We breathe more than 20,000 times a day. Most of the time, we don’t give it much thought, since we do it automatically and all seems to go well… except when it doesn’t.

Analysis does have a dark side: it can lead to the “thinking too much” syndrome. Most riders have experienced this trap. Why does this happen? What can be done about it?

Either way, an idle rider with an idle mind can be a dangerous thing. You risk losing your fitness, your sanity, or both. It’s not going to be okay to just stay home and wallow in your misfortune. It’s time to figure out how best to use this unexpected windfall of free time to your advantage.

If you have been riding for some time, chances are you have come across a mount that challenged you. Or maybe he scared you. Perhaps the horse forced you to face that very difficult question: Is this the wrong horse for me… or is it just me? What can you do when fear cripples your riding experience?

There you are, standing at the in-gate, trying to present a picture of poise and confidence. But the reality is that there are butterflies slam-dancing against the walls of your stomach. Right now you want nothing more than to just get this over with so you don’t have to feel this way ever again. Then some well-meaning bystander offers you a granule of wisdom. “Just relax!” she chirps. Don’t you just hate those two little words?

Do you consider yourself to be a tough rider, or a tender one? No one is completely one or the other. Different situations elicit strengths and weakness to emerge in people. The challenge is to first know yourself well, then ask yourself how you can move along the toughness continuum. You don’t need to throw yourself into the fire to get tougher, just make a habit of going a little bit further than you are used to and over time you’ll find your strength increasing.

“My mind was a constant jumble of competing thoughts at shows,” says Amy, a junior dressage rider. “I would be trying to sort through them, just getting more and more nervous. But when I developed my guiding phrase it helped me immensely. I now repeat ‘enjoy and shine’ over and over as I warm up. It brings me back to my important things, which are to have fun and to show off the skills I have worked so hard to perfect. It really works for m

Then he was mine for forty-five minutes or so, way past my initially allotted ten minutes. Thankfully, it turns out Ian loved to talk about his mental game. I think everyone can learn something from what Canada’s most successful rider had to say about the psychology of his ride.

What are mental traps? They are those little mental glitches you fall into again...and again. Here are some common traps and deep trenches that can lead you off your game.