Episode 15

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Published on:

15th Nov 2022

Rebecca Hart | Purpose - How a Paralympic turns anger in to passion through her work

We welcome Rebecca Hart to the show! She is a High-Performance Paralympic Equestrian athlete and captain of Team USA. We talk about the systems and routines she uses to gear up for competing against global competition. We also discuss how she turned her anger from childhood into passion by working in Equestrian sports. Check out how she overcame the stigma of disability and leveled up her performance with openness and humility.

If you want to connect with Rebecca you can cheer for her on Instagram:

@rebeccahart136

Mentioned in this episode:

1on1 App Information

https://www.thinkmovethrive.com/1on1-app/

Transcript
Dallas:

Hey, everybody.

Dallas:

We're talking to Rebecca.

Dallas:

Heart today.

Dallas:

She is an amazing person, Paralympic equestrian athlete, and one of the few

Dallas:

people who've represented our country as team captain in the Paralympic Games.

Dallas:

You do not want to miss this conversation.

Announcer:

Welcome to the last 10%.

Announcer:

Your host, Dallas Burnett, dives into incredible conversations that

Announcer:

will inspire you to finish well finish well and finish strong.

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Finish strong.

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Listen as guests share their journeys and valuable advice on living in the last 10%.

Announcer:

If you are a leader, a coach, a business owner, or someone looking to level.

Announcer:

You are in the right place.

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Remember, you can give 90% effort and make it a long way, but it's finding

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out how to unlock the last 10% that makes all the difference in your life,

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your relationships, and your work.

Announcer:

Now here's Dallas.

Dallas:

Welcome.

Dallas:

Welcome to the last 10%.

Dallas:

I am Dallas Burnett.

Dallas:

I'm in Thrive Studio.

Dallas:

Sitting in my 1905 Koch Brothers Barber chair, and more importantly,

Dallas:

we have with us today Rebecca Hart.

Dallas:

She is a high performance equestrian athlete, captain

Dallas:

of the US equestrian team.

Dallas:

And not only that, she was really close to Thrive Studios just a few weeks

Dallas:

ago for the debut of a documentary that she's being featured in.

Dallas:

So welcome to the show.

Rebecca:

Oh my gosh.

Rebecca:

Thank you so much for having me.

Rebecca:

I'm excited to talk to you today.

Rebecca:

So tell us

Dallas:

a little bit about this new documentary you were speaking

Dallas:

on and part of kind of the launch.

Dallas:

Tell us about what was going on there.

Rebecca:

Yeah, I was super excited to come back up to Tryon, North Carolina.

Rebecca:

It was the Tryon International Film Festival.

Rebecca:

Premier of Paragold, which is a documentary about four para equestrian

Rebecca:

athletes trying to make the team for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics

Rebecca:

filmed and produced by Ron Davis.

Dallas:

That's awesome.

Dallas:

And so that's, uh, so you're at a film festival, so now you're

Dallas:

at film festival launches.

Dallas:

You're a captain of the equestrian team and you do it all.

Dallas:

You do it all.

Rebecca:

It has been a fun ride, pun.

Dallas:

So tell us a little bit about your story.

Dallas:

How did you, how did you get into riding and just the whole question,

Dallas:

Cause that's a very niche like thing, so how did that come about and

Dallas:

escalate to being on the Paralympic

Dallas:

team?

Rebecca:

I was a horse, crazy little girl.

Rebecca:

Kind of typical loved ponies.

Rebecca:

Had the horses in my bedroom that I would play with, but I grew

Rebecca:

up in downtown Pittsburgh, so I had no access to real horses.

Rebecca:

And my family is completely non horsey.

Rebecca:

I, uh, was coming back from a family vacation and there was a

Rebecca:

cardboard cut out sign on the side of the road that said pony rides.

Rebecca:

And I started shrieking, like a banchie in the backseat of my poor

Rebecca:

father's vehicle begging to pull over.

Rebecca:

And he finally, he was like, Okay.

Rebecca:

Okay.

Rebecca:

Pulled over and let me sit on that pony.

Rebecca:

And I found my life passion on a shaggy black little pony, and

Rebecca:

I have been doing it ever since and I have never looked back.

Dallas:

Wow.

Dallas:

That's awesome.

Dallas:

So a cardboard sign in the yard on a, on a road trip has, uh, some

Dallas:

credit that, um, has got you into the sport and got you going on that.

Dallas:

That's awesome.

Dallas:

Tell us a little bit about your story as a Paralympic athlete.

Dallas:

You've competed in many events and you're actually preparing now.

Dallas:

What are you preparing for right now?

Dallas:

Like, where are you at in the process of the next competition?

Rebecca:

We just finished the World Championships about four

Rebecca:

months ago and we are now gearing up for the next kind of cycle.

Rebecca:

So there's a world championships in the Paralympics and they're

Rebecca:

on kind of a rotating every two year to four year cycle.

Rebecca:

And so this January we are gonna start getting ready for the qualifications

Rebecca:

for Paris 2024 and the Paralympics.

Rebecca:

So it's gonna be about an 18 month process with different selection

Rebecca:

events that are pre-planned by our federation that all the athletes that are

Rebecca:

looking to qualify, go and compete at.

Rebecca:

And then it will come down to kind of a final selection process over

Rebecca:

the course of the next 18 months.

Dallas:

That's incredible.

Dallas:

So you've got the next 18 months to prepare for Paris in 2024.

Dallas:

That would be amazing anyway, just to go to Paris and then to

Dallas:

go and be riding And I understand.

Dallas:

You have a unique license.

Dallas:

We were talking about before the show.

Dallas:

You have this unique license where you can, you can travel

Dallas:

for free if you want to.

Dallas:

Yeah.

Dallas:

So tell everybody what you can do now.

Dallas:

So you're licensed to do what?

Rebecca:

I am a licensed airplane groom for sport horses.

Rebecca:

So basically means when we are traveling around the world, unlike having a human

Rebecca:

athlete, you just get on an airplane.

Rebecca:

We actually have to take all of our horses to these competitions all over the world.

Rebecca:

And the way you do that is you put 'em on an airplane, drive them out to the

Rebecca:

tarmac, you put 'em in what's called a.

Rebecca:

Basically thing, Horse Trailer without wheels, they load up, they

Rebecca:

get Forklifted into the bottom, that pallet locks into the floor.

Rebecca:

And then I am essentially their stewardess and I provide inflight snacks and drinks

Dallas:

That is so awesome.

Dallas:

I, I didn't even know that existed.

Dallas:

Like, I didn't even know.

Dallas:

But , you don't think about it, but the horses just don't appear.

Dallas:

They have to travel and , that kind of also adds another layer of complexity,

Dallas:

I'm sure that you're well aware of.

Dallas:

, if I'm an Olympic athlete and I'm gonna go and run on a track, or I'm

Dallas:

gonna go swim, or whatever it is that I'm doing, it's hard enough for me.

Dallas:

Get into the, the training mode to where I'm hitting at and peak, but you've

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got an additional layer of complexity.

Dallas:

You've got to now get this animal to peak at the same time and travel

Dallas:

well and, and get used to all that.

Dallas:

That's got to be extremely difficult.

Rebecca:

Definitely some serious logistics in how early do you go before the event?

Rebecca:

You really need to know your horse on a very personal level as an individual

Rebecca:

and also as an athlete, because like a human athlete, they get jet lag.

Rebecca:

Depending on where they are, if they're not as comfortable in that

Rebecca:

environment, depending on what their food situation is, we try and keep

Rebecca:

their food as consistent as possible.

Rebecca:

But grass and hay, depending on what country you, you in, can vary.

Rebecca:

So you wanna pay attention to the protein levels.

Rebecca:

There's the whole kind of nutritional and physical and

Rebecca:

mental aspect of keeping that.

Rebecca:

Course happy as an athlete on top of keeping yourself there.

Rebecca:

And unlike a human teammate, they don't understand the importance of

Rebecca:

necessarily that event that you're doing.

Rebecca:

They don't know that it's the Olympics, so you have to kind of import to

Rebecca:

them and have that partnership with them that stay with me in this

Rebecca:

moment, be present and be here.

Rebecca:

And it's a really fascinating process because in human

Rebecca:

sport you talk to your team.

Rebecca:

A horse doesn't speak English, so you have this incredible silent language

Rebecca:

that you craft with that animal and it's such a special, unique partnership

Rebecca:

and I don't think there's really anything else like that in the world.

Rebecca:

It's really fascinating.

Dallas:

Ah, that is awesome.

Dallas:

I love how you talk about that with passion and you just kind of, you can tell

Dallas:

you're just, there's the art of the craft there and, and so much we love routines at

Dallas:

Think, move, Thrive in the last 10% and we spend a lot of time thinking and talking.

Dallas:

, winning routines and routines that , really help us.

Dallas:

And obviously with the success that you've had in your career in the Olympics

Dallas:

and world Championships and all these things that you've been doing, I know

Dallas:

that you've got some go-to routines and things that you like to do to prepare

Dallas:

either in practice or for events.

Dallas:

Can you tell us and share with us, what, , routines that you use that really

Dallas:

set the stage for you to be competi?

Rebecca:

So I'm very systematic in kind of my breakdown.

Rebecca:

I like to have a plan, and of course that plan can be fluid, but

Rebecca:

I wanna have a, a general outline.

Rebecca:

And so what I do is I look at the main, say the Paralympics, we'll just use

Rebecca:

that as an example, that I know the exact date when the opening ceremony

Rebecca:

is, and the exact date that I'm going to compete the very first time.

Rebecca:

And I work backwards basically every single day.

Rebecca:

Through the selection all the way back through the qualification and

Rebecca:

selection procedures to know exactly what I am going to do, what my horse

Rebecca:

is gonna do, and then kind of build in.

Rebecca:

When you're an athlete, you wanna peak at the right moment cause you can't stay

Rebecca:

at top performance level that entire timeframe because it's just physically and

Rebecca:

mentally not possible to stay that prep.

Rebecca:

So you wanna buffer in that up and down.

Rebecca:

Mental preparation and get your horse to do it at the same time.

Rebecca:

And so for me, I know my horse quite well and know that without like

Rebecca:

that month out exactly every day, and we don't train hard every day.

Rebecca:

He also, I give him what I call field days to keep him fresh and happy.

Rebecca:

And just really work to make sure that he, my horse text is ready to trot down that

Rebecca:

center line on that really important day.

Rebecca:

And it's every day, even if it is a lighter training day, is important.

Rebecca:

And it's really, as an athlete and as in a professional, I think in

Rebecca:

anything that you do, you wanna have that system in place for me.

Rebecca:

So that's just kind of what has worked for me and my horse to

Rebecca:

kind of have a daily plan and.

Rebecca:

Change it as need be, but work backwards for months.

Rebecca:

It takes that long to get them to peak at the right moment.

Rebecca:

I

Dallas:

think that's such a good point.

Dallas:

You know, if you're leading a team or if you're leading a business,

Dallas:

like what you've laid out there is just fantastic because.

Dallas:

It's outcome based and outcome oriented.

Dallas:

So you're saying, this is the outcome that I want to achieve.

Dallas:

I'm going to lay out the interesting thing with what you just described

Dallas:

is the system that it takes to plan the outcome as best you can.

Dallas:

And then each day you're just working that plan.

Dallas:

But going through the system and saying, Okay, we're gonna travel

Dallas:

this period of time and we're going to, you know, have extra.

Dallas:

And also what I also loved about what you just said, which I think is

Dallas:

fascinating, I've been doing a lot of talks on burnout lately, battling

Dallas:

burnout, People all kind of different industries are struggling with that.

Dallas:

It's a cultural problem.

Dallas:

Um, it's a societal problem right now.

Dallas:

And I love how you say that you give your part of the process of achieving this

Dallas:

great outcome and peaking at the right.

Dallas:

Was giving your horse field days.

Dallas:

I love that.

Dallas:

I mean, that's so good because you just, it's like you can't

Dallas:

sustain peak performance.

Dallas:

Neither can the horse for, whatever it is, 30 days, just

Dallas:

every day just grinding it out.

Dallas:

You have to have some recovery time in there, some field days, and I think

Dallas:

that's so important as you set systems in place, plans in place for teams or

Dallas:

for organizations or business, looking at that outcome first and making

Dallas:

sure the system that you're running.

Dallas:

That's the part that's actually gearing you towards that.

Dallas:

But part of that has to be recovery.

Dallas:

I love that.

Dallas:

That's really good.

Dallas:

So now let's talk about your metal moments.

Dallas:

You've recently med in Paralympics and I loved how we were talking

Dallas:

before a show and , you had made a comment about sharing those.

Dallas:

Metal moments.

Dallas:

What does that mean for you sharing those metal moments with other people?

Rebecca:

You know, it's so easy to get wrapped up in that moment

Rebecca:

as you're seeing your flag go up.

Rebecca:

But as an athlete, as any athlete, I don't care what sport you're doing, you

Rebecca:

are a figurehead out there on the field of play, but it is the people that are

Rebecca:

behind you that helps get you there.

Rebecca:

So it's just as much their.

Rebecca:

As it is yours.

Rebecca:

For myself, it's so meaningful to share that medal with them and cause they have

Rebecca:

put the hours and the effort, maybe not necessarily in the actual competition,

Rebecca:

but into you as an athlete, as a person.

Rebecca:

And for me it makes it so much more meaningful to get to share that with

Rebecca:

them because it takes so many years and so, so much effort, so many

Rebecca:

behind the scenes hours that nobody.

Rebecca:

Pays attention to or recognizes, um, they just need that tip of the iceberg when

Rebecca:

you're actually standing on the podium.

Rebecca:

So I'd love to share that with my fellow teammates and also my personal

Rebecca:

team that got me to that podium.

Rebecca:

Yeah.

Dallas:

That's awesome.

Dallas:

And I think that's so true in life that anything that we accomplish that's

Dallas:

worthy and worthwhile is not on our own, just by ourself in a vacuum.

Dallas:

And I think that's why celebration and a shared celebration and a

Dallas:

shared recognition so important.

Dallas:

So important because, It's just so meaningful when someone recognizes

Dallas:

your efforts, even if they're small, but recognizes your efforts in that.

Dallas:

Especially like you said, you're the figurehead, you're seeing the medal,

Dallas:

you're seeing the flag come down for that person to say, you know, a, I

Dallas:

think it's really, and I would give you credit for this, a very humble

Dallas:

mindset, which is great because you're able to bring people with you that

Dallas:

continues to rally people around you, and I think that's so important.

Dallas:

So living in the last 10% for sure.

Dallas:

Is recognizing and having that shared celebration.

Dallas:

I think that's awesome.

Dallas:

Very thankful for that.

Dallas:

So it's not all been, you know, roses and you've had some setbacks

Dallas:

on this journey through the Olympics and, and what you've done.

Dallas:

Talk about some of those setbacks and, and obviously you had a funny story in Greece,

Dallas:

but, but let's talk about some setbacks and how that made you a better athlete.

Rebecca:

This is actually something I'm quite passionate about and

Rebecca:

I'm gonna actually go all the way back kind of before I found.

Rebecca:

Horses, if you're right with that.

Rebecca:

Because as a disabled person and as a disabled child, I had what they, It's a

Rebecca:

documented thing called magic thinking that like if you put on, I wasn't

Rebecca:

happy that I was disabled at that time.

Rebecca:

I'm perfectly comfortable with myself now, but it took a lot of effort to get there.

Rebecca:

As a kid, I wanted to be normal.

Rebecca:

I wanted to be like everyone else.

Rebecca:

That seemed like the end goal to me.

Rebecca:

I didn't wanna be different.

Rebecca:

I didn't wanna be unusual.

Rebecca:

So I tried all the typical little girl things.

Rebecca:

I tried gymnastics, I tried dancing.

Rebecca:

I thought as a kid that if I put on kinda that uniform, that leotard, that

Rebecca:

dance leotard, that all of a sudden I would be able to dance like everyone else

Rebecca:

and that my disability would go away.

Rebecca:

The world beats that out of you pretty quickly and you

Rebecca:

realize that's not how it works.

Rebecca:

But when I saw on the back of a horse, I didn't need my legs

Rebecca:

to work like everyone else.

Rebecca:

That horse, as long as I could figure out a way to communicate with.

Rebecca:

Allowed me to perform at the level that I wanted to.

Rebecca:

It was a light bulb moment for me in my life where basically I was able to

Rebecca:

take all of the anger and the hatred that I've had toward my disability and

Rebecca:

myself in that moment, which is a dark place to be and turn it into a passion

Rebecca:

for something and really set my life.

Rebecca:

On a whole new course and allow me to accept my disability and really

Rebecca:

come to terms with it, which I think was such a catalyst for the rest of

Rebecca:

my life to be able to achieve things.

Rebecca:

So those horses gave that to me.

Rebecca:

So that kind of coming to terms with my own disability

Rebecca:

was the first major setback.

Rebecca:

Getting to an Olympic team has a ton of others just in the athletic trials

Rebecca:

and tribulations as you have growing from a new bee amateur athlete to.

Rebecca:

Elite performance level, having the right horse, losing the ride on a horse

Rebecca:

if you don't own that horse, having to start up the new partnership, just the

Rebecca:

sheer financial expense of trying to fly horses back and forth around the country.

Rebecca:

All of those things can make this equestrian quite difficult in it.

Rebecca:

And for me, it was just this, I didn't come from a horse family and

Rebecca:

not from an incredible financial means to be able to just do.

Rebecca:

Kind of piecemealed it together and it was amazing to look back, you know, now

Rebecca:

that I've been doing it successfully, like how I got there and I kind of go, Wow.

Rebecca:

My younger self would've never believed . I would've made it to this stage.

Rebecca:

It's quite fun to kind of reflect and look back on

Dallas:

that path.

Dallas:

That's so amazing.

Dallas:

So I love your mindset and your approach on that and your discovery.

Dallas:

And thanks for being open and transparent about your, your journey

Dallas:

in that, because I could totally, It's just very encouraging cuz I think

Dallas:

there's a lot of people out there.

Dallas:

There may be some with a disability and there may be some that maybe

Dallas:

don't have a physical disability other than the way they think, you know?

Dallas:

And I think that the way that you were thinking through.

Dallas:

And your journey of thought from, Hey, I need to be and try to do and

Dallas:

fit in and be like everybody else, to, Hey, I've found work, I've found

Dallas:

purpose, and I've got this passion.

Dallas:

Now that really doesn't have to do with what I'm used to seeing as normal.

Dallas:

It's more for me like, this is who I made to be.

Dallas:

This is what I'm made to do.

Dallas:

And just finding that and being okay with that being.

Dallas:

Than what you originally said and said like, No, no, that's not, that's not me.

Dallas:

This is me and this is who I am.

Dallas:

Just gives you that freedom and you can just feel it.

Dallas:

Like when you're talking, you just feel this freedom because you put

Dallas:

down, , the stigmas or what you felt like, , society was saying you should

Dallas:

be, and you said, Look, this is who I am.

Dallas:

This is who I've made to be, and you're passionate about it.

Dallas:

And I loved how you talked about taking that anger.

Dallas:

And turn it into passion.

Dallas:

I think that's such a encouraging aspect of our work, , so there's so

Dallas:

many people that you know, have a craft and it may not be that you're on an

Dallas:

Olympic stage, but you have a craft.

Dallas:

It's your gift to the world,?

Dallas:

And I think that that is when we see it at its best, when it gives us this purpose,

Dallas:

to give of ourselves to the world.

Dallas:

I think that's just so great, and I love to hear you talk through

Dallas:

that and those setbacks as how it's changed you as a person.

Dallas:

It's really.

Dallas:

So tell us about when you were going through and you were getting more into the

Dallas:

equestrian field and you were developing as an athlete in that performance.

Dallas:

Was the process that you went through to make the Olympic team

Dallas:

and like at what point did that seed get planted in your mind?

Dallas:

Like, I think I wanna go after the Olympics, , I mean there's a lot of

Dallas:

people that like ponies and a lot of people that ride horses, but that's

Dallas:

a whole different deal than going and being the captain of the Olympic team.

Dallas:

So tell us kinda how that triggered happened.

Dallas:

That

Rebecca:

was actually, my mom had found an article in, it's a magazine called

Rebecca:

Practical Horseman, about the 1996 Paralympic team that competed in Atlanta.

Rebecca:

That was actually the first time that equestrian was

Rebecca:

included in the Paralympics.

Rebecca:

And she said, you should take a look at this.

Rebecca:

And I originally wasn't interested because I was a jumper at that time.

Rebecca:

And the only discipline that they.

Rebecca:

Included in the Paralympics was dressage, which is, think of it like a gymnastic.

Rebecca:

Dressage is kind of gymnastics for horses.

Rebecca:

You have a preset routine that you perform in front of a panel of judges and then

Rebecca:

are scored on how well you execute that.

Rebecca:

I thought that wasn't going to be particularly, The venue that I wanted

Rebecca:

to go, but I went down, They offered a kind of a coaching, mentoring, mentorship

Rebecca:

at the show in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rebecca:

I went down and I tried it and I got to sit on my first dressage

Rebecca:

horse, and I went, Oh my gosh.

Rebecca:

This is fascinating because I had never had that level of

Rebecca:

communication with a horse.

Rebecca:

And then trying to figure out what it's called is catch riding,

Rebecca:

because at that point you didn't have to own your own horse to

Rebecca:

compete on the international level.

Rebecca:

You showed up as a athlete and then your federation would draw the horses

Rebecca:

that they had kind of pulled from the resources around that competition.

Rebecca:

People would donate their horses.

Rebecca:

You had probably max of three hours to kind of get to know each other,

Rebecca:

and then you competed, which was a.

Rebecca:

Like I look back at at it now, I've been competing the same horse for

Rebecca:

six years, and I still am getting to know him and know his reactions.

Rebecca:

So to be able to go to an international event and you have three hours to kind

Rebecca:

of figure each other out on top of that horse has probably been ridden most

Rebecca:

of its life by an able bodied rider to then add the question mark of how is

Rebecca:

it going to respond to my disability?

Rebecca:

It was a fascinating process.

Rebecca:

It seems like

Dallas:

that whole process would be very difficult and make the

Dallas:

results sporadic because it's not about, The horse may be skillful.

Dallas:

You may be skillful.

Dallas:

You put the two together.

Dallas:

I don't know, like what happens.

Dallas:

You just don't know.

Dallas:

You don't know the horse.

Dallas:

The horse doesn't know you, and that's the same for all the other riders.

Dallas:

So it just seems like.

Dallas:

Almost like you're rolling.

Dallas:

Everybody just rolls the dice and it's like whichever combination kind of feels

Dallas:

right that day for after three hours is the ones that's gonna have the advantage.

Dallas:

Is that kind of how it went?

Rebecca:

That is exactly how it went.

Rebecca:

So it wasn't always necessarily the best.

Rebecca:

For sports, and it was in 2004 that they switched that role and they basically

Rebecca:

made it own horse competition and that was the catalyst that just skyrocketed

Rebecca:

the quality of the sport itself into like the next stratosphere because you

Rebecca:

actually could, All those things that you just said about what kind of horse

Rebecca:

did you get, what is the talent of that?

Rebecca:

You then as an athlete, were able to go find the partner that worked for you

Rebecca:

and that worked for your disability.

Rebecca:

All of those aspects are so incredibly important.

Rebecca:

Do you want to have, Cause every horse's personality also

Rebecca:

plays into their performance.

Rebecca:

I personally, as a rider, enjoy to have a slightly hotter horse.

Rebecca:

Meaning that they're more hotter in horse kind of dialogue, is that they are

Rebecca:

more self-motivated, they're more going.

Rebecca:

And the reason I want that is cuz I have no leg to be able to

Rebecca:

help create energy on that horse.

Rebecca:

So I wanna be able to contain energy rather than create energy.

Rebecca:

I find that it just works better for my own partnership with that horse.

Rebecca:

And now you have time to put your performance together and your routines

Rebecca:

together in a much more professional.

Rebecca:

Level.

Rebecca:

Cause you also have a freestyle, which is set to music that needs to

Rebecca:

match the tempo of your horse's date.

Rebecca:

And if you didn't know what horse you were riding, how do

Rebecca:

you match the tempo of the music?

Rebecca:

So there's, there were so many aspects that made it super challenging that when

Rebecca:

it switched to own, it has just been.

Rebecca:

So much growth and improvement, and even after, like I've had

Rebecca:

techs and we've competed in many, many major championships together.

Rebecca:

I still feel like every time I go down Centerline, we learn

Rebecca:

something new about each other and can make a better performance.

Rebecca:

So it's super exciting to kind of.

Rebecca:

Have watched it develop.

Dallas:

That's so cool that you've seen that progression.

Dallas:

All right, so I have to make a confession to you.

Dallas:

I am, I've ridden horses before, but my first experience

Dallas:

riding a horse was not great.

Dallas:

It was like, I was a teenager.

Dallas:

We went on this trip.

Dallas:

It was a bunch of teenagers.

Dallas:

We end up in Tennessee.

Dallas:

It was on some weekend, , retreat thing.

Dallas:

And they took us to this place that was supposed to go riding horses and you know,

Dallas:

on a trail and you follow people around.

Dallas:

It's the first time I'd ever got on a horse and they're bringing

Dallas:

out these majestic stallions.

Dallas:

I mean, they were just huge, amazing horses.

Dallas:

And this person gets this and this, and I don't know if they just did it

Dallas:

to punk me or what, but they brought my horse out and its name, if it tells you

Dallas:

anything about the horse, its name was q.

Dallas:

And so, you know you're in trouble when you get assigned the horse

Dallas:

named Q-Tip at the back of the line.

Dallas:

So we get on the horse and it's like getting too close to the horse in

Dallas:

front of it, and then the horse in front of it kicks it in the face

Dallas:

and then it goes off the trail.

Dallas:

And.

Dallas:

My feet are like almost dragging the ground.

Dallas:

It was, it was like, come on Q-tip, you just gotta get me to the finish line.

Dallas:

And so it was a pretty rough ride.

Dallas:

But me and Q-tip, we did finish the race, but I can't imagine cuz they

Dallas:

were like, if you want to go, you just click your heels, , at the bottom.

Dallas:

Just do that and you feel like you have a certain feel with

Dallas:

the horse, , with everything.

Dallas:

How do.

Dallas:

What are the adjustments that you have to make?

Dallas:

Like you talked about a system being very deliberate earlier.

Dallas:

Is there a system or process?

Dallas:

Cuz you had talked about getting to know your horse and then

Dallas:

you riding it differently.

Dallas:

How have you been able to adapt the horse and yourself to do what you do?

Rebecca:

That's

Rebecca:

actually a really awesome question because most people think about riding horses.

Rebecca:

They use their arms and their hands with the reins and their legs to

Rebecca:

cue the horse to go faster for myself and everyone has their own.

Rebecca:

System in para equestrian for me, I can't use my legs at all, so I have to create

Rebecca:

a new language and then teach that horse that language because most of the horses

Rebecca:

that I have are older and have already been trained by an able bodied rider.

Rebecca:

So I like to give myself.

Rebecca:

About six months before a competition in about a full year for a major competition

Rebecca:

to really get to know a new horse.

Rebecca:

For example, I just recently purchased a new young horse that we're trying to

Rebecca:

bring along and we're kind of aiming him for Paris and for me, that language

Rebecca:

and dialogue that I create with those horses is a series of weight shifts

Rebecca:

and vocal cues along with raining.

Rebecca:

A horse is very, very sensitive.

Rebecca:

They can feel a fly land on them, so you can shift your weight and talk to them.

Rebecca:

By doing that, you're sitting on their back.

Rebecca:

So they have to balance what is on top of them.

Rebecca:

So if I shift slightly to the left or the right, that horse then knows

Rebecca:

they need to go left or right.

Rebecca:

And then I use my voice where someone would necessarily use a

Rebecca:

leg aid, like a squeeze to tell that horse to go faster or slower.

Rebecca:

I can't do that.

Rebecca:

So I will use a series of clicks, what we call like clucking in equestrian.

Rebecca:

I teach them different noises to mean each date, and I try and get off like

Rebecca:

the traditional, like, which is the kinda classic go faster in horse.

Rebecca:

So I use a pop.

Rebecca:

So I go, which is basically shipped up to the next gate and then like a kind of an

Rebecca:

undertone per to ask them to slow down.

Rebecca:

In addition to you contract your abs and stop following with your own

Rebecca:

body that tells them to slow down.

Rebecca:

That's what hooked me with dressage actually, is how much

Rebecca:

dialogue you can actually have.

Rebecca:

With a 1200 pound animal and the amazingly athletic FES that you can

Rebecca:

get them to do, it does take a lot of repetition and praise and reward.

Rebecca:

So I like to give myself that timeframe to kind of teach them my language.

Dallas:

I needed your help when I was riding Q-Tip through

Dallas:

the mountains of Tennessee.

Dallas:

There's no doubt you could have helped me.

Dallas:

I don't know if there was a pop or a click or anything that would've

Dallas:

actually helped me that day with the Q-tip, but we did make it.

Dallas:

But I, That is so fascinating the level, you just don't think about that in

Dallas:

terms of watch a lot of horse events because of the equestrian centers.

Dallas:

We go up to the international question center quite a few times a year just to

Dallas:

see, cuz you know, like you've brought in horses and you've, seen and competed

Dallas:

against horses all over the world.

Dallas:

And other riders all over the world.

Dallas:

We just enjoy that and being a part of this community, it's

Dallas:

interesting to look at it.

Dallas:

I don't think I'll look at it the same because I look at it to this

Dallas:

point, I've looked at it mostly from the standpoint of the horse.

Dallas:

Like, is the horse gonna, jump over this?

Dallas:

Is he gonna knock the bar down or is he gonna walk the right way?

Dallas:

But now the way you describe it, it's almost.

Dallas:

It's almost like the ability for the horse and you to communicate at a

Dallas:

very, very tight, intimate, nuanced level and the ability for the horse

Dallas:

and you to kind of become one and just do this kind of dance thing.

Dallas:

It's just amazing to think about that and the, and the level of complexity

Dallas:

that you have to go through to do that.

Dallas:

I just think that's so interesting too, because I think it goes also.

Dallas:

Organizations and teams.

Dallas:

I think when you live in the last 10%, if you want to create a culture

Dallas:

that's high performing in your organization or team, I think you've

Dallas:

got to get outside of the mindset.

Dallas:

That everyone should communicate either with you or you should

Dallas:

communicate to everyone the same way, in the same tactics.

Dallas:

I think that you are adapting your communication style to you and your horse.

Dallas:

So if you have a horse that likes this or that and you're finding what

Dallas:

works for you, and if you want to get a high performing team and you're,

Dallas:

you're managing high performing team or an organization, I think adapting

Dallas:

that communication style to your.

Dallas:

Your outcome is success.

Dallas:

Not that everybody communicates with you the same way necessarily, , And then

Dallas:

we've gotta have systems and processes.

Dallas:

But I do think on an individual level, some people like really direct feedback.

Dallas:

Some people, would melt with really harsh direct feedback.

Dallas:

And so understanding your team like you did, it takes six months to

Dallas:

a year to get to know that horse.

Dallas:

I think so many people miss that when they're leading teams and organizations.

Dallas:

They miss the ability to.

Dallas:

Get to know your people, really get to know your people so that

Dallas:

you know what makes them tick.

Dallas:

And hopefully if you have, if you're working on a high performing team, you've

Dallas:

got a manager, you would understand your manager, a leader, that you

Dallas:

would understand what makes them tick.

Dallas:

So you can do the dance, you know, you can be successful and high performing on that.

Dallas:

So I I love that.

Dallas:

I love that.

Dallas:

So tell us a little bit about, so now we've got , your expertise in that real.

Dallas:

Your first experience.

Dallas:

You told us the first time you kinda was exposed to it in Atlanta, but

Dallas:

then there was another Olympics that you had an interesting experience.

Dallas:

You, you had not made the team, but you had, I think you were an alternate.

Dallas:

Is that right?

Dallas:

Tell us about that experience and how that elevated your game.

Rebecca:

That

Rebecca:

was the 2004 Paralympics in a.

Rebecca:

And I had not made the team.

Rebecca:

I was still a pretty ranked newbie in 2004, so to make the alternate

Rebecca:

was still pretty spectacular.

Rebecca:

But they offered me this amazing opportunity to be a traveling

Rebecca:

alternate and get to go and experience without the pressure of having to

Rebecca:

compete, which was really special.

Rebecca:

We were going to dinner and we had gotten lost.

Rebecca:

Our car had essentially broken down on the side of the road.

Rebecca:

We're sitting in this car.

Rebecca:

I was with another athlete and her parents, about four guys with

Rebecca:

pretty big guns come and walk and kind of surround this vehicle.

Rebecca:

And it was one of those moments where you're like, this is gonna either

Rebecca:

be a hundred percent fine or this gonna end really badly, . Oh my gosh.

Rebecca:

So we kinda tentatively roll down that window and go, Hello . And

Rebecca:

they ended up being great.

Rebecca:

They took us to a local restaurant, towed the car.

Rebecca:

Helped us.

Rebecca:

We ordered, we had an amazing dinner and got back on the road.

Rebecca:

Then it was in that moment of really I got to watch my friends compete and be

Rebecca:

incredibly successful and I realized that I needed to up my gain if I

Rebecca:

wanted to do that as well, and I went.

Rebecca:

Home from that experience and completely revamped my system, my training

Rebecca:

methods of how I was gonna do that.

Rebecca:

That's kind of when I started backtracking.

Rebecca:

I had realized that I had not prepared adequately to get to the selection

Rebecca:

trials and get to the competition and not even remotely prepared enough to

Rebecca:

actually compete on the Olympic level.

Rebecca:

So that's when that kinda.

Rebecca:

System of backtracking and planning when I was gonna peak and what competitions I

Rebecca:

was gonna do strategically to get myself and my horse ready for that next game.

Rebecca:

So it was a broken down car on the side of the road and some.

Rebecca:

Good Greek food that made me change my path.

Dallas:

That's such a great story.

Dallas:

You know, when you're outside of your normal and natural environment, it's

Dallas:

already, you're kinda like, oh man.

Dallas:

But then to see people walking up with large guns, that is

Dallas:

definitely unnerving for sure.

Dallas:

That's an awesome story.

Dallas:

I think you just spoke to, like what gets to the heart of why the last 10%

Dallas:

podcast exists and, and a lot of the other things we do at Think We Thrive.

Dallas:

If you want to live in that last 10%, which you obviously are in the

Dallas:

last 1%, you're living in the top 1%.

Dallas:

But if you wanna live in the last 10%, really your example just showcases,

Dallas:

again, your level of openness and humility is just tremendous because you're not,

Dallas:

You went into that and you weren't like, Well, you know, next year I'm

Dallas:

gonna be better than all these people and you know I'm gonna be, you were.

Dallas:

I'm looking at them with great respect.

Dallas:

I'm open to seeing how hard they prepare all the work that they put in.

Dallas:

I wanna be a part of this.

Dallas:

If I wanna be a part of this, I need to go back and up my game.

Dallas:

And I think that response that you made in that moment was so good.

Dallas:

And obviously it's paid off in spades.

Dallas:

If you're running an organization or a team, we are doing the last 10% podcast

Dallas:

for you so that you can get insights for you and for your team members.

Dallas:

When you wanna look out, and I would say outside of just this podcast,

Dallas:

we're bringing on amazing guests.

Dallas:

So that gives you insight into what other people are doing, some

Dallas:

ideas and how people are managing their, their last 10%, so that you

Dallas:

can take those back and assimilate 'em for your team, organization.

Dallas:

And I think that you've got to have.

Dallas:

An openness about you that would be open to that.

Dallas:

So if you're gonna go and like what you did, you benchmarked all these

Dallas:

other athletes there and said, Look, I'm looking around and seeing what

Dallas:

they're doing and I'm gonna do that too.

Dallas:

That's such a fantastic example.

Dallas:

If you wanna have a high performing team or high performing organization,

Dallas:

I think one of the questions you've got to ask yourself is, who are you

Dallas:

looking at that's better than you?

Dallas:

Whether it's a person.

Dallas:

Or a company, who are you looking at that's better than you?

Dallas:

And what are you changing to improve, , deliberately, intentionally?

Dallas:

What are you doing to do that?

Dallas:

And if you can't answer one of those questions, I think that's

Dallas:

tough, ? And I think that's a challenge that you should definitely

Dallas:

think about if you're a listener.

Dallas:

You've made it to the top and you're continuing to prepare for Paris.

Dallas:

We're excited.

Dallas:

We'll be cheering for you.

Dallas:

Maybe we'll have, we'll have you on maybe the last 10% again after you go to Paris

Dallas:

to hear your experience on that as well.

Dallas:

But one of the things that you're passionate about is overcoming

Dallas:

the stigma of disability.

Dallas:

And one of the ways that we were talking about before the show is

Dallas:

that you give back by, by going and.

Dallas:

Other people.

Dallas:

Tell us a little bit about, you know, your experience in that

Dallas:

giving back and then your message to people that you're working with.

Rebecca:

Absolutely.

Rebecca:

So that actually is so rewarding for me and it.

Rebecca:

Doesn't always have to be something sport related.

Rebecca:

It can be just in life in general.

Rebecca:

I remember feeling so hopeless and so angry as a child with a disability

Rebecca:

and not knowing where to go and not really always wanting to talk to,

Rebecca:

you know, maybe the adults around me.

Rebecca:

I wanted to have somebody my own age or younger or slightly older that I.

Rebecca:

To kind of lean on and and hear their experiences.

Rebecca:

So I've really enjoyed getting to go and talking to younger kids with disabilities

Rebecca:

and really just anyone in general, letting them realize that the world so often

Rebecca:

wants us to kind of stay in our lane and stay on the stereotypical normal.

Rebecca:

And what I want them to try and embrace, I want you to realize that it's the point.

Rebecca:

The unusual becomes normal that extraordinary things can happen.

Rebecca:

We're all have something about us that is different, and that I think is where

Rebecca:

we get our strengths and our power.

Rebecca:

Getting people to realize that and embrace that, that's when as a society

Rebecca:

as a whole, we are going to become so much stronger and so much more

Rebecca:

connected to realize that it is things that separate us that can actually

Rebecca:

bring us closer and make us strong.

Dallas:

I

Dallas:

love that.

Dallas:

I love that message.

Dallas:

That's so good.

Dallas:

When the unusual things become normal, extraordinary things can happen.

Dallas:

I love that because , it's like you're saying, you're not just

Dallas:

saying, This is my uniqueness.

Dallas:

You're embracing that and saying, No, this is my new normal.

Dallas:

This uniqueness is now I'm resting in that.

Dallas:

You know that being the new normal or my normal, it just opens you up.

Dallas:

, It just opens you up to the world.

Dallas:

You don't have to be, like you said, if you were, if you were approaching

Dallas:

things with anger, then it would make it hard for you to connect

Dallas:

with other people, , cuz you'd be closed off or you'd be bitter or mad.

Dallas:

And just by taking that in, you have such a, a great spirit about you and just such

Dallas:

openness about you just opens that up.

Dallas:

I think you're exactly right.

Dallas:

I think that people, if you wanna live in the last 10%, You know, one of the things

Dallas:

that I think that your mindset shift early in life has shown is just that you have

Dallas:

to be, and you have to continually be open to who you are and your uniqueness,

Dallas:

and bringing that to bear on the world, versus trying to be in somebody else's

Dallas:

shoes or live somebody else's life or some other way, or fit in a box.

Dallas:

You know, I think that's, I think that's a fantastic message.

Dallas:

That's so good.

Dallas:

Rebecca, this has been just such a pleasure.

Dallas:

I'm just so thankful that we could get you on the show.

Dallas:

I'm so thankful for all your work.

Dallas:

Thank you for representing our country.

Dallas:

In fact, we were talking and you had, you were wearing your

Dallas:

USA official practice outfit.

Dallas:

Why don't you share with our listeners how they can get in contact with you if

Dallas:

they want to reach out and wish you luck in Paris or maybe even have you come out

Dallas:

and, , speak to their group organization.

Rebecca:

That would be amazing.

Rebecca:

So you can find me on.

Rebecca:

Social media, Instagram.

Rebecca:

My handles are at Rebecca Hart, 1 36.

Dallas:

Awesome, Awesome.

Dallas:

All right, we'll put that in the show notes as well.

Dallas:

So if you want to reach out and connect with Rebecca, you can do that.

Dallas:

Go into the show notes and you'll see those in there as well.

Dallas:

Thank you for being on the show and, and thank you for sharing

Dallas:

your story and good luck as you get ready and prepare for Paris.

Dallas:

We'll be cheering you

Dallas:

on.

Rebecca:

Oh my gosh.

Rebecca:

Thank you so much.

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About the Podcast

The Last 10%
Inspiring People, Coaching Teams, and Improving Cultures
Join The Last 10% for incredible conversations that help uncover the secrets of what it takes to finish well and finish strong. Our guests share their journeys, hardships, and valuable advice. We release new episodes every other Tuesday. If you are a leader, a coach, a business owner, or someone looking to level up, you are in the right place!

You can give 90% effort and make it a long way. But it’s the finding out how to unlock the last 10% that makes all the difference in your life, your relationships, and your work.

About your host

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Dallas Burnett