United States Eventing Association

As we all know riding is a sport of distances. We have 12' strides, 16-hand horses, 3' fences, and 450mpm, but when it comes to developing success and satisfaction in our sport we’d all be well-advised to remember that there are two additional distances that are even more important than all these combined: (1) The five feet below our ears (because that’s where our strength, stamina and suppleness is created) and (2) the five inches between our ears (because that’s where our confidence, courage and concentration is created). Sadly, without these fitness and focused distances, we’re bound to fall short on all the others.

The term PRACTICE like an athlete refers to the idea that success and satisfaction in our sport requires us to practice like an athlete (that’s the fitness part) and to act like an athlete (that’s the confidence part). It’s the culmination of these two efforts that ultimately leads to the complete equestrian. The place where our hips, heals, hands and horse come together with our heads, hearts, health, and happiness.

We practice like an athlete by engaging in a consistent fitness and nutrition program and act like an athlete by developing the habits of positive thinking and resilience. Together these habits keep us safe and successful while also proving to our horse that we’d never ask of them what we’re not prepared to ask of ourselves.

So while we all agree it’s a good idea to PRACTICE like athletes, many of us still struggle finding the time to actually fit all that really good stuff into our already really busy lives. When a 26-hour day isn’t an option in 2026 (which would actually be really cool), there is one surprising solution that can come to our rescue. That solution is called the transfer-effect, and it's the topic of this Pressure Proof tip and the one that can help all of us unleash new bolder, braver, brighter possibilities in 2026.

The transfer-effect is a phenomenon that occurs when improving one area of our lives automatically triggers our desire to make improvements in another areas as well. For the purposes of this New Years Resolution tip, that means that when we add a little exercise to our daily lives we’ll actually trigger a desire to eat healthier, and when we eat healthier we’ll trigger our desire to becoming more positive and resilient. In the end, simply making an effort to practice like an athlete (by adding the fitness part) makes us act like an athlete (the healthy eating and confident part) without even trying. It’s kind of like BOGO for equestrians… add a little exercise, and we get healthy eating and confidence for free!

And as if this wasn’t good enough, the more we practice the transfer-effect the better we’ll get at it and the more likely we'll want more of it. This is all thanks to something I like to call the feel-good-feedback-loop (FGFL) where the release of endorphins and feel-good hormones like dopamine fire the pleasure center in our brains making us want more of what's making us feel so good (kind of like when watching one TikTok or Youtube video makes us want to watch another and another!).

When done consistently, the FGFL eventually makes exercising, healthy eating, and positive thinking more of a healthy habit than a healthy effort, and we can even shift the pieces around, and it’ll still work! Making an effort to eat healthier can trigger our desire to become more confident which can trigger our desire to want to exercise more!

So, this year as we take on new years resolutions, why not consider pledging to spend 2026 PRACTICING like an athlete? Studies show we don’t even need to dedicate a lot of time to it! As little as 15 minutes of daily fitness or a few consistent days of healthy eating are all we need to get started on the path to making 2026 the happiest and healthiest year of all!

If you’d like a little help PRACTICING like an athlete please consider signing-up for my private Fit & Focused Youtube channel consisting of over 60 short sport psychology video tips and 60 rider fitness exercises… enough to keep you happy and healthy well past 2026! For more information visit: https://pressureproofacademy.com/courses/