Winning

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How much does everyone gauge their progress by winning (or not?) - or by placings in general?

For example, to me, I compete to win, there is only one placing that counts etc etc but, I can be very dissapointed with myself (and occasionally the horse) even if we win because really, placings are no more to do with you than they are everybody else and so sometimes, I would do a test that i'm not pleased with but win, this would not make me think "Oh excellent, I won". I would remain dissapointed and think "everyone else must have done badly too!!"
Some people I know are happy if they win. End of. I do not get this!!
Also (this is mainly dressage peeps!) If you do a test, and you are not pleased and you know it wasn't really that great, and you get your score and it is pretty good, are you then happy because the score is good, or do you remain dissapointed because you know you can do so much better?

What do you all think?
 
I'm always aiming to beat myself to be honest. There are always going to be people better than me (which is why i'll never win an Olympic medal!!!!!) but I hate it when I know I ought to have done better. Those moments when I surprise myself are the best of my life!
 
I always set myself a target on how well i want to do - ie to get a dressage score below 35, clear showjump and max of 1 stop across country - so I dont get my hopes up (as this is my first year of BE), and at least then im realistic on how well we've done.
Never won a class in my life - got hundreds of seconds though!! typical!! Lol!
 
If I aimed to beat everyone else I'd never go out. I try for the sake of my sanity to better myself each time I go out. For example I have gone out and been bottom but gone much better and got, for me, a good score and been over the moon. But have also gone out and been well placed but got what I would consider a crap score and been very dissappointed. I'm still ambitious and would love to win but I dont get upset if i'm not first. Maybe as I get better and get some more confidence my competetive streak will come out...
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For me, as long as the horse performs well and we do well together, I'm not "in it to win it" so to speak!

I hate dressage with a passion - it is so unfair and biast I have given up. Your marks mean nothing because it all depends on the judge at the end of the day.

With jumping as long as I ride well and the horse tries I'm happy!
 
I'm naturally harsh on myself, so am always pleased when we have done well, because to be honest, if i'd ridden a truly amazing test, i would still put myself down!! We've had a couple of very good results recently that ive been v.v.pleased with, yet before I knew the result I was pleased with the XC, but putting my Dr and SJing down. SO always pleased with the result, but could always do better in my own eyes!!
 
I do not go out to win, only to go out and do the best I can on that day and help to instill confidence in to my horse. Yes it is nice to win, but it is not the be all and end all. I have always had awkward, challenging horses and winning is a rarity, it is more about getting round, surviving etc. Guess I prefer that as it has made me a better rider and I was not that spoilt brat on a pony that did it all
 
I agree with that!!
I always think it could be better, but I think that is the best way to think because it probably always can and at least then you strive for more!
Everyone thinks I am quite hard on the critique side but i'm a perfectionist and I really think it is the only way to improve!!
 
I would love to go out and win every week but that would not satisfy me as I want to see progress in me and the horse.
Jumping wise I aim to jump a double clear and if we are jumping well to go out and try and win.
Dressage wise I aim for my horse to improve each time out and hate not getting above 60%. I am getting very disheartened at the moment with dressage as my horse has improved since june but are marks are not really reflecting this. I have also been watching others in my class and at times i get even more disheartened, especially when you see them make lots of mistakes and still get a better mark than you.
However at the end of the day once I have had time to reflect I can always find something positive out of the day and remember that at one point I thought I was never going to ride her again then I am happy
 
Well I guess it's better to think you've not done as well as you could and still win, than to think you've done your very best and still get a crap mark!! At least with scenario 1 obviously the judge thought you were good, and if you feel you've room for improvement then you're laughing!

I actually feel it's quite depressing going out and feeling like your horse has gone about as good as it could've gone at the time and you still finish nowhere. Makes you think 'what've I got to do?'. I know I should be pleased with how the horse went, and I am, but I'm too competitive to be content with that. That's why I find BE eventing a little demoralising sometimes as you're always competing against professionals, so winning is very difficult even if you think you've done a good job...
 
Winning is a bonus at the end of the day to me. It has been a long process getting my horse to do the simplest of things in the ring and we overcome something for it to be replaced by another 'problem' but we are getting there and doing better and better each time.

So i really just compete with myself to improve from the last time. I only show though as am a dressage phobe! The last few times we have been out I have had comments back from the judge, steward and people that have won the class to be told that I would have won if he had not been such a monkey and done this or that. That is great to hear in ways but just makes me feel pretty down grrrrrr to my cheeky cob.
 
Great Thread!!
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Also (this is mainly dressage peeps!) If you do a test, and you are not pleased and you know it wasn't really that great, and you get your score and it is pretty good, are you then happy because the score is good, or do you remain dissapointed because you know you can do so much better?


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If i feel that i have ridden a poor test and i actually receive a good mark i feel quite positive about it as i know i could of ridden a whole lot better and gained even higher marks. What i find annoying is riding your heart out and feeling really positive, only to find your score doesn't reflect your test at all. Now thats annoying because you don't know what to do next!! LOL!!
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What i find annoying is riding your heart out and feeling really positive, only to find your score doesn't reflect your test at all. Now thats annoying because you don't know what to do next!! LOL!!
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Yeah! That is even more annoying!!
It is quite funny that sometimes you can do what you feel was a nice test and get a mark lower than you felt it was worth and then other times you can feel it was a bit pants and then get a good percentage!!
That is basically what I was getting at though - overall I would feel much happier with myself and my horse in the first instance (I felt it was good but lower %), where as some people would automatically be happier with scenario 2 simply because the % (placing also maybe) was higher!
That is assuming it is just a nrmal comp - not regionals and nationals though!!
 
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