winning mentality

[Deanna German <dgerman@earthlink.net>]

>

KSwigart writes:

> p.s.  If you take your blinders off and read carefully the
> Webster's definition of "to win" that Tom quoted in his
> post, you should find it very easy to discover that there is
> not one word in there about crossing the finish line first.

Hmmm.... your Webster's must be different than mine...... mine
specifically references being first in a race; being victorious.

Nonetheless, you bring up some interesting points. I shall be reading
the AERC rules carefully for myself to see if they do indeed read as you
represent in your post. So why are ribbons and placings awarded at rides
if the state of affairs is as you represented? And I never said I WOULD
win or even COULD win. All I said is that I WANT to win. Some folks are
so busy trying to soothe ruffled feathers and being nicey nice that they
forget it's a competition. I was guffawed at recently for rubbing my
mare's ears to bring her pulse down. What was that? I also strip tack if
I think it will help. Guffaws for that. At a particularly hot ride, I
was fanning my mount with a paper plate while waiting for a pulse check.
You guessed it: guffaws. From this I get the sense that some feel that
it is "wrong" to be competitive or want to win.

In any case,this  "winning mentality" thing was brought up by the FEI
discussion and what it takes to build an elite athlete for something
like the WEC. There, outside of AERC rules, riders are certainly riding
to win. Having a "winning mentality" is not the same as a "win at any
cost" mentality. Tom Ivers has a "winning mentality." His butt might not
be in the saddle, but his contribution to building winners cannot be
dismissed.

So here I am, being maligned for my desire to win by kat on RC... kat,
do you see the irony?

Deanna