It’s a question weighing on Dirk Stroda’s mind. As the High-Performance Mental Coach for the Canadian eventing, dressage, and Paralympic equestrian teams, it’s Stroda’s job to help elite athletes peak...
Lesson canceled? Rained out of riding? Relegated to the bench by injury? When life throws a curve ball at your riding plans, you have a choice: You can binge watch...
Wouldn't you love to be known as the coolest horse show parent around? To be raved about by your own kids proudly as someone who has not only nailed their...
In sports psychology, we often talk about mental toughness and how to cultivate those characteristics as a rider. Here is what mental toughness is not. 1. Mentally tough riders are...
Mentally preparation is the path to peak performance. Whether your show is one day away or 30, there are countless things you can do as you countdown to the ring....
1. Choose "do" words Ella, an amateur rider trying desperately to conquer her nerves before her first competition, knows this phenomenon all too well. “I knew what I had to...
Tough thinking is not pie-in-the-sky thinking: “I am the greatest rider ever! I can beat anyone, anytime!” Sometimes toughness is wrongly associated with arrogance or ego. This could not be...
Riding is about communicating. You may be clear about your message, but how about the way it’s being delivered? What kind of communicator are you? The go alongs If you...
I am not good enough. I don’t have an equitation body. I’m too nervous, I’m such a wimp. Pretty discouraging isn’t it? Have you ever tried to shame yourself...
One of the challenges of fear is how it can leave you frozen and literally stop your ride. Your horse wonders where you went and either takes over or takes...
Learning a new skill? Here are the three stages you'll go through on the way to mastery. 1. The “Thinking” Stage When you are first attempting to learn a skill,...
