that role, even though maybe if it was a little scary or intimidating to do that, but you did it. And the one thing you said that I want to go back on is just how learning these skills, which we will get into, but when you started learning these skills, you said that it changed your riding or your training. So can you tell us a little bit about how that did impact your riding from learning those more like performance tools?
SPEAKER_01Sure, sure. Well, um, there are a couple of them that come to mind. And one is that in order to grow any kind of skill or in order to grow our confidence, it depends where we personally are comfortable and confident to begin with. And then ideally, whether we're in charge of our own writing or if we're coaching someone, we want to take the next step skills, uh, next step of development and go a little bit out of our comfort zone. And then that's where the wheels don't fall off completely, but that's where we're greener and then we figure out how to um you know how to succeed in that, how to master that step or those steps, and then that becomes the next comfortable. And so in any kind of lesson with a horse or any kind of lesson with a person, it's important for the trainer or the coach to know where a person is personally comfortable, not where we think they should be, or if we've been riding a horse, what they should know by now, but what we really know by observing them, feeling them, knowing them where they're comfortable, and then stretch them, help them, and then always come back to comfortable and always end a lesson doing something that they know. And that is the way that confidence is built. So that was one of the ideas. And again, I know that it sounds so probably elementary, but it's one of those things that's really easy, especially in our training and riding horses. We want something, so we kind of go right for it, and we're not always aware of where horses or where they are that day. And so when we stretch a horse or ask a horse to do something, or ask a person to do something that they're incapable and is way away from their comfort zone, then we actually reduce their confidence. And that's true, like when people have accidents on horses. You know, they think that they should be able to go back to where they were before the accident, but the reality is they have a new comfort level, and that comfort level is always the place where we start. So that's the first thing. Then the other thing is a concept called recovery, and recovery is the ability to when your heart rate comes up and you're in a high stimulus or stress situation, stress might be like stress, like ah, stress, but it might also be just putting a lot of energy out, just amp amping up the level and frequency of the energy exerted. If we don't take opportunities when we can to get our energy back and lower our heart rate, uh reduce our breath rate, reduce our brain wave activity, reduce tension in our muscles, if we don't condition that skill, then and if we stay on that amped level, and that amped level could be positive like excited, but it could be negative like angry or frustrated. But if we don't do create these waves of putting energy out and getting energy back and training ourselves to lower our heart rate on demand, then um our performance goes down as that heart rate and uh tension goes up. So with the horses, I learned, oh, and the recovery has to be trained. It's not kind of our natural inclination. We'd rather just okay, train, train, train, whether this is ourselves or our horse, okay, let's do it again, let's do it again, let's do it again. Okay, I just want to make sure we've got this, let's do it again. And then what happens is that heart rate is up, you're getting into fatigue, and now you've actually reduced performance. Whereas if you had gotten it, uh taking a break, taking a breath with horses, if you let them stand and take like a really deep breath, um they love that. And recovery is when we learn and is when we grow, and that is why it's so important that we train it. So I try I train, still do all my horses that whenever we pause, stop from loping, stop between a cow, that they had the opportunity to exhale deeply. It goes a little beyond licking their lips. Licking their lips is good. That's the first, that's the first behavior of relaxing because when they're tight, they hold that saliva in their mouth, and that's what that licking and chewing is. But it's really a deeper level of an exhale. So those are the two things that come to mind with the horse training.
SPEAKER_00You can see how powerful that would be. And it makes me just think of with the comfort level and also the recovery of like you said something that is totally me of let's do it one more time just to make sure we have it, just to make sure I have the feel. Because I I like like I have maybe my brain needs to be very simple. So when I do something, it's like, am I sure I have this? Like, do I have that that I need? And you know, you might get a little repetition but with it, but I think the trust aspect is really important with like with trusting ourselves or trusting our horses. So has that been a really big factor as well? With, you know, if you're approaching a competition of just like knowing that we've done the work, like, you know, how can we just kind of step into that a bit more?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think that you are this point that you're making about trust is huge because um there's never a point where we're gonna feel like we've got it all down, or that we feel like we had it maybe as prepared as we would like, only because there's that next step, right? On what I was talking about, like where it's comfortable, then you stretch. There's always the place that we can improve. But when we have a different mindset that we actually love that process, and that when we go to compete, we're not really competing against the other people, but what we're doing is going to a certain place at a certain time to put ourselves on the line and to put our horse on the line. You know, your name is called, and so you go in the arena and you see where you're at. And it's not always where you're absolutely at, it's where you're at in that the rider um got into a place of calmness and focus and clarity about their job, so that they and they got their horse at the same place, so that they that is what unlocks the potential under pressure. But as the rider, if we're tight or we're worried about the outcome, or we've never learned these skills that um I've referred to and and talked about a little bit here, if we've never learned those and condition those and um practice them, you have to really practice them for a lifetime, or it never gets to the point where you go to a competition and you just go, okay, well, I know how to do that, but let's just go to that. You always have to get into the zone, you always have to get into that ideal performance place and help your horse get into theirs and tune into your horse so that you become a partner for the job that you're going to do. And so I I think that going back to the trust, I think the goal should be to go to a competition for the purpose of wanting to put your the best that you and you have and your horse have and the two of you have together to exhibit that, demonstrate that at a competition, and trust that if you do your part in the thinking and the acting and the you know taking care of your body and all of those things, if you do that part and you go there and you're prepared to do your best and you go for it, that's all that you can do. And so I think that takes a lot of the pressure off of feeling that the only there that the main result is how you end up, if you win or not, which I'm not saying we don't want to win, so I don't want to be misunderstood. But when we allow that to be the only measure, we have no control of that. So I think we can trust ourselves to do the preparation, know where we're at, and get into that place, get our horse there and open the gate and go for it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So true. There's so many good points there of just that process and focusing on the controllables as well. I think that's really helped me in realizing what do I have control over the situation? And again, the results necessarily winning isn't it? So again, it's focusing on me. Did I prepare? Did I practice? And And a lot of the things that I always believe is that it comes from not necessarily in the arena or in the saddle. Like these are the things, like you said, just taking care of ourselves. So can you dive in a little bit more of what that practice, when we know that we have done the practice? Like what is the practice really for you that helps you get in that zone when it comes competition day?
SPEAKER_01Well, um, first of all, I just want to share it that that's one of my favorite parts of showing. I'm not showing now, but when I was showing all the time, it was um it I it's not that I didn't think about other people, but I was I understood about the power of getting into that place that's so um in the moment and it's so zen and it feels good, and I understood that's where I needed to be. And I never did it as thoroughly at home. I mean, I did it at home, but I never did it as thoroughly as home at home as I did a show. And so just to go there and do that um because it's like a high. Um, but uh I kind of got off there, sorry. That's okay.
SPEAKER_00I like that.
SPEAKER_01One of the things is that it does start at home in visualizing, and to take when I say visualizing, I mean to really get into the practice of it. Um, you can play non-lyrical music and get into you know a very relaxed state and then have you know a higher uh non-lyrical music, higher energy of when you walk into the arena. I mean, there's all kinds of ways to visualize, but our bodies don't know the difference between something vividly imagined and the real thing. So when we do that, it's um we are giving ourselves a leg up. So that's the first thing. As far as being at the show goes, um, it starts really, you know, when we arrive and it starts then, you know, if it's the night before, getting a good night's sleep, not getting there at midnight or one o'clock. If possible, I know sometimes that's not always possible, but um because sleep is our most important physical recovery strategy, and we need our physical body in order to perform at our highest level. We need our physical body full blast, so that means hydration, ideally, something to eat about every 90 minutes. Um, and that could be a bite of beef jerky and an almond and uh piece of cheese or something. Um, better not to be a candy bar, but it's um to eat healthful uh combination is protein, uh good carbohydrate, good fat, and to keep our blood sugar level up because you know, all of that has to do with our thought process, with how our nerves work, all of those things, and hydration. And then really timing what the energy level of our horse. Some horses need to be loped down a little, other horses need to just be warmed up. You know, how do you time that so that you're ready and you have done some, you know, thinking about your job uh during the warm-up or maybe when you fed in the morning? You want to create waves of thinking about it in a in a positive way, like planning what you're going to do, and then taking a break, chilling out, talking to friends, um, and then focusing again and then chilling out. Up into for the same thing for your horse, getting your horse ready, up into the point where um you're ready to go into the arena and you do a pre-ride ritual that's the final getting your horse ready, getting yourself ready. You're talking to yourself, okay, let's go, I'm ready. Maybe, and coaching yourself, whatever it is that you do for yourself and for your horse, putting it into a ritual, and then as you ride, coaching yourself the whole time. Whether it's your eyes, your breath, easy, okay, let's go, you know, whatever it, whatever the energy is, whatever the physical thing is.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, awesome. And just the idea of coaching ourselves, I always think like we are our own best coach, you know, like at the end of the day, it is only us ourselves in the arena. So I guess learning what really is effective for us is so important. And just what you said about the waves of so when you're warming up, or you know, you'll get focused and get zen, get in the moment, and then you'll relax and go hang out with friends. Like I feel like myself, maybe I've missed that piece because like I said, it's like I'm always like, I want to make sure I have it, like I want to make sure it's here. And so, like, right before I go in, it's like, do I have the feel still? And then sometimes if I don't feel like I have the feel, then it's like everything I've done didn't matter because that moment, that last minute, it was like, oh no, I lost it.
SPEAKER_01Just what you said there. Well, one of the things that really helps that, Shelby, is I think that um is focusing on our horses and making sure they're in that in that place also, but not feeling like we have to make sure that they've got it. But when we do something and they come back to us, then what we do is we want to reward them by not doing it. And so, and then we can see them get brighter and more comfortable and trust us. So that's just an awesome thing. And I think that can take some of that making sure part away.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thank you for that. It is true, it's kind of putting the focus maybe into how they're feeling, like making sure we're checking in on them and not just focusing too much on ourselves, but uh knowing like that we're putting the work in on them as well. And that was kind of what I was gonna ask. So you mentioned the waves of getting kind of tuned in and then going to talk with friends. So when you're warming up your horse, you mentioned a while ago about just stopping, like part of your recovery of just stopping, letting your horse take that breath. Is that part of your warm-up as well? Of maybe, you know, you know, you have 20 minutes before your name's gonna be called. So you're getting ready, you're warming up. Would you kind of dedicate a few minutes of focused work to get your horse, you know, you guys mentally and physically warmed up? And then would you just stop? Like, would you kind of keep on that wave while you're preparing for your competition?
SPEAKER_01That's a great question. And um that's because, and it really goes back, it's a very it's a very similar question to you know, thinking about things and then chilling out with friends, and you know, thinking about things, even though it might be internal, is putting energy out, whereas hanging out with good friends and having a conversation feels like you get your energy back, even though you're just kind of shooting the breeze. But um the recovery piece of taking a breath or lowering, and for a horse lowering their heart rate, for us lowering our heart rate, what's important to remember is that is when we grow. That is when while all the work that we have done prior in those moments before we take that break, that is when that work gets into our bones, or it gets into a horse's bones, or it gets into a horse's confidence, and we're used to having to test it. I want to make sure. Whereas if they do it, or if we do something and then we take a break, actually, in our mind, in our physiology, that is when we allow it to be absorbed. Where if we don't do that, we actually diminish the impact of what we just did. So uh that recovery ability for a horse, you know, horses really quietly hold on to tension. That's when their jaw is tight, that's when they're when they don't exhale, when we stop, because most people don't wait for them and give them the opportunity to do it, and they don't do it every time. So recovery is really trained at home, just like a maneuver would be trained at home, like lifting a shoulder or something like that, or a turn. And so what happens is that when you train recovery in a horse, and you've been say you've been trotting circles and you stop, you just wait for them to exhale, and it might take a long time at home until they do it, but they will, and then they'll go, Oh, but then when you do it every time, then when you stop, they trust. There's that word, they trust that you allow them to do it, so they'll do it. So when you're at a show, they might be feeling more excited, or we might be feeling more excited, and they feel us. So it is super important to do that at a show as well. But theoretically, if we've trained it so it's almost an automatic skill at home, then it shouldn't really take a long time at a show. I hope that makes sense.
SPEAKER_00That makes lots of sense.
SPEAKER_01It's very necessary because that's when a horse really releases their tension.
SPEAKER_00And I've realized with a lot of the people I've talked with of how important it is to be training at a place of that relaxation and like the opposite attention of just, you know, you can get them to physically move their bodies in ways, but if their mind-body aren't connected in the maneuver, it's not really gonna stick like what you're saying. So it makes so much sense to quiet them down and let them have that moment to process and do that recovery where it almost is like that mind-body connection where they like they're feeling the maneuver that they're doing with their body, and it's kind of you know connecting the dots with their brain. So they're gonna perform a lot easier too. Like they're not gonna have these physical issues from doing something in a tension state, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, absolutely, absolutely. It is um, it is great, great stuff. It's one of the most powerful things that people can do. And then when we're our horse releases, then we condition ourselves in a moment to do the same.
SPEAKER_00And that's part of just like doing that work, that practice, like you said. Like I always like to learn these things, like you said, before the races and before going and understanding, I guess, when you're approaching the competition that you've done that work. So then again, that confidence comes up where you're like, I know I've prepared and have these pieces in place that I can rely on and fall back on if I need to, right?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. One thing I just want to say that one last point about that is that we all know that horses are trained not only by the application of pressure, but by the release of it. I mean, we all know about release, but the big thing in this recovery training is that it's it's like the greatest depth of release possible. And horses love that. And when they when they understand that you not only will like release like the reins or your legs or whatever, but that you that when they stop, that you wait for them, or you did a conditioning thing where you wait for them, so that you're you're not, you're gonna, they know they'll always have that opportunity to exhale. They'll like they'll jump over the moon. It's cool.
SPEAKER_00Uh-huh. That yeah, that makes sense. And just again, with the like having consent almost, like sometimes I feel like we put our horses in positions without ask, kind of asking them to do it. Like we kind of force, like, okay, we're gonna do this, this, this. We're not actually waiting for the horse to give the okay to do it, like a normal relationship that you would do, right? Like you would ask, Oh, can I like hold your hand or something? Like instead of just grabbing their hand and pulling them somewhere. We're like it kind of ties in with that as well of just allowing the horse and giving them the space to let them make that decision for themselves and not us always kind of being the dictator of what they're gonna do.
SPEAKER_01We're allowing them to make that absolutely we're we're setting it up for them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's so good. I can see how powerful that is. And yeah, so moving on to the next thing that I wanted to talk about is you mentioned just having good, like a strong mission and purpose with riding. So, can we dive in a little bit of that? Of did you always have a strong mission when you were competing, of like what your goals were, or has it evolved over time, or how can we kind of really get clear on our mission and purpose?
SPEAKER_01Well, I just realized that when you ask me questions, I say, I really love to talk about this. And then the next one is, oh, this is my favorite. I say that about everything. That's great. But this really is my favorite. Okay, cool. Um, I, you know, we are all so unique. You know, Shabi, you have a beautiful style, you know, as a person, and I'm sure as a rider, and each horse we ride, you know, as individual. And in our lives in general, we often think that we have to conform, and I'm not conforms to kind of a strong word, or that we have to not always be able to show like who we are, what our that somehow we'll be discovered for something like who we are and won't be accepted or whatever. Um and because we're all so unique, our reason to ride and to show is also unique. And for me, once I discovered this performance information, my reason to show was because I was I had so much fun with it that and I loved going in the show pen because it was one of the highest highs that of my life, and um loved the relationship with the horse, love what it took to get ready, um, loved getting into that ideal performance state, could see the results, and so that's what I loved about it, and that would probably not be anybody else's purpose, or maybe it is, I don't know. Um, but our purpose is our reason why we do things, and again, for competition, people of course want to win because of the achievement, but when it's only the achievement, what happens is that we think that we have to achieve again to keep this um sense of joy and personal satisfaction going, and ultimately it's insatiable. You know, there's gonna be someone younger, there's gonna be someone with a uh more talented horse. There's, you know, winning is fabulous, but I think when people are clear on the reason why they do it, which is like I was, I'll just say for me, I was talking about how I loved walking into the arena, but also the the friendships, the relationship with the horse, the kind of lifestyle that we have for those of us who ride and show horses, you know, our our community is our is our extended family. And there's just a lot that goes into the reason why we do things, and the the joy of having the relationship with the horse is really high on most people's list, like that's why they ride, and that's why they want to go show because well, actually, the desire to be competitive or not is a is a personality temperament thing. Like some people crave competition, other people don't, but um anyway, so knowing why we do things is very important and being true to it and understanding that if the reason why we do, you know, like if that you run barrels or I show a cutting horse is because I want to keep getting better, um, because I love going into that show arena, um, because I love helping my clients. If those are my reasons why, as much as winning, then my success is not measured only by that. And that's a very important point of joy and meaning and competition because without it we fall really, really flat and it's insatiable, and it's comparing to other people, and it's not really our own. And so I think it really when we tune into ourselves and we know that we're not only enough, but we're pretty awesome, not in like I'm super awesome, look at me, uh how cool I am or how great I am or any of that, but just that I'm worthy and that I have a rich life because of these horses, and I'm gonna give it all I have, and I'm gonna go for it, and I'm gonna do well with some things, and I'm probably gonna fall short, and I'm gonna figure it out, and I'm gonna keep trying. And my joy is the journey, it's not just you know how I did today, and then the other part of that is that another big piece of that is how we interact with other people. Because as you know, when we're showing, we're not we're not out there by ourselves, we're with a lot of people, and I think it's easy, it shows that the wonder you know what do people think about me, and you know, like what are they giving me, and what kind of focus are is on me. But really, when we do well, or even when we don't well and do well, and we handle it with grace, we impact people, and it's an opportunity to give to people. And my mentor, Dr. Lair, you know, he has taught me that the perp that when our purpose highly involves the contribution that we make to other people, that you know, that is one of the most fulfilling things. So there are a lot of things that go into the purpose, and our purpose, if we stop. Think about it, you know what we love, what we what do we want to achieve. Some people want to, you know, be in the top three or win. Other people just want to have a good time at the show. It doesn't matter what anybody else wants to do, it's what you want to do, and then how you value it, and then how is your character towards other people?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's jam-packed. There's and it's it everything you just said really, it speaks to me because I think I've gone down that journey of thinking everything lied in the results, and then I was super unfulfilled, and it almost made me do worse because it's the thing I wanted so badly I wasn't getting. So I was not coming and showing up at a place to actually succeed and even to get that result because I was just so negative because I haven't had it yet. Where the shift is really again for you, and it's so true, realizing your why, having that solid why and that purpose and the reason, and it is so unique per person. And yeah, it's so good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and Shelly and nobody can take that away from us, you know, like a love for a horse, and just even the love of that vulnerability and putting ourselves on the line and getting in the ideal performance state, and seeing what we do well and what we didn't do well, and just the whole journey knowing whatever it is is enough and rich. And you know, to me, the measure is am I tuned in to my purpose and my why? And am I fulfilling it? That's my that's my main measure.
SPEAKER_00And it's beautiful, it's such a good why because it is so much more than the results, it's the whole journey, like you said earlier. And to go back to the whole interacting with people and how we handle that, I think that's really important to come at a place more of love and support for other people. Because if we're really sure of ourselves, then if someone else is beating us, if someone else is younger, has a nicer horse, those things aren't gonna phase us as much and we're not gonna fall into that trap of like envy or jealousy and the comparison. So, do you want to talk a little bit more about that? Like, I know it is so important. Like, once I kind of let go of that, it really changed my game and just being truly supportive and happy for other people's success.
SPEAKER_01Yes. When we get on our road of um having our why, and you know, hopefully, or one of the most fulfilling things for many people is the constant learning. And because there's always something to learn, and there's always a little spot in a run that was wasn't even a winning run. And to watch the video, not because, oh man, that was so awful, but because you want to you want to polish it. You just want to keep you want to keep picking up the pieces, you want to keep finding the pieces, you want to put the puzzle together. And I think that when or there will always be people at a competition who are more experienced, have a better horse, whatever it is, just have just a few more years or a lot more years down the line. And then there's always gonna be the people who have not, you know, like that are just starting out and really green, don't really know. And I think that we can to me when I watch the really great writers, I just like want to learn. I want to take, I want to learn from them what I want to adopt and put into my program. You know, what how do they make that cut? How do they step up there and slither through those cattle and present themselves to the judge and put their hand down and and uh whereas the next person even that they might even do well, but I don't care for their style as much. I'd rather emulate the other one. And so to me, the people who are more accomplished are uh a comparison of better or worse than us, um, for uh for our value or our worthiness is very toxic. But as learning from them and taking pieces, and if we really have this mindset of growth, you know, I just want to keep getting better, so then you can admire people and you can say, I love what they do with that, and I know how hard they work to get to get there, and I'm respectful of that, and then the and you can admire their performance no matter even how they treat that's not the right word, but how they interact with you, because what you're doing is taking what you um admire about them, and then the people who are don't have as much experience, you have this golden opportunity to encourage them, you know, to share a tip if they want it, or just say, you know, keep going, everybody's been where you are, you're doing great. I saw you last weekend, and that first barrel looks a lot better, you know, whatever it is, because that means so much to those people, just like if a rock star person came up to one of us and said, Gosh, Barb, you look good out there. You know, I go like, oh man, Jesus just spoke to me, you know, and told me how good I look. So I think that there are opportunities on both sides, and that's how we can enjoy other people without comparison as we embrace and give gratitude that we're on our own road and grateful for wherever we are.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so good. And it's so powerful when you really step into that place and it resonates with I think everything, like that energy that we're kind of putting out. Like, I feel like we're gonna get it back as well with our performance because we're just coming at such a such a like a true pure place. And going like my little comment for the comparison, because I was I struggled with that when I was younger, because I, you know, I used to be really good when I was young, and then then you get to the next level and doesn't happen always how you want to happen, and you look at other people wishing that you could be them almost, and that again, it's not a good place, it's kind of toxic. And then for me, my turning point was that everyone has their ups and downs, or the bad things that have happened in their life, and it's like if you're gonna be jealous of them, then you have to be jealous of all of them, every aspect, and usually you realize that you don't want that, so you really again have to stay true to your own path and just honor that as much as you possibly can.
SPEAKER_01So, yeah, that's really good, Shoei. It's like, well, I really sometimes I wish I was you, but would I trade your problems or my trap problems? Right, I'll keep mine. Yeah, I'm I'm familiar with them.
SPEAKER_00Oh exactly, that's so cool. That's been such a good conversation and so much value. And I just want to talk a little bit about so you're in cutting, you were training cutting horses, and then got invested and involved with more of the performance aspect of our mindset and just you know performing and showing up in that way after the training. So, your accomplishments, like I want to talk a little bit about that. What was it like with the cutting, being one of the first women to win those two legs of the triple crown? Can you walk us through that experience?
SPEAKER_01Yes. Um, well, it's always magic, feels like magic when you win. There's just no getting around that. And I I always uh say that God lines up, at least in cutting. And I don't know if it's like this in barrel racing, but you know that you know, that as you know, Shelby, there's so many things that have to come together. Your horse has to, you know, be just right, you know, he has to feel good, you have to ride well, whatever. And in cutting, we have you have to cut the right cows, all that stuff. And so I was just learning all of this information I that I mentioned to you in Florida, and I I just I just you know slept, slept and drank it and ate it and thought about it all the time and could see the difference. And you know, part of that training is not to think about the outcome because you have no control of the outcome. So when I won, it was really kind of like, whoa, that was cool. Not that I didn't think I could win, but I just was so immersed in getting my horse ready and doing all the stuff. So it was just um really cool. One of the horses was um, it wasn't a horse that I trained, it was a horse that I was a catch rider for. And he was just this fun, big, tall horse, long neck, and put his head way down in front of a cow and did all this stuff. And anyway, I worked last, you know, on the whole show and and one on tough cows. And you know, it just like I like I said, it's a little bit like Moses and the scene's parting when it happens, but you know, it's it was exciting. And I'm I'm very I'm very grateful for uh any successes that I've had, you know, feel humbled and very, very grateful.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's awesome. And I've actually had a similar experience this year. I feel like I've had a really big turning point to more of your approach and your viewpoint of competition. And I had uh two of my futurity runs back to back, they each one got better. And I was so shocked at the result because I wasn't even thinking about it. You know, I was just like you said, working my horse, doing my job. And then when I heard the time, it was like because like it actually worked. I was like, this is amazing.
SPEAKER_01I know it's kind of like icing on the cake. And when you do that, and when you really are doing your job and immersed in it and feeling good, and and you do if you don't do well, you know that you've done everything that you can, and that's all that you can do. And when you do do well, it's it just really is like a you know, it's just a big, big smile. So congratulations.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thank you. I uh yeah, it was really cool. And yeah, it was just it is, it's that it's just the reason that we show up, right? Like it was just again the icing on the cake. I like just what you said of if you know you did all the work, even if you don't get the results, you can still feel kind of confident and sure that maybe it wasn't your day. Cause again, like you said, there's so many variables involved and actually, you know, all the stars aligning for you. And sometimes it just takes a while. But again, if you know that you're doing the work and like people listening, they're listening because they want to learn and evolve and grow. So if you keep applying these principles, and let's say you don't get the actual results, but you can be confident in yourself that you are doing the work and you're showing up. So I don't want to leave you too much longer, but I just really, really um really thankful for you for spending the time with us. And for anyone listening, yeah, anyone listening that wants to follow you and find out more, where can they find you?
SPEAKER_01My website is Barbara, and that's B-A-R-B-R-A. It spells a little bit differently. Shulte S-Ch U L T E dot com. I'm excited we're redoing our website. So um that's a certainly a work in progress. And then um I have a Facebook page, Barbara Schulte. It's called uh Barbara Schulte, the best way to ride. And I, you know, post memes, and I have um, oh, this is something that your listeners might really like. I have a daily Monday through Friday inspiration that I do that I send out, and it's just anywhere from like six to ten lines, short sentences, uh, just about anything from purpose to visualization to horsemanship, and they're free, and so people can go to my website and sign up for those. Um, and then my Facebook page, those two places.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01I do online courses that I open and close, and um, with the launch of my new website, some of my courses that I've opened and closed in the past will be open and available for people. One of them is Shine in the Showpen, which might be something that people would be interested in. So and I do Sunday videos that are uh free and usually three to five or six minutes, and I just have fun and talk about some concept. So it could be performance, it might be horsemanship. I have a horse named Nick, is famous in some circles. Yeah. So anyway.
SPEAKER_00Awesome, cool. Yeah, hopefully everyone checks that out. I do have one final question that I forgot to ask, but if there's one last piece of advice, one final thing that you want all of us thinking about, and you know, just that one final piece of advice, what would it be?
SPEAKER_01Um, it would be to really listen to your heart about what you love and what your dream is, and if it's something that you want to do or be, or that you just never stop believing in that. Like never never let self-doubt, no matter what the results are, just never allow that to tarnish something that you love and just never give up. So that's what I'd say.
SPEAKER_00I love it. Thank you so much, Barbara, for taking the time and doing this today and really, really enjoyed our conversation. Thank you, Shelby.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for having me and thank you to all the listeners. I uh appreciate you all and I and I wish you all the best. And Shelby, you keep up your good work.
SPEAKER_00Thank you.
SPEAKER_01I will. Okay.